Introduction 1 Samurai in Videogames 2 the Cinematic Factor 16 Samurai of Legend 26 Mythification, Immersion and Interactivity 3
INTRODUCTION 1 SAMURAI IN VIDEOGAMES 2 Sword of the Samurai (2003, JP) 2 The W ay of the Samurai (2002, JP) 6 Onimusha W arlords (2001, JP) 8 Throne of Darkness (2001, USA) 11 Shogun: total W ar, the warlord edition (2001, UK) 13 THE CINEMATIC FACTOR 16 The lone swordsman 16 Animé 20 The Seven Samurai 23 The face of the silver screen warrior 24 SAMURAI OF LEGEND 26 Musashi 26 Yagyu Jubei 28 Oda Nobunaga 30 MYTHIFICATION, IMMERSION AND INTERACTIVITY 32 Mythification 32 Immersion, Interactivity and Representation 34 CONCLUSION 39 BIBLIOGRAPHY 41 Introduction The Samurai, everyone has a certain mental image of these warriors, be it the romanticized noble warrior or the ruthless fighter, or even the lone wanderer who is trying to change his fate by the sword. These images of the Samurai are most often based on popular (mediated) productions like the Japanese period film (Jidai Geki) and, most recently, Samurai videogames. It is this last and newest of these mediated productions, the videogame, which will be the main subject of this Thesis. I will start by describing videogames that incorporate these warriors, then I will try to determine if film has had any influence on this representation. From the influence of film I will move on to other contemporary media: the novel, Animé films and Manga comics. It is my goal to determine in what manner all these forms of contemporary media have influenced the representation of the Samurai in videogames. I will use a theory by Desser, which he calls —Mythification of history“. Desser claims in his book, —The Samurai films of Akira Kurosawa“, that the Japanese film has a tendency to elevate certain historical periods, figures, facts and legends into mythic proportions.
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