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The RAINBOW ARCADE CATALOG will be the first comprehensive introduction to queer gaming history in print. It will contain and present the extensive research behind RAINBOW ARCADE, the world’s first exhibition chronicling over 30 years of LGBTQIA* video games, their developers and players, opening on December 13, 2018 at Schwules Museum in Berlin, Germany.

Like the exhibition itself, the catalog demonstrates how queerness has always been a part of video game culture. They are meant as an appraisal and a contribution to our ongoing conversations on diversity, representation, discrimination and politics in popular culture. This is why the catalog will not only include a detailed exhibition directory featuring all games shown from 1985 to 2018 and supplementary texts, but also additional essays by and interviews with developers, artists and researchers. We want as many people as possible to access our work even without having to visit the exhibition in Germany; therefore, our goal is to produce an extensive English-language catalog, designed as a stand-alone reading experience.

If we reach our funding goal, we will print 1000 copies of a full-color softcover catalog around 152 pages long and can ship it worldwide. As a special thank you, every backer (+200 € | $240) and sponsor (+500 € | $580 ) will be specifically named in the credits and exhibition!

The catalog and the exhibit are separated into six sections, each one casting light on a different aspect of LGBTQIA* game history. First, it will feature a general timeline of potential firsts and milestones of LGBTQIA* representation. The next two will examine how the mainstream gaming industry and independent developers have treated queer narratives and characters over the years. A community section will showcase multiple aspects of LGBTQIA* gaming communities. Of course, we can’t ignore the history of discrimination in game content, in game production, and in gaming communities. In the section covering this topic we will examine the way discrimination and harassment shapes gaming in general and keeps people from participating in game play and development. In the final section, though, RAINBOW ARCADE will look to the future and speculate on what the next level of queer gaming might be.

Furthermore, RAINBOW ARCADE includes developer interviews with C.M.Ralph (Caper in the Castro, 1989) and Ryan Best (GayBlade, 1992) and specially commissioned essays by Naomi Clark (Consentacle, 2018), Zoyander Street (Elixir, 2016), Dietrich Squinkifer (Dominique Pamplemousse 1+2, 2013, 2017), and Robert Yang (Radiator 2, 2015). It will also showcase other ephemera from gaming culture, including player mods, fanart and screenshots.

The exhibition RAINBOW ARCADE will be first on display at the Schwules Museum in Berlin, Germany from December 14th, 2018 to May 13th, 2019. It is curated by an international team consisting of Sarah Rudolph (herzteile.org), Jan Schnorrenberg (Schwules Museum) and Dr. Adrienne Shaw (Temple University, LGBTQ Game Archive). Nicolas Simoneau (KALTBLUT Magazine) is in charge of exhibition and visual design. The exhibition itself is funded by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe. RAINBOW ARCADE is under the patronage of Dr. Klaus Lederer, Senator for Culture and Europe of Berlin.

It will present nearly 100 individual exhibits, including a variety of playable titles like Caper in the Castro (1989), Elixir (2016), This Is Where I Want To Die (2013), Dominique Pamplemousse 1+2 (2013, 2017) and Radiator 2 (2015).

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