TY - JOUR
T1 - Controllers and the Magic Kingdom
T2 - Corporate Partnership, Synergy and the Limits of Cross-Promotion in Disney and Square Enix’s Kingdom Hearts III (2019)
AU - Denison, Rayna L
PY - 2022/9
Y1 - 2022/9
N2 - Who controls the Kingdom Heartsfranchise? This article examines this question using a mixed industrial and promotional approach to seek moments of revelation about the creation and status of the Kingdom Heartsfranchise for both of its conglomerate co-creators, Disney and Square Enix. Disney’s conglomerated industrial practice has long been assessed for adherence to the concept of synergy. By examining where and how synergy was adopted as an industrial logic within the creation of the Kingdom Heartsfranchise, and Kingdom Hearts IIIin particular, I argue that it is in moments of tension wherewe can find the most instructive evidence for who controls the games we play. Following work by Janet Wasko (2001) and Barbara Klinger (1999) in particular, I first look across the shared discursive history of the franchise and then at the promotion of Kingdom Hearts IIIfor instances where synergy breaks down or becomes contested. These, I contend, demonstrate the limits of the logic of synergy in cross-cultural, transindustrial production cultures.
AB - Who controls the Kingdom Heartsfranchise? This article examines this question using a mixed industrial and promotional approach to seek moments of revelation about the creation and status of the Kingdom Heartsfranchise for both of its conglomerate co-creators, Disney and Square Enix. Disney’s conglomerated industrial practice has long been assessed for adherence to the concept of synergy. By examining where and how synergy was adopted as an industrial logic within the creation of the Kingdom Heartsfranchise, and Kingdom Hearts IIIin particular, I argue that it is in moments of tension wherewe can find the most instructive evidence for who controls the games we play. Following work by Janet Wasko (2001) and Barbara Klinger (1999) in particular, I first look across the shared discursive history of the franchise and then at the promotion of Kingdom Hearts IIIfor instances where synergy breaks down or becomes contested. These, I contend, demonstrate the limits of the logic of synergy in cross-cultural, transindustrial production cultures.
U2 - 10.7202/1092425arCopiedAn error has occurred
DO - 10.7202/1092425arCopiedAn error has occurred
M3 - Article (Academic Journal)
VL - 15
SP - 37
JO - Loading... The Journal of the Canadian Games Studies Association
JF - Loading... The Journal of the Canadian Games Studies Association
IS - 25
ER -