Image courtesy of Japan Foundation New York
For the 17th episode of the Japan Foundation New York (JFNY) pop culture series, we are celebrating the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom by doing a deep academic dive into the world of its predecessor, Breath of the Wild!
Since its release in 2017, Breath of the Wild is the best-selling game in The Legend of Zelda series and is considered one of the greatest video games of all time. It has been described as "groundbreaking," changing how many saw open-world experiences in video games and inspiring many following titles.
How did The Legend of Zelda become one of the most successful and long-lived franchises in video game history? Why do players keep returning to this series? How is the message of the game conveyed in the open world and music design? How has gender been represented?
Come join the panel discussion with five professors researching video games: Matt Barton, Stephen Kuniak, Sarah Stang, Rachael Hutchinson and Wesley Bradford. They will discuss the legacy of Breath of the Wild from the perspectives of video game history, ideology, psychology, gender and music all while exploring the significance and impact of the series in the gaming world. We’ll also be hearing their first takes on the latest release of Tears of the Kingdom.
Q&A:
The panelists will discuss Breath of the Wild based on questions from you! If you have any question about the series and Breath of the Wild, now is your chance to ask the experts! Please ask your question when you register for the event via Eventbrite. Live commentary will also be enabled on the YouTube stream, so you can participate in the Q&A session on-air as well.
This is a FREE event with registration. Registrants will receive the link to the stream via email. Click the button below to register:
About the Panelists:
Dr. Matt Barton:
Matt Barton is Professor of English at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, where he has taught courses in writing, rhetoric, technology, and popular culture since 2005. He is the producer of “Matt Chat,” a weekly YouTube program featuring interviews with videogame developers and retrospectives of influential videogames. He’s the author of Honoring the Code: Conversations with Great Game Designers and Dungeons & Desktops: The History of Computer Role-Playing Games, and co-author of Vintage Games: An Insider Look at the History of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the Most Influential Games of All Time and Vintage Game Consoles: An Inside Look at Apple, Atari Commodore, Nintendo, and the Greatest Gaming Platforms of All Time.
Dr. Stephen Kuniak:
Stephen Kuniak is Assistant Professor in Lock Haven University’s Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program and a practicing Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in PA and clinical supervisor. Dr. Kuniak's areas of professional interest are in counseling theories and practice, anxiety disorder treatment, substance use treatment, family counseling, as an LGBTQIA+ community ally, and clinical supervision. His particular areas of focus are on the clinical application of geek and gaming themes. He has founded a 501c3 non-profit organization, called Experience Points, to further his endeavors in gaming and geek culture. He has been interviewed about his research and clinical practice for publications like the Washington Post and Counseling Today.
Dr. Sarah Stang:
Sarah Stang is Assistant Professor in Brock University’s Department of Digital Humanities and teaches courses in the Interactive Arts and Science program, the GAME program, and the MA program in Game Studies. As a feminist game scholar, her research focuses on questions of representation, identity, diversity, and social justice in game content, design, culture, and industries. She approaches her work from an intersectional feminist perspective and draws on media studies theories and methodologies. She has conducted close analyses of several acclaimed games, including Dungeons & Dragons, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, The Walking Dead, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, StarCraft, The Legend of Zelda series, the BioShock series, the God of War series, the Dragon Age series, and the Mass Effect trilogy.
Dr. Rachael Hutchinson:
Rachael Hutchinson is Professor in Japanese Studies at the University of Delaware. She is the author of Nagai Kafū's Occidentalism: Defining the Japanese Self (2011) and Japanese Culture Through Videogames (2019), which was nominated for the John Whitney Hall Book Prize at the Association of Asian Studies. She has co-edited various publications focusing on the representations of Japanese identity, including Japanese Role-Playing Games: Genre, Representation and Liminality in the JRPG with Jérémie Pelletier-Gagnon. She has published essays in journals such as Japan Forum, Monumenta Nipponica, Japanese Studies, Game Studies, Loading...., and Games and Culture, contributing various chapters to books on Japanese games, manga, literature and film. She is currently working on an edited handbook of Japanese games and gameplay.
Dr. Wesley Bradford:
Wesley Bradford is Assistant Professor and the Coordinator of Music Theory at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. His research focuses on musical meaning and interpretation, with a special interest musical narrative. Recently, his projects have explored interpretive approaches to video game music, including the application of musical narrative and semiotic theories to suggest new avenues for listening to and understanding modern musical genres. His paper Exploring the Narrative Implications of Emerging Topics in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild reveals how the music of Breath of the Wild explores a new method of narrative organization for The Legend of Zelda series.