The fight is the dance : modding Chinese martial arts and culture into Beat Saber

Journal article

Ong, Yunyu, Loban, Rhett David and Parrila, Rauno. (2022). The fight is the dance : modding Chinese martial arts and culture into Beat Saber. Journal of Games Criticism. 5(A), pp. 1-20.
AuthorsOng, Yunyu, Loban, Rhett David and Parrila, Rauno
Abstract

The article explores the design process of a Beat Saber mod called Good Bag. In the Good Bag mod level, players perform saber-sword Wushu martial art moves to the rhythm of contemporary Wuxia-influenced (Chinese martial arts fantasy) music. The vocals version of the mod is also commentary on contemporary racism as well as on historical race-relations. The Good Bag project drew upon two expert cultural practitioners, a martial arts Grandmaster and a musician, from the Chinese diaspora community to strongly shape the mod design and output. The article also discusses the limitations of modding martial arts into Beat Saber. The article outlines the project team’s planned approach to further improve the mod via a dual expert and player design approach using both expert opinion and player feedback. In the next stages of the project, the mod project teams plan to access how effective the mod has been in teaching martial arts, as well as how this might influence attitudes in historical and contemporary race relations.

KeywordsVideo games; game modifications; culturally-centred; virtual reality; dance game; Beat Saber; Wuxia; Wushu
Year01 Jan 2022
JournalJournal of Games Criticism
Journal citation5 (A), pp. 1-20
PublisherJournal of Games Criticism
ISSN2374-202X
Web address (URL)https://gamescriticism.org/
Open accessPublished as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
Research or scholarlyResearch
Page range1-20
Publisher's version
License
All rights reserved
File Access Level
Open
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Print2022
Publication process dates
Accepted2022
Deposited05 Aug 2024
Additional information

© 2022 by the Journal of Games Criticism, http://www.gamescriticism.org

Place of publicationUnited States
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