PhD Oral Exam - Michael Iantorno, Communication Studies

When studying for a doctoral degree (PhD), candidates submit a thesis that provides a critical review of the current state of knowledge of the thesis subject as well as the student’s own contributions to the subject. The distinguishing criterion of doctoral graduate research is a significant and original contribution to knowledge.

Once accepted, the candidate presents the thesis orally. This oral exam is open to the public.

Abstract

This dissertation explores the informal practices, technologies, and industries that have proliferated alongside the Super NES/Super Famicom (SNES/SFC) videogame console since its initial release. The SNES/SFC was manufactured and distributed by Nintendo in the early nineties and remains an important cultural touchstone due to its prominent role in the so-called console wars, its status as Nintendo’s last 2D television console, and its large and influential library of games. My research joins a growing number of academic projects that expand the platform studies archive by decentring corporate narratives and interrogating the central role of user-driven activities in negotiating a console’s meaning and its multifarious media imaginaries.

In this dissertation, I adopt a post-humanist media archaeological methodology that combines hands-on tinkering, hybrid ethnography, and collaborations with material communities. My approach is inclusive of areas of study that are typically excluded from historical accounts due to their status as unauthorised, unofficial, or even illegal. I chronicle the emergence of informal SNES/SFC emulators in the nineties; collaborate with citizen archivists who restore the Satellaview’s abandoned software ecosystems; create bespoke reproduction cartridges to uncover the origins of bootleg games; and leverage hacker-made tools to interrogate diverse fan localisation and ROM-hacking efforts. In addition to generating insights about the console itself, my research ties the SNES/SFC into broader debates concerning intellectual property law, creative labour, and media obsolescence. Throughout Afterlives of the SNES/SFC, I broaden, complicate, and accentuate existing media historical analyses of the residual videogame console.