Chapter 5 Characteristics of Video Gamers and Video Game Communities Introduction
Cosplay – ‘Oh my god, I love your cosplay!’
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Cosplay – ‘Oh my god, I love your cosplay!’Newman (2008, p.147) suggests that video games have other uses and significance beyond merely the act of play – where academic considerations should expand beyond game studies narrow focus on playing video games, to consider, what he refers to as playing with video games. This includes what individuals do with video games, beyond simply playing them: writing walkthroughs, producing modifications, making machinima or, another area considered Newman (2008), using video games as an inspiration for costume production and dress, often termed ‘cosplay’. Crawford (2012, p.135) refers the word ‘cosplay’ to the contraction of the words ‘costume’ and ‘play’ and ‘role-play’. The meanings and boundaries of cosplay can vary, but generally cosplay involves wearing costumes, which have usually been made by the individuals themselves, to depict a specific fictional character, most commonly from Japanese popular culture; such as manga, anime, and video games (see Figure 5.7). 
Figure 5.7. The researcher in cosplay – Character: Hanji (Attack of Titan) Early observations of cosplay date back to Poole’s (2000) observations at Tokyo Game Show, that consist of live stage shows, young Japanese men and women come dressed as their favourite video game idol and a variety of game related merchandise; Game characters are also available everywhere in the form of Action Man–style figurines, or on collectors’ cards. They feature in posters, on T-shirts; in Japan, a video game character can be an idol as much as a pop star or an actor in the West (Poole, 2000, pp.243-244) Cosplay remains primarily associated with Japanese culture – with the biggest Japanese convention ‘Tokyo Game Show’. Although there has been an increase within North America and Europe with Japanese inspired cosplay – which continues to blur with western fan traditions of dressing up as science fiction television and film characters, such as those from star trek, along with live action role-players (LARP) and historical re-enactment participants, such as those involved in civil war battle re-enactments. Hence, there is a significant blurring in cosplay between the culture of video gaming and other fan cultures. From the findings, cosplay was considered a popular activity amongst those who attended video game events; such as MCM Comic Con, EuroGamer, Play Expo and Final Fantasy Orchestral Concerts. Almost all the video game events consist of at least one or several cosplay communities. The cosplay community consists of those who cosplay the current trend (see Figure 5.8), those who cosplay one particular series (such as video game, anime, movie, or television series), those who cosplay in groups for certain themes (such as cross-gender), and those who cosplay for fun. As Levi (Interviewee: MCM Comic Con) states, ‘…last year it was all about Sword Arts, but this year it’s all about Attack on Titan… it’s usually based on the hottest anime’. 
Figure 5.8. Cosplay trend in 2012 (Sword Arts Online), 2013 (Attack on Titan) and 2014 (Frozen) In addition, several participants mentioned that MCM Comic Con consists that most ‘friendliest’ cosplay communities amongst other events, due to its community culture. For instance, the ‘Attack on Titan’ (anime series) community often organises a photo-shoot together as a group, where community members invite all Attack on Titan cosplayers through organised meet-ups on fan websites and Facebook or invitations to those who are spotted in the same cosplay throughout the day. Unlike traditional communities, cosplay communities can often be considered fragmented, due to their shifting nature of current trends, from community members moving to other cosplay communities or being part of more than one cosplay community. This form of fluidity relates to characteristics of a neo-tribe (Maffesoli, 1996), where communities are loosely organised and by no means fixed, yet still places an emphasis on community and belonging. Hence, cosplayers often ‘nip in and nip out’ of specific cosplay communities and follow other people into various series of commitment. In relation to fandom, this suggests that the similar series of interests can facilitate greater communication amongst those who share common interests or possess compatible tastes (Jenkins, 1992). The impact of worldwide communication via the internet has changed the cultural aspects of fandom, where the interactivity between fans increased dramatically though the creation of forums and blogs. Therefore, fans are able to participate more readily and easily in multiple fandoms. Although it is important to highlight that not all the participants (from the interviews and group interviews) cosplayed, but those who did, either cosplayed as one specific character or cosplayed several characters on separate days. For instance, Daenerys Targaryen (Interviewee: Play Expo) cosplayed as Daenerys Targaryen, a fully hand-made costume, from the television series ‘Game of Thrones’, throughout both days during Play Expo Manchester (2014). Meanwhile, Sonic (Interviewee: Eurogamer) cosplayed as Sonic (Sonic the Hedgehog), Link (Zelda), Mario (Super Mario Land) and Ash Ketchum (Pokemon), all shop-bought costumes from eBay, on the four separate days during Eurogamer. I wanted to highlight the relationship between hand-made and store-bought because these were common ‘types’ of cosplays amongst those who attended video game events. For instance, cosplay costumes are usually hand-made by the individuals themselves, or sometimes cosplayers commission other to make costumes for them. For example, for my Attack on Titan cosplay, my costume was a mixture of shop-bought clothes and a hand-made 3D manoeuvre gear (see Figure 5.9). Download 21.28 Mb. Share with your friends:
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