{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]],"date-time":"2026-05-01T14:32:18Z","timestamp":1777645938729,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":51,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,25]],"date-time":"2021-06-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1624579200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Games and Culture"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2022,3]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Video games have long held a spotty history in their narratives regarding women. Most research has examined large budget games and identified issues of simplification, oversexualization, and a general lack of agency among female characters. The present study explores the gaming niche of \u201cindie\u201d\u2014or independent game developer\u2014video games in their representations of women in particular with\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Never Alone, Gone Home,<\/jats:italic>\n                    and\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Her Story.<\/jats:italic>\n                    These games were released around the time frame of the GamerGate controversy\u2014a controversy which drew attention to the treatment of women in gaming culture\u2014and hence, the games are used to reflect on a potential shift in games culture following the controversy. This article argues that these game narratives emphasized multilayered female characterizations, female-to-female interactions, and internal dramas as a way to potentially reach female gamers and present an alternative, humanizing narrative on women.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/15554120211026279","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,25]],"date-time":"2021-06-25T07:12:51Z","timestamp":1624605171000},"page":"244-261","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["What Does it Mean to be a Female Character in \u201cIndie\u201d Game Storytelling? Narrative Framing and Humanization in Independently Developed Video Games"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Mildred F.","family":"Perreault","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"East Tennessee State University"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6645-1117","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gregory","family":"Perreault","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Appalachian State University"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Andrea","family":"Suarez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Appalachian State University"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_4_2_1","first-page":"213","volume-title":"Looking in: The art of viewing","author":"Bal M.","year":"2001","unstructured":"Bal M. (2001). Second-person narrative: David Reed. 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