From Superman to Swordquest: Atari and early video game labor exploitation.
Unionization efforts have only recently begun to address the exploitative conditions of working in video games. Despite such conditions dating back to the industry's origins, scholarship has tended to focus on contemporary labor issues over those of the past. To illustrate early forms of video game...
| Publicado en: | American Journal of Economics & Sociology Vol. 83; no. 5; pp. 955 - 966 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Wiley-Blackwell
Nov2024
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=180826910&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 180826910 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00029246 AES jtl: American Journal of Economics & Sociology issn: 00029246 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Nov2024 vid: 83 iid: 5 pid: 480 pub: Wiley-Blackwell artinfo: ui: 180826910 10.1111/ajes.12551 ppf: 955 ppct: 11 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 155KB tig: atl: From Superman to Swordquest: Atari and early video game labor exploitation. aug: au: Fleury, James affil: Film and Media Studies Program, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis Missouri, , USA su: Video games Labor organizing Mass media industry Computer software industry Press relations sug: subj: Video games Labor organizing Software publishers (except video game publishers) Software Publishers Computer and software stores Computer and Computer Peripheral Equipment and Software Merchant Wholesalers Computer, computer peripheral and pre-packaged software merchant wholesalers Labor Unions and Similar Labor Organizations Video game publishers Home entertainment equipment merchant wholesalers Doll, Toy, and Game Manufacturing Video game design and development services Mass media industry Computer software industry Press relations ab: Unionization efforts have only recently begun to address the exploitative conditions of working in video games. Despite such conditions dating back to the industry's origins, scholarship has tended to focus on contemporary labor issues over those of the past. To illustrate early forms of video game exploitation, I examine the history of industry pioneer Atari under the ownership of media conglomerate Warner Communications, Inc. (WCI) from 1976 to 1984. Soon after acquiring Atari, WCI installed a new CEO and pursued convergence initiatives. As a corporate ideal, convergence implies two cultures cooperating as they move toward becoming a single culture. I argue, however, that bringing together multiple media often creates conflict between different work cultures. Using the case studies of Superman (1979), E.T. the Extra‐Terrestrial (1982), and the original Swordquest trilogy (1982–1983), I explain how WCI's convergence with Atari led to culture clashes, an exodus of talent, the rise of rival software companies, product saturation, and the transformation of the global video game market by the end of the 1980s. I conclude by considering how the conflict between WCI and Atari provides lessons for labor problems that continue to characterize the industry—both in isolation and in relation to older media industries. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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