Castlevania‘s deliberate turn towards traditional masculinity typifies a similar shoring up of a particular kind of gaming community against perceived encroachment. Male students banded together, sharing hints with one another, and, for the most part, leaving the female students to fend for themselves (136). Reflecting on the success of her class which used the MMORPG as its platform, Colby observes that her class “segregated” along gender lines. Rebekah Shultz Colby, for instance, highlights that same kind of division in her first-year composition class taught through (and as) World of Warcraft. The gender polarization of gaming fandom is well documented. It is for this reason that I think Castlevania, despite its specialized fandom, illustrates how deep the gender divide in the gaming industry runs. Many games presume a heterosexual male audience, an imbalance that Anita Sarkeesian and many other video game critics have attempted to redress for years. There are also the ideological challenges video games pose, challenges that can lead to provocative discussion. Even the newer games feature frequent winks and nods, hints intended for an audience steeped in the franchise’s lore. Castlevania in particular caters to an entrenched and specialized fandom: it’s a gothic game, but not necessarily a horror game like Silent Hill it’s an action-adventure, but not necessarily a puzzle-solving fantasy like Zelda. There are the logistical challenges: video games and gaming consoles are costly, nor can an instructor assume that the class is already familiar with gaming culture. I have since grown interested in bringing video games into the classroom, along with the problems and challenges they can bring with them. The fanboy in me found himself vindicated at last. I didn’t learn until very late in my career as a graduate student in English that video games are a viable area of study, until I read Rhetoric/Composition/Play through Video Games. Symphony of the Night plays up a perfect contrast of creepy and polite that I would later find in 18th century gothic novels. I like to tell people that Castlevania: Symphony of the Night made me an 18th century scholar, since it takes place in 1797 and features prickly harpsichord music composed by the marvelous Michiru Yamane. My love affair with Castlevania has been long in the making.
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