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Oscar Moralde

@oscarmoralde.com

Visiting Lecturer in Media Studies, Washington University in St. Louis. I study embodied aesthetics and ideology in video games and digital media. Steam tells me I have 2,710 hours played in Time Clickers

Posts Replies Media

Oscar Moralde @oscarmoralde.com · 14/08/2026

Finally, I analyze showcase streams as media texts that weave together game trailers and interstitial material (featuring hosts, guests, and brand iconography), using ideological appeals to produce cycles of anticipation that can last months and (usually) even many years.

Geoff Keighley, in dark jacket and grey shirt, stands with a microphone on stage. Behind him is a large video screen an image showing "Top 10 New Steam Games, January - May 24 (by units)" and images of the games Palworld, Helldivers 2, Enshrouded, Manor Lords, Supermarket Simulator, Hades II, Dragon's Dogma II, Balatro, Deep Rock Galactic Survivor, and Buckshot Roulette. The foreground shows many audience members seated in the auditorium.

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Oscar Moralde @oscarmoralde.com · 14/08/2026

(Understanding cultural intermediaries feels essential to mapping out the business of contemporary indie games, and the work by Perks, Parker, Whitson et al. is extremely helpful on this front: dx.doi.org/10.3998/mij.15031809.0006.202 )

Media Industries Journal website.

Article titled Autonomy, Integration, and the Work of Cultural Intermediation in Indie Games.

Matthew E. Perks
University of Waterloo
matthew.e.perks [AT] gmail.com

Felan Parker
St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto
felan.parker [AT] utoronto.ca

Jennifer R. Whitson
University of Waterloo
jwhitson [AT] uwaterloo.ca

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Oscar Moralde @oscarmoralde.com · 14/08/2026

Though these showcases are now designed for internet livestreaming rather than convention halls, I discuss how the seasonal concentration in Northern summer shapes the strategies of not just large publishers but also indie devs working with cultural intermediaries like Wholesome Games and The MIX.

Table 1. Game Showcase Presentations, May-July 2024.

Date Show Presenter Presenter Type

Affiliated with Summer Game Fest

June 7 Summer Game Fest Summer Game Fest Event Organizer
Day of the Devs Double Fine, iam8bit Cultural intermediary
Devolver Direct Devolver Digital Indie publisher

June 8 Future of Play GLITCH Cultural intermediary
Wholesome Direct Wholesome Games Cultural intermediary
Latin American Games Showcase Latin American Games Showcase Cultural intermediary
Women-Led Games Women-Led Games Cultural intermediary
Future Games Show Future plc News publisher

June 9 Xbox Games Showcase Microsoft Platform holder
PC Gaming Show Future plc News publisher

June 10 Ubisoft Forward Ubisoft AAA publisher

Unaffiliated with Summer Game Fest
May 25 INDIE Live Expo Ryu’s Office Cultural intermediary
May 29 AG French Direct ActuGaming News publisher
May 30 Sony State of Play Sony Platform holder
May 30 Marvelous Game Showcase Marvelous Indie publisher
June 1 Next Indie Direct Next Indie Cultural intermediary
June 4 OTK Games Expo OTK Media Cultural intermediary
June 6 Guerrilla Collective Media Indie Exchange Cultural intermediary
June 7 Access-Ability Summer Showcase Access-Ability Cultural intermediary
June 12 Black Voices in Gaming / Dames4Games Media Indie Exchange Cultural intermediary
June 18 Nintendo Direct Nintendo Platform holder
June 20 LRG3 Limited Run Games Indie publisher
June 26 UploadVR Showcase UploadVR News publisher
July 1 Capcom Next Capcom AAA publisher

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Oscar Moralde @oscarmoralde.com · 14/08/2026

Through the 1990s and 2000s, these presentations served as displays of game publishers' autonomy and prestige as individual companies and as a collective industry distinct from toys and consumer electronics, conveyed to a wider audience through enthusiast magazines and websites.

A magazine excerpt from the "Press Start" section titled "E3 2000: Come Out and Play." Seven photographs depict the Electronic Entertainment Expo and feature convention-goers and people dressed as the video game characters Lara Croft, Ulala, and Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man. Written text follows: "Phew! The insanity that was the 2000 Electronic Entertainment Expo is over! Also known as E3, the show is host to all the new games and hardware that will be introduced over the next year in the U.S. This year's show marked the first time Sony showed off the U.S. PS2 hardware, and as such was given major attention by major media outlets, not just the humble gaming press like EGM. Sega and Nintendo knew they had strong competition, and came out swinging with plenty of potential blockbusters, including new games starring Sonic, Mario, and all those cuddly Pokemon. Microsoft also proved they were serious about getting into the console market---their X-Box demo blew us away, and was on the lips of many a developer and PR flunkies. The rest of Press Start this month is dedicated to the sights, sounds, and news of the show. Check the top of each page for our picks on the winners (and maybe a few losers) of the show. Until next year!"

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Oscar Moralde @oscarmoralde.com · 26/03/2026

I'll be at #scms26 at 2:15pm today (Session C) with @hyeonjin.bsky.social and @kategalloway.bsky.social! Drop by

SCMS Schedule Listing
Panel C20 Embodying and Performing Gameworld Sonic Environments
Swissôtel Gstaad/Zermatt
LUCERNE LEVEL

Chair Kate Galloway, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Kate Galloway, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
“A Walkie-Talkie, A Telephone, A Field Recorder: Embodied Environmental Knowledge and Sound Technologies of Placemaking”

Oscar Moralde, Washington University in St. Louis
“‘Wait, someone’s singing now?!’: The Performative Spectacle of Boss Fight Music in Final Fantasy XIV”

Hyeonjin Park, University of California, Los Angeles
“Feels Bad to Suck: Dealing with Failure in Celeste and Its Music”

sponsored by Sound and Music Studies Scholarly Interest Group

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Oscar Moralde @oscarmoralde.com · 26/08/2025

Tackling two new course preps after spending most of the past month making a cross-country move which was also the first time moving in 15 years

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Oscar Moralde @oscarmoralde.com · 08/08/2025

Also with my last credits I took a chance on the claw machine, and I choose to believe this is an auspicious sign for my travels

A plush Donkey Kong in front of the claw machine from which he emerged

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Oscar Moralde @oscarmoralde.com · 05/04/2025

Looking forward to chairing this #SCMS25 panel on Video Games and Advertising later today! 5:15 to 7:00 (and then the SIG social is right after...)

N18 Video Games and Advertising
Industry, Ideology, and Identity
Swissotel Alpine 1 (Lucerne Level)
Ben Latini, "Is that Dude Cool or What?": Video Game Comics, Masculinity, and the Cultural Construction of the Gamer
Evan Lauteria, "Japanese Game Advertisements, Localization, and Mythologies of Cultural Difference"
Megan Condis and Jess Morrissette, "Console Wars: How Nintendo and Sega Shaped the Image of Gaming in the 1990s"
Oscar Moralde, "Video Game Industry Showcase Presentations and the Construction of Perpetual Anticipation"

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