1 CHILDREN’S SOFTWARE, MEDIA FETISHISM, AND THE SPECIAL EFFECT Mizuko Ito mito@itofisher.com Paper presented at the 1999 Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Chicago In two decades, computer games have moved from a fringe domain of hackers and enthusiasts into the position of a major entertainment indusry (Sheff 1993). In 1992, Nintendo was more profitable than Microsoft, IBM, Apple, or all major movie studios combined. Industry growth has continued to be strong as the Internet boom has been fueling PC purchases. Software for young children, which is only one small cut of the overall entertainment software pie, has followed a similar trajectory. The early years were dominated by small-scale developers who shared an educational and research orientation. In the past five years or so, the children’s software sector has been going through massive mergers and acquisitions. Traditional toy and media companies such as Disney, Mattel, Lucas, and Lego now dominate, and independent developers can’t succeed without the backing of one of these corporations. Children’s software is now available at your local Wal Mart and Costco at bargain discounts. Production value is almost always high, featuring beautiful artwork, professional voice talent, and sometimes even 3D computer graphics. As it’s gone mainstream, the social networks around children’s software have expanded and changed quite dramatically at all layers of production, distribution, marketing, and consumption.