Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-pjpqr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-27T14:32:09.811Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

10 - Shakespeare Videogames, Adaptation/Appropriation , and Collaborative Reception

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2021

Get access

Summary

Abstract

This essay analyzes two Shakespeare-based video games to revisit longstanding assumptions regarding Shakespearean adaptation and appropriation. In it, I pay close attention to the role of the player to explore reception as a collaborative process in order to better understand the complex relationships that exist between source text, game, and player, and to expand the scope of what works are considered within Shakespearean adaptation and appropriation studies. Through a discussion of the two games, I argue that adaptation and appropriation need to be considered on a spectrum that accounts for how audiences play an active role in defining and redefining what Shakespearean adaptations and appropriations are and can be.

Keywords: Shakespeare; adaptation; appropriation; videogames; reception

As we move further into the twenty-first century, we continue to witness that, “[w]hen innovative communication platforms emerge, new Shakespeare use appears almost on point with the arrival of the new medium.” However, the appearance of new uses of Shakespeare does not always culminate in a critical mass that runs parallel to the spread of a new medium. Such is the case with videogames—a medium over 60 years old—to which Shakespeare studies has only begun to turn its attention. Though some Shakespeareans may be familiar with older titles such as Ted Castranova’s Arden (2008), Charles Crayne's Castle Elsinore (1983), or EMME Interactive’s almost impossible to obtain Hamlet: A Murder Mystery (1997), over the past decade we have witnessed a minor explosion in the number of Shakespearebased videogames. Recently, Shakespeare's plays have been adapted into videogames such as Romeo and Juliet- and Tempest-inspired games in the Globe Playground section of the Shakespeare's Globe website; Golden Glitch Studios’ Elsinore (2019), in which the player enters the fictional world of Hamlet by controlling a time-looping Ophelia in an attempt to “prevent the tragedy that lies before her”; and the two games that are the focus of this essay, Alawar's Hamlet, or The Last Game without MMORPG Features, Shaders and Product Placement (2010) and Tin Man Games’ To Be or Not to Be (2015). Videogames thrive on the interactivity between the game and the player, and as such, they present an opportunity to rethink our approaches to studying Shakespearean adaptation and appropriation. Shakespeare-based videogames reveal a collaborative process of creation and reception that evolves from players interacting with creators’ embedded narratives to creating new narrative experiences rooted as much (if not more than) in videogames as in Shakespeare.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Amsterdam University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×