Games and Culture

In John P. Gee’s article “Video Games and Embodiment” he posits the interesting relationship between the game and the game player. He breaks down his analysis to show that a character is created with certain specifics in mind but that the character then embodied by the player who inserts within the game play his/her own emotions, thoughts, and actions. Gee also notes that this is not a one way effect as the games character also embodies the player; inserting into the player is the game character’s mindset, landscape, and other aesthetics of that the game creator placed into the game. Another key point in the article is that games are created in a way to mimic situations in the real world allowing the player to draw on past experiences or gain new knowledge as to what works within a given model situation or as Gee stated: “We can act in the model and test out what consequences follow before we act in the real world” (256).

The other article I read from the Games and Culture journal was “Comparative Video Game Criticism” by Ian Bogost. In this article he states that there are two modes of thought – the mythical which is the observation of the real world and the scientific which focuses on the invisible. Bogost states that games can be used as a mirror up to society and how we communicate. Games are a mythical way to investigate aspects usually found in the scientific world. Next he discusses the connection that has been made between literature and the industrial revolution, focusing on the relationship between man and the machine. This is a major part of the postmodernist movement that arose after World War II and found it’s voice during the upheaval in America caused by the Vietnam war which was the first time that technology enabled a bird’s eye view into the horrors of war.