{"product_id":"9780806191928-red-dead-redemption","title":"Red Dead Redemption: History, Myth, and Violence in the Video Game West (Volume 1) (The Popular West","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHistory, Myth, and Violence in the Video Game West\u003cbr\u003eRockstar Games’ \u003cem\u003eRed Dead\u003c\/em\u003e franchise has grown into one of the most critically acclaimed video game franchises of the twenty-first century. This book offers a critical, interdisciplinary look at this cultural phenomenon at the intersection of game studies and American history.\u003cbr\u003eWhile the Western was dying a slow death across the cultural landscape, it was blazing back to life as a video game in the early twenty-first century. Rockstar Games’ \u003ci\u003eRed Dead\u003c\/i\u003e franchise, beginning with \u003ci\u003eRed Dead Revolver\u003c\/i\u003e in 2004, has grown into one of the most critically acclaimed video game franchises of the twenty-first century. \u003ci\u003eRed Dead Redemption: History, Myth, and Violence in the Video Game West \u003c\/i\u003eoffers a critical, interdisciplinary look at this cultural phenomenon at the intersection of game studies and American history.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Drawing on game studies, western history, American studies, and cultural studies, the authors train a wide-ranging, deeply informed analytic perspective on the \u003ci\u003eRed Dead\u003c\/i\u003e franchise—from its earliest incarnation to the latest, \u003ci\u003eRed Dead Redemption 2\u003c\/i\u003e (2018). Their intersecting chapters put the series in the context of American history, culture, and contemporary media, with inquiries into issues of authenticity, realism, the meaning of play and commercial promotion, and the relationship between the game and the wider cultural iterations of the classic Western. The contributors also delve into the role the series’ development has played in recent debates around working conditions in the gaming industry and gaming culture.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In its redeployment and reinvention of the Western’s myth and memes, the \u003ci\u003eRed Dead\u003c\/i\u003e franchise speaks to broader aspects of American culture—the hold of the frontier myth and the “Wild West” over the popular imagination, the role of gun culture in society, depictions of gender and ethnicity in mass media, and the increasing allure of digital escapism—all of which come in for scrutiny here, making this volume a vital, sweeping, and deeply revealing cultural intervention.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54853484839286,"sku":"9780806191928","price":51.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/files\/orig_39253878_a9366b7a-b2ab-4eef-8716-a5272b96e32b.jpg?v=1767112014","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/9780806191928-red-dead-redemption","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}