Kim Kardashian is my New BFF
Kim Kardashian is my New BFF
Abstract: Recently, there has been a growing number of celebrity-focused video games. These games have functioned as promotional tools for celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, Brittany Spears, Katy Perry, Jason Stratham, Lindsay Lohan, and Shakira. Celebrity games typically empower players to perform the work of aspirational fame, while promoting the title character and their branded products. Games in this genre typically construct narratives where the player is doing the presumed work of the celebrity, while simultaneously promoting that celebrity back to themselves as consumers. In this way, the player’s labor mimic’s the celebrity’s labor both in the game (through game play) and outside of the game (through doing the promotional work on their behalf). At the same time, the affective labor and empathizing done through the game’s labor forces a unique relationship between the celebrity and the player, not seen in other kinds of celebrity media.
Related Research
-
Book Chapter: Not So Straight Shooters: Queering the Cyborg Body in Masculinized GamingAbstract: This chapter offers a “diffractive” consideration (Barad 2003) of posthumanist and cyberfeminist theory, masculinity studies, and research on gender and gaming, that views digital play between straight white men […]
-
The Role of Gamification in Enhancing Intrinsic Motivation to Use a Loyalty ProgramAbstract: Based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT), this study examined how rewards weaken intrinsic motivation to use a retail loyalty program. Two experiments were conducted. Study 1 revealed that individuals who […]