What I learned At School Today
January 19th, 2010 by Senna
Today in my Critical Theory and Analysis of Video Games class, we discussed an article by Ian Bogost, Comparative Video Game Criticism, which was published in the first issue of the publication Games and Culture. He presents an interesting way to look at games in the tradition of literary criticism instead of purely as cultural and entertainment objects. Here’s a summary:
This article explores comparative criticism and videogame software development
through the figure of the bricoleur, the handyman who assembles units of preexisting
meaning to form new structures. An intersection of these two domains — what the author calls comparative videogame criticism –suggests a more intimate interrelation between criticism and production. The author offers a critique of functionalist approaches to videogame analysis and argues instead for a comparative analysis of the expressive capacity of games and how they relate to other forms of human production.
View the entire PDF here.
- 1 Comment »
- Posted in academia, video games
January 20th, 2010 at 11:57 am
I’ve read Bogost’s “Unit Operations” which is basically a full explanation of his critical theory. A unit operation, as he defines it, is a unit of cultural data that gets passed through any number of media. While games share data quite literally through shared code and engines, he uses the theory to unite games under a larger umbrella with all other expressive forms.
I’m currently reading his book “persuasive games”, which is about the expressive potential of games when used as rhetorical tools in education, politics and advertising.
He’s a real smart dude.