T H E P L A Y F U L U N D E A D A N D V I Routledge Advances in Game Studies D E O G A THE PLAYFUL UNDEAD AND M E S VIDEO GAMES E d it CRITICAL ANALYSES OF ZOMBIES e d b y AND GAMEPLAY S t e p h e n J . W e Edited by b l e y a Stephen J. Webley and Peter Zackariasson n d P e t e r Z a c k a r i a s s o n www.routledge.com Routledge titles are available as eBook editions in a range of digital formats 9781138895461_Full Cover.indd 1 7/5/2019 12:11:50 PM The Playful Undead and Video Games This book explores the central role of the zombie in contemporary popular culture as they appear in video games. Moving beyond traditional explanations of their enduring appeal—that they embody an aesthetic that combines horror with a mindless target; that lower age ratings for zombie games widen the market; or that artificial intelligence routines for zombies are easier to develop—the book provides a multidisciplinary and comprehensive look at this cultural phenomenon. Drawing on detailed case studies from across the genre, contributors from a variety of backgrounds offer insights into how the study of zombies in the context of video games informs an analysis of their impact on contemporary popular culture. Issues such as gender, politics, intellectual property law, queer theory, narrative storytelling and world-building, video game techniques and technology, and man’s relation to monsters are closely examined in their relation to zombie video games. Breaking new ground in the study of video games and popular culture, this volume will be of interest to researchers in a broad range of areas including media, popular culture, video games, and media psychology. Stephen J. Webley is a lecturer and researcher in the School of Computing & Digital Technology at Staffordshire University UK. He has had a lifelong obsession with zombie games and the works of George A. Romero, both of which he understands as cultural artefacts that have changed the landscape of contemporary popular culture. Peter Zackariasson, PhD, associate professor in marketing at University of Gothenburg, has published on different parts of cultural industries. In his two latest edited volumes he has tried to gather a diverse set of texts on the topics: the business of gamification (with Mikolaj Dymek), critically examining the new concept, and arts and business (with Elena Raviola), where these two fields will meet and interact. Routledge Advances in Game Studies Understanding Counterplay in Video Games Alan F. Meades Video Game Policy Production, Distribution, and Consumption Edited by Steven Conway and Jennifer deWinter Digital Games as History How Videogames Represent the Past and Offer Access to Historical Practice Adam Chapman New Perspectives on the Social Aspects of Digital Gaming Multiplayer 2 Edited by Rachel Kowert and Thorsten Quandt Fans and Videogames Histories, Fandom, Archives Edited by Melanie Swalwell, Helen Stuckey and Angela Ndalianis Identity and Play in Interactive Digital Media Ergodic Ontogeny Sara M. Cole Videogames, Identity and Digital Subjectivity Rob Gallagher Evolutionary Psychology and Digital Games Digital Hunter-Gatherers Edited by Johannes Breuer, Daniel Pietschmann, Benny Liebold, and Benjamin P. Lange The Playful Undead and Video Games Critical Analyses of Zombies and Gameplay Edited by Stephen J. Webley and Peter Zackariasson The Playful Undead and Video Games Critical Analyses of Zombies and Gameplay Edited by Stephen J. Webley and Peter Zackariasson First published 2020 by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 and by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2020 Taylor & Francis The right of Stephen J. Webley and Peter Zackariasson to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this title has been requested ISBN: 9781138895461 (hbk) ISBN: 9781315179490 (ebk) Typeset in Sabon by Apex CoVantage, LLC Contents ContentsContents Notes on Contributors vii STEPHEN J. WEBLEY Zombies Zombies Everywhere, What Is One to Think? 1 STEPHEN J. WEBLEY 1 Zombies, Again? A Qualitative Analysis of the Zombie Antagonist’s Appeal in Game Design 15 MATTHEW BARR 2 Resurrecting “Obsolete” Video Game Techniques From Alone in the Dark and Resident Evil 30 MATTHEW BARTON 3 The Undead Past in the Present—Historical Anxiety and the Nazi Zombie 44 ADAM CHAPMAN 4 The Zombification of Skyrim 57 PENNY DE BYL 5 Fantasies of Full Employment: Zombies, Video Games, and Violent Labour 72 MICHAEL EPP 6 Resident Evil and Infectious Fear 85 CHRISTINA FAWCETT AND ALAN MCGREEVY 7 Zombie Video Games, Eros, and Thanatos: Expressing and Exploring the Life and Death Drives Through Video Gameplay 99 VANESSA L. HADDAD vi Contents 8 Through the Eyes of the Other: The Relationship Between Man and Monster in Siren: Blood Curse 112 MADELON HOEDT 9 Dead Rising and the Gameworld Zombie 126 KRISTINE JØRGENSEN 10 Proliferation, Blockages, and Paths of Escape in Resident Evil and Call of Duty 138 BRANDON KEMPNER 11 Zombies, Play, and Uncertainty in Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare 151 MITCHELL C. LILLY 12 “A Jill Sandwich”—Gender Representation in Zombie Video Games 164 ESTHER MACCALLUM-STEWART 13 It’s Never About Zombies—Post-Apocalyptic World-Building, Interactive Storytelling, and The Walking Dead 180 KSENIA OLKUSZ, SVEN DWULECKI, AND KRZYSZTOF M. MAJ 14 The Pace and Reach of Video Game Zombies 197 BERNARD PERRON 15 Zombies Ate Democracy: The Myth of a Systemic Political Failure in Video Games 216 EUGEN PFISTER 16 Queering the Zombie 232 TANJA SIHVONEN 17 The Law of the Playful [Un]Dead: The Influences of Intellectual Property Law on Zombie Video Games 246 TIMOTHY A. WISEMAN 18 “The Romeroesque”—Playing With Ethics and Ideology in Zombie Games, From Indie to Mainstream and Around Again 259 STEPHEN J. WEBLEY Index 274 Notes on Contributors Notes on ContributorsNotes on Contributors Matthew Barr is a lecturer in the School of Humanities at the University of Glasgow, where he convenes the game studies course and is the edi- tor of the peer reviewed student game studies journal Press Start. He is also a lecturer at Glasgow Caledonian University, where he teaches on the games development programme. He is the vice chair of British DiGRA and sits on the board of the Scottish chapter of the IGDA. Dr. Matthew Barton is an English professor at Saint Cloud State Univer- sity, where he has served on the faculty since 2005 after receiving his PhD in rhetoric and composition from the University of South Florida. His published work includes six books, several articles, reviews in top academic journals, and a feature film documentary, Gameplay: The Story of the Videogame Revolution. He also hosts a YouTube pro- gramme called Matt Chat, which features in-depth retrospectives and interviews with luminaries of the video games industry. Adam Chapman is a senior lecturer at the University of Gothenburg. His research focuses on historical games, i.e. those games that in some way represent, or relate to, discourses about the past. He is the author of Digital Games as History: How Videogames Represent the Past and Offer Access to Historical Practice (Routledge, 2016), alongside a number of other publications on the topic of historical games. He is also the founder of the Historical Game Studies Network. Sven Dwulecki is a PhD candidate at the University of Tübingen and member of the editorial board of the Facta Ficta: Journal of Theory, Narrative & Media (factafictajournal.com). His research is focused on rhetoric of video games and their influence on consumers; in his field of expertise, he combines business and digital rhetoric with an empha- sis on marketing strategy, innovation, and the entertainment industry. Dr. Penny de Byl is CEO of online game development for the education provider Holistic3D and former professor of games, Bond University, Australia, and associate professor of serious games, Breda Univer- sity, The Netherlands. She is the recipient of university awards for teaching excellence, a Queensland government award for game-based viii Notes on Contributors educational experiences, a Unity/Google award for curriculum devel- opment, and an Australian Government Citation for University Teach- ing Excellence. Michael Epp is an associate professor of English literature and cultural studies at Trent University. He is also the director of Trent’s Theory, Culture & Politics MA programme and its Cultural Studies PhD pro- gramme. He has published on print culture, humour, durability, and war; his current research theorises the relationship between the state, the public, and violent labour. Dr. Christina Fawcett is a monster theorist with a PhD from the Univer- sity of Glasgow. She teaches courses in science fiction, fantasy, fairy tales, and horror at the University of Winnipeg. She is a member of the Centre for Research in Cultural Studies (CRiCS) and Centre for Research in Young People’s Texts and Cultures (CRYTC) at the Uni- versity of Winnipeg. Vanessa L. Haddad is a professor and chair of general studies at the State University of New York (SUNY) Erie, and a senior lecturer of sociol- ogy at Niagara University. Her work focuses on video games, and how they can be used to improve everyday life. She currently resides in Buffalo, NY. Dr. Madelon Hoedt is a senior lecturer in drama at the University of |Huddersfield. She has published and presented papers on topics such as scare attractions, Hell Houses, zombie events, performance magic, and horror video games. Her current research continues its focus on horror and the Gothic and concerns itself with immersive experiences, with a particular interest in issues of narrative, stagecraft, and embodi- ment in live performance and video games. Kristine Jørgensen is full professor in media studies at University of Ber- gen. She is the author of A Comprehensive Study of Sound in Com- puter Games (Mellen Press, 2009) and Gameworld Interfaces (MIT Press, 2013), and the co-editor of Transgressions in Games and Play (MIT Press, 2018). As of 2018, she is heading the research project Games and Transgressive Aesthetics. Brandon Kempner is a professor of American literature at New Mexico Highlands University (USA). He received his PhD in English from Pennsylvania State University in 2006. He studies a broad range of popular culture topics and has written essays on The Walking Dead, Evil Dead, iZombie, Jurassic Park, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, and the literature of 9/11. Mitchell C. Lilly received his MA in literary studies from Marshall Uni- versity, where he now teaches literature and composition courses, to Notes on Contributors ix include writing courses themed around the study of zombies in popu- lar culture. His publications include a scholarly article in ImageText on the trauma comic Mother, Come Home and an article in Poe Stud- ies on Edgar Allan Poe’s The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym as a work of unnatural narrative fiction, which received the James W. Gargano Award from the Poe Studies Association for best scholarly essay published on Poe in 2015. Esther MacCallum-Stewart is an associate professor of games studies at Staffordshire University. Her work examines the ways in which play- ers understand narratives in games, and she has written widely on sex, sexuality, and gender in games. She is currently researching board- games cultures and Hidden Object Games. Krzysztof M. Maj, PhD, is an assistant professor at AGH University of Sci- ence and Technology in Kraków, Faculty of Humanities. His research interests include world-building, transmediality, transfictionality, and postclassical narratological approaches to the fantastic; he is the editor-in- chief at Creatio Fantastica academic journal (creatiofantastica.com); he authored the book Allotopie. Topografia światów fikcjonalnych [Allotopias: Toward the Topography of Fictional Storyworlds] (2015) as well as a number of Polish and English articles in game studies, literary theory, transmedial narratology, world-building, and (e)uto- pian/dystopian studies. Alan McGreevy is an instructor in microbiology and health sciences at the University of Winnipeg and a registered microbiologist with the Canadian College of Microbiologists. He completed his MSc in medical microbiology from the University of Manitoba studying viral haemorrhagic fever in the Special Pathogens Unit at the National Cen- tre for Foreign Animal Disease. Ksenia Olkusz, PhD, is a literary historian, critic, and theorist; she is assistant professor at the head of Facta Ficta Research Centre in Kraków as well as editor-in-chief of open access Facta Ficta: Journal of Theory, Narrative & Media (factafictajournal.com); she has authored the books Współczesność w zwierciadle horroru. O najnowszej pol- skiej literaturze grozy [The Contemporaneity in the Mirror of Horror: On the Newest Polish Gothic Fiction] (2010) and Materializm kontra ezoteryka: drugie pokolenie pozytywistów wobec “spraw nie z tego świata” [Materialism Versus Esotericism: The Second Generation of Polish Positivists and the Otherworldly] (2007, 2017) as well as edited volumes Zombie w kulturze [Zombies in Culture] and Światy grozy [Worlds of Terror] (2016). Bernard Perron is full professor of film and game studies at the Univer- sity of Montreal. He has co-edited The Video Game Theory Reader