YouTube as play space

– Preliminary thoughts on video sharing and user comments related to popular videogames in East Asian languages –

Abstract

With the growth of digital platforms, videogaming has transformed from a private experience to a public one. In particular, video sharing and streaming platforms, which have only been recognized as referential materials or paratexts in the past, have become a central space for negotiating videogame culture. As a first step toward a comprehensive understanding of how videogame related video streaming and sharing culture contributes to videogame culture in East Asia, this presentation analyzes and interprets video contents and user comments about Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo 2023) and Street Fighter 6 (Capcom 2023) in Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and English.