In his book Orientalism, Dr. Edward Said wrote about the influence of material culture – journalism, literature, art – on the way people perceive the “Other”. Specifically, he focused on how people from the “West” view the “East”. He wrote: “The phenomenon of Orientalism as studied here has to do… with the internal coherence of Orientalism and its ideas about the East… despite or beyond any correspondence, or lack thereof, with a true “Orient” (Said 71). Dr. Said wrote about how Orientalism, through material culture, encouraged, legitimized, and even enabled British domination of large portions of the Orient by emphasizing, exaggerating, and distorting the differences between Arab peoples and the cultures of North America and of Europe (Said 69) . Orientalism often portrays Arab culture as mysterious, exotic, backward, uncivilized, or dangerous, creating stereotypes that have been reinforced throughout history. Today, in the digital age (where information is just a click or two away, movies are in “high quality” def” and phones can serve as a calculator, camera and GPS), there has been a huge shift of economic interest towards computer-based technology and new media. These have since become an important part of modern culture. According to the Entertainment Software Association's 2012 Sales, Demographics and Usage Report, fifty-eight percent of Americans play video games, and thirty-two percent of those are under the age of 18; a previous study reported that the average gamer in America plays about eight hours each week (“2013 Sales” 2). There is a psychological phenomenon called the “mere exposure effect”. Describes how humans tend to feel an inexplicable preference for people or things with which they are familiar (Fourni...... middle of paper ...... layers (Howard). When choosing what kind of character play at the start of the game, it's easy to see aspects of Orientalism from the depictions and descriptions of each playable "race". The races created for players to play seem almost too realistic: many of them fulfill specific stereotypes associated with real-life ethnicities present throughout the world The Khajiit, based on the Romani people, and the Redguard, who have much in common with Arab and North African cultures, are often subjected to racism and mistrust from other characters in the game (Bethesda Game Studios) . These peoples tend to be stereotyped in the game in the same way that their "base" cultures are stereotyped in the real world. The most "oriental" race in the game are the names, clothing, tribes and Redguard city structures are due to the influence of orientalism