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Book

Unit Operations: An Approach to Videogame Criticism

01 Jan 2006-
TL;DR: In Unit Operations, Ian Bogost argues that similar principles underlie both literary theory and computation, proposing a literary-technical theory that can be used to analyze particular videogames and argues for the possibility of real collaboration between the humanities and information technology.
Abstract: In Unit Operations, Ian Bogost argues that similar principles underlie both literary theory and computation, proposing a literary-technical theory that can be used to analyze particular videogames. Moreover, this approach can be applied beyond videogames: Bogost suggests that any medium -- from videogames to poetry, literature, cinema, or art -- can be read as a configurative system of discrete, interlocking units of meaning, and he illustrates this method of analysis with examples from all these fields. The marriage of literary theory and information technology, he argues, will help humanists take technology more seriously and hep technologists better understand software and videogames as cultural artifacts. This approach is especially useful for the comparative analysis of digital and nondigital artifacts and allows scholars from other fields who are interested in studying videogames to avoid the esoteric isolation of "game studies." The richness of Bogost's comparative approach can be seen in his discussions of works by such philosophers and theorists as Plato, Badiou, Zizek, and McLuhan, and in his analysis of numerous videogames including Pong, Half-Life, and Star Wars Galaxies. Bogost draws on object technology and complex adaptive systems theory for his method of unit analysis, underscoring the configurative aspects of a wide variety of human processes. His extended analysis of freedom in large virtual spaces examines Grand Theft Auto 3, The Legend of Zelda, Flaubert's Madame Bovary, and Joyce's Ulysses. In Unit Operations, Bogost not only offers a new methodology for videogame criticism but argues for the possibility of real collaboration between the humanities and information technology.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Russell W. Belk1
TL;DR: In this paper, a conceptual update of the extended self was proposed to revitalize the concept, incorporate the impacts of digitization, and provide an understanding of consumer sense of self in today's technological environment.
Abstract: The extended self was proposed in 1988. Since it was formulated, many technological changes have dramatically affected the way we consume, present ourselves, and communicate. This conceptual update seeks to revitalize the concept, incorporate the impacts of digitization, and provide an understanding of consumer sense of self in today’s technological environment. It is necessarily a work in progress, for the digital environment and our behavior within it continue to evolve. But some important changes are already clear. Five changes with digital consumption are considered that impact the nature of self and the nature of possessions. Needed modifications and additions to the extended self are outlined, and directions for future research are suggested. The digital world opens a host of new means for self-extension, using many new consumption objects to reach a vastly broader audience. Even though this calls for certain reformulations, the basic concept of the extended self remains vital.

1,135 citations


Cites background from "Unit Operations: An Approach to Vid..."

  • ...In The Sims, consumption is the raison d’être for playing the game and includes buying a house and filling it with consumer goods (Bogost 2006; Molesworth 2006)....

    [...]

MonographDOI
01 Jan 2011
TL;DR: Bryant as mentioned in this paper proposes that objects are dynamic systems that relate to the world under conditions of operational closure and develops a realist ontology, called -onticology-, which argues that being is composed entirely of objects, properties, and relations.
Abstract: In The Democracy of Objects Bryant proposes that we break with the epistemological tradition and once again initiate the project of ontology as first philosophy. Bryant develops a realist ontology, called -onticology-, which argues that being is composed entirely of objects, properties, and relations. Bryant proposes that objects are dynamic systems that relate to the world under conditions of operational closure.

503 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that games are domains of contrived contingency, capable of generating emergent practices and interpretations, and are intimately connected with everyday life to a degree heretofore poorly understood.
Abstract: Games have intruded into popular, academic, and policy-maker awareness to an unprecedented level, and this creates new opportunities for advancing our understanding of the relationship of games to society. The author offers a new approach to games that stresses them as characterized by process. Games, the author argues, are domains of contrived contingency, capable of generating emergent practices and interpretations, and are intimately connected with everyday life to a degree heretofore poorly understood. This approach is both consistent with a range of existing social theory and avoids many of the limitations that have characterized much games scholarship to date, in particular its tendency toward unsustainable formalism and exceptionalism. Rather than seeing gaming as a subset of play, and therefore as an activity that is inherently separable, safe, and pleasurable, the author offers a pragmatic rethinking of games as social artifacts in their own right that are always in the process of becoming. This ...

343 citations


Cites background from "Unit Operations: An Approach to Vid..."

  • ...…in Janet Murray’s (1997) term, its procedurality—this kind of unpredictability becomes a powerful and implicit aspect of computer games, as Ian Bogost (2006) has discussed.8 Another source of contingency is social contingency (MacIntyre, 1984, pp. 97-99, called this “game-theoretic”…...

    [...]

Book
01 Jan 2011
TL;DR: This book gives Graham Harman's most forceful critique to date of philosophies that reject objects as a primary reality and introduces the term ontography as the study of the different possible permutations of objects and qualities.
Abstract: "Harman's style often evokes that of a William James merged with the spirit of H.P. Lovecraft." Olivier Surel in Actu Philosophia In this book the metaphysical system of Graham Harman is presented in lucid form, aided by helpful diagrams. In Chapter 1, Harman gives his most forceful critique to date of philosophies that reject objects as a primary reality. All such rejections are tainted by either an "undermining" or "overmining" approach to objects. In Chapters 2 and 3, he reviews his concepts of sensual and real objects. In the process, he attacks the prestige normally granted to philosophies of human access, which Harman links for the first time to the already discredited "Menos Paradox." In Chapters 4 through 7, Harman brings the reader up to speed on his interpretation of Heidegger, which culminates in a fourfold structure of objects linked by indirect causation. In Chapter 8, he speculates on the implications of this theory for the debate over panpsychism, which Harman both embraces and rejects. In Chapters 9 and 10, he introduces the term "ontography" as the study of the different possible permutations of objects and qualities, which he simplifies with easily remembered terminology drawn from standard playing cards.

339 citations

Book
18 Jun 2012
TL;DR: This in-depth resource teaches you to craft mechanics that generate challenging, enjoyable, and well-balanced gameplay in games and learns how to visualize and simulate game mechanics in order to design better games.
Abstract: This in-depth resource teaches you to craft mechanics that generate challenging, enjoyable, and well-balanced gameplay. Youll discover at what stages to prototype, test, and implement mechanics in games and learn how to visualize and simulate game mechanics in order to design better games. Along the way, youll practice what youve learned with hands-on lessons. A free downloadable simulation tool developed by Joris Dormans is also available in order to follow along with exercises in the book in an easy-to-use graphical environment. In Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design, youll learn how to: * Design and balance game mechanics to create emergent gameplay before you write a single line of code. * Visualize the internal economy so that you can immediately see what goes on in a complex game. * Use novel prototyping techniques that let you simulate games and collect vast quantities of gameplay data on the first day of development. * Apply design patterns for game mechanicsfrom a library in this bookto improve your game designs. * Explore the delicate balance between game mechanics and level design to create compelling, long-lasting game experiences. * Replace fixed, scripted events in your game with dynamic progression systems to give your players a new experience every time they play. "I've been waiting for a book like this for ten years: packed with game design goodness that tackles the science without undermining the art." --Richard Bartle, University of Essex, co-author of the first MMORPG Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design by Joris Dormans & Ernest Adams formalizes game grammar quite well. Not sure I need to write a next book now! -- Raph Koster, author of A Theory of Fun for Game Design.

192 citations

References
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Book
01 Nov 2002
TL;DR: The America's Army: Operations game as discussed by the authors is a full game with training missions, multiplayer gameplay, the making of America's army movie, and other bonus features, including the U.S. Army's weapons and equipment.
Abstract: From the Publisher: Empower Yourself Defend Freedom Free game disc: ·Includes full America's Army: Operations game, complete with training missions, multiplayer gameplay, the making of America's Army movie, and other bonus features. ·Authentic U.S. Army weapons and equipment ·Real-world situations ·Accurate locations and hotspots ·Small-unit combat operations and training ·Powered by The Next Generation Unreal engine ·Detailed, immersive graphics Prima's Official Strategy Guide: ·Weapon tips for the entire arsenal, including sniper rifles and grenade launchers ·Tips for qualifying for the training school of your choice ·Combat tips from the U.S Army ·Detailed information for every online role from Squad Leader to Sniper ·How to best function as a team member in combat! ·Exclusive maps of every area give you the edge ·Read about making of America's Army ·Learn about the U.S. Army from West Point military scholars

58 citations

Book
01 Mar 1995

54 citations

Book
12 Apr 1972

49 citations

Book
11 Jun 2003
TL;DR: In this excellent introduction to game architecture, you'll explore all the major subsystems of modern game engines and learn professional techniques used in actual games, as well as Teapot Wars, a game created specifically for this book.
Abstract: Welcome to Game Coding Complete, Fourth Edition, the newest edition of the essential, hands-on guide to developing commercial-quality games. Written by two veteran game programmers, the book examines the entire game development process and all the unique challenges associated with creating a game. In this excellent introduction to game architecture, you'll explore all the major subsystems of modern game engines and learn professional techniques used in actual games, as well as Teapot Wars, a game created specifically for this book. This updated fourth edition uses the latest versions of DirectX and Visual Studio, and it includes expanded chapter coverage of game actors, AI, shader programming, LUA scripting, the C# editor, and other important updates to every chapter. All the code and examples presented have been tested and used in commercial video games, and the book is full of invaluable best practices, professional tips and tricks, and cautionary advice.

46 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Iona1, Peter Opie1
TL;DR: To say that children should be allowed this last freedom, to play their own games in their own way, is scarcely to say more than John Locke said almost three centuries ago.
Abstract: In the past, traditional games were thought to be dying out, few people cared, and the games continued to flourish. In the present day we assume children to have lost the ability to entertain themselves, we become concerned, and are liable, by our concern, to make what is not true a reality. In the long run, nothing extinguishes self-organized play more effectively than does action to promote it. It is not only natural but beneficial that there should be a gulf between the generations in their choice of recreation. Those people are happiest who can most rely on their own resources; and it is to be wondered whether middle-class children in the United States will ever reach maturity ‘whose playtime has become almost as completely organized and supervised as their study’ (Carl Withers). If children9s games are tamed and made part of school curricula, if wastelands are turned into playingfields for the benefit of those who conform and ape their elders, if children are given the idea that they cannot enjoy themselves without being provided with the ‘proper’ equipment, we need blame only ourselves when we produce a generation who have lost their dignity, who are ever dissatisfied, and who descend for their sport to the easy excitement of rioting, or pilfering, or vandalism. But to say that children should be allowed this last freedom, to play their own games in their own way, is scarcely to say more than John Locke said almost three centuries ago: ‘Children have as much a Mind to shew that they are free, that their own good Actions come from themselves, that they are absolute and independent, as any of the proudest of your grown Men.’

46 citations