From video games to mass and digital media: transmedia strategies in The Last of Us universe

Main Article Content

Santiago López Delacruz

This paper aims to describe and analyze the strategies developed by The Last of Us to configure a transmedia narrative in various mass and digital media systems. Through a methodological strategy based on the case study, it will be understood how The Last of Us structures a story that goes through various instances of meaning, starting from video games and crossing other languages, formats and platforms, which include comics, TV series and digital audiovisual productions. It is also intended to demonstrate the presence of a screen society, of hypermedia processes of circulation of media discourse, and of communication with users and viewers based on media convergence, which explicitly affects the consolidation of The Last of Us as effective example of transmedia narrative of the contemporary media era.

Keywords
Open world videogames, Transmedia storytelling, Media convergence, interactive digital communication

Article Details

How to Cite
López Delacruz, Santiago. “From video games to mass and digital media: transmedia strategies in The Last of Us universe”. 2024. Hipertext.net, 2024, no. 29, pp. 135-48, doi:10.31009/hipertext.net.2024.i29.11.
Author Biography

Santiago López Delacruz, Universidad de la República Uruguay

Graduate in Communication and Master in Information and Communication from the University of the Republic, Uruguay. PhD candidate in Communication from the National University of La Plata, Argentina. Professor of the Department of Media and Languages of the Faculty of Information and Communication, University of the Republic. His field of research is focused on film theory, the study of audiovisual media, transmedia narratives and discursive production/circulation in the digital sphere.

References

Albarello, F. (2019). Lectura transmedia: leer, escribir, conversar en el ecosistema de pantallas. Ampersand.

Anyó, L. y Colom, À. (2021). Ambivalencia emocional en The Last of Us. Las emociones en los videojuegos, entre la complejidad narrativa y la lealtad del jugador. Atalante. Revista De Estudios Cinematográficos, 31(2), 85-102. https://revistaatalante.com/index.php/atalante/article/view/858

Arzaluz-Solano, S. (2005). La utilización del estudio de caso en el análisis local. Región y sociedad, 17(32), 107-144. https://doi.org/10.22198/rys.2005.32.a601

Bolter, J. y Grusin, R. (2000). Remediation. Understanding New Media. MIT Press.

Brookey, R. A. (2010). Hollywood Gamers: Digital Convergence in the Film and Video Game Industries. Indiana University Press.

Carlón, M. (2022). A modo de glosario. DeSignis, (37), 255-262. http://dx.doi.org/10.35659/designis.i37p255-262

Casetti, F. (2015). The Lumière Galaxy: seven key words to cinema to come. Columbia University Press.

Castells, M. (2009). Comunicación y poder. Alianza Editorial.

Elsaesser, T. (2016). Film History as Media Archeology. Tracking Digital Cinema. Amsterdam University Press.

Flyvbjerg, B. (2004). Five misunderstandings about casestudy research. Qualitativa Inquiry. 12(2), 19-245. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800405284363

Gambarato, R. (2012). Signs, systems and complexity of transmedia storytelling. Estudos em Comunicação, 12, 69-83. https://www.ec.ubi.pt/ec/12/pdf/EC12-2012Dez-4.pdf

Gifreu-Castells, A., Sánchez-Castillo, S. y Galán, E. (2019). Aproximación al documental interactivo como formato nativo transmedia. Pasavento. Revista de Estudios Hispánicos, 7(2), 275-302. https://doi.org/10.37536/preh.2019.7.2.722

Green, A. M. (2016). The reconstruction of morality and the evolution of naturalism in The Last of Us. Games and Culture, 11(7-8). 745-763. https://doi.org/10.1177/155541201557948

Hailu, S. (13 de marzo de 2023). ‘The Last of Us’ Season 1 Finale Scores 8.2 Million Viewers, Reaching Series High Despite Oscars Competition. Variety. https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/the-last-of-us-season-1-finale-ratings-viewers-1235551465/

Harvey, C. (2015). Fantastic Transmedia. Narrative, Play and Memory Across Science Fiction and Fantasy Storyworlds. Palgrave Macmillan.

Herrero, J. V., González-Neira, A. y Quintas-Froufe, N. (2019). La audiencia activa en la ficción transmedia: plataformas, interactividad y medición. Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, (73), 73-93. https://doi.org/10.4185/RLCS-2019-1322

Hibberd, J. (27 de enero de 2023). ‘The Last of Us’ Renewed for Season 2 by HBO as Premiere Hits 22M Viewers. The Hollywood Reporter. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/last-of-us-season-2-hbo-1235308683/

Hutcheon, L. (2006). A Theory of Adaptation. Routledge.

Jenkins, H. (2008). Convergence Culture. La cultura de la convergencia de los medios de comunicación. Paidós Ibérica.

Jenkins, H. (12 de diciembre de 2019). The Revenge of the Origami Unicorn: Seven Principles of Transmedia Storytelling. Henry Jenkins [Blog personal]. https://henryjenkins.org/blog/2009/12/the_revenge_of_the_origami_uni.html

Jenkins, H., Green, J. y Ford, S. (2015). Cultura transmedia. La creación de contenido y valor en una cultura en red. Gedisa.

Kinder, M. (1991). Playing with power in movies, television and video games. From Muppet Babies to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. University of California Press.

Ligero, J. A. (2019). El videojuego como texto esencial en la narrativa transmedia: El mundo ficcional de Zone of the Enders. Caracteres: estudios culturales y críticos de la esfera digital, 8(1) pp. 140-167. http://revistacaracteres.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Caracteresvol8n1mayo2019-videojuego-texto.pdf

Lipovetsky, G. y Serroy, J. (2009). La pantalla global. Cultura mediática y cine en la era hipermoderna. Anagrama.

López-Delacruz, S. (2020). Acciones transmediáticas propuestas desde el universo cinematográfico de The Conjuring. Brumal. Revista de investigación sobre lo Fantástico, 8(2), 63-86. https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/brumal.721

López-Delacruz, S. (2023). Expansión transmediática desde los videojuegos: el caso de Uncharted. Leteo: Revista de Investigación y Producción en Humanidades, 4(8), 22-30. https://vocero.uach.mx/index.php/leteo/article/view/1283

Márquez, I. (2015). Una genealogía de las pantallas. Del cine al teléfono móvil. Anagrama.

McLuhan, M. (1996). Comprender los medios de comunicación. Las extensiones del ser humano. Paidós Ibérica.

Pérez, J. M. G. (2020). Sorteando obstáculos: notas para el estudio de la cultura transmedia. Indivisa, Boletín de Estudios e Investigación, 20, 235-247. https://doi.org/10.37382/indivisa.vi20.87

Pérez-Latorre, Ó., Oliva, M. y Besalú, R. (2017). Videogame analysis: a social-semiotic approach. Social Semiotics, 27(5), 586-603. https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2016.1191146

Scolari, C. (2013). Narrativas transmedia. Cuando todos los medios cuentan. Planeta.

Scolari, C. (2024). Sobre la evolución de los medios. Emergencia, adaptación y supervivencia. Ampersand.

Stake, R. (1999). Investigación con estudio de caso. Ediciones Morata. Srnicek, N. (2016). Capitalismo de plataformas. Caja Negra Editora.

TheGeronimo73 (12 de enero de 2021). SONY | CES 2021 | PS5. [Archivo de video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tssd7ZypG9E

Tosca, S. (2015). Introduction to the Special Issue. Brumal. Revista de investigación sobre lo Fantástico, 3(1), 7-12. https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/brumal.214

Tosca, S. y Klastrup, L. (2019). Transmedial Worlds in Everyday Life. Networked Reception, Social Media and Fictional Worlds. Routledge.

Yin, R. (2003). Case study research. Design and Methods. SAGE Publications.

Yip, D. K. M. (2021). The Hidden Art of Transmedia Storytelling Across Cinema and Video Game. En E. Markopoulos, R. Goonetilleke, A. Ho, y Y. Luximon (Eds.), Advances in Creativity, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Communication of Design (pp. 569-573). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80094