Playing with non-humans: digital games as techno-cultural form

Giddings, S. (2005) Playing with non-humans: digital games as techno-cultural form. In: Proceedings of DiGRA 2005 Conference: Changing Views - Worlds in Play, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 16-20 June 2005.

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Abstract

Game studies has yet to engage with a sustained debate on the implications of its fundamentally technologically based foundation – i.e. the ‘digitality’ of digital games. This essay calls for such a debate and offers some initial thoughts on issues and directions. The humanities and social sciences are founded on the principle that historical and cultural agency reside solely in the human and the social. Drawing on Science and Technology Studies, Actor-Network Theory and cybercultural studies, this essay argues that a full understanding of both the playing of digital games, and the wider techno-cultural context of this play, is only possible through a recognition and theorisation of technological agency. Taking the Gameboy Advance game Advance Wars 2 as a case study, the essay explores the implications for game studies of attention to non-human agency – specifically the agency of simulation and artificial life software - in digital game play.

Item Type:Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Uncontrolled Keywords:technoculture, game studies, technological agency, actor network theory, cyberculture, simulation, artificial intelligence, artificial life
Faculty/Department:Faculty of Arts, Creative Industries and Education > Department of Creative Industries
~Pre-2012 Faculty Structure > Faculty of Creative Arts, Humanities and Education > Digital Cultures Research Centre
ID Code:15062
Deposited By: A. Lawson
Deposited On:20 Jun 2011 11:15
Last Modified:25 Nov 2012 23:39

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