Phantasmal Spaces - Archetypical Venues in Computer Games

Recognizable, recurring spatial settings in video games serve not only as points of reference and signposts for orientation, but also as implicit sources of content. These spatial archetypes denote more than real-world objects or settings: they suggest and bring forward emotional states, historical context, atmospheric "attunement," in the words of Massumi, and aesthetic programs that go beyond plain semiotic reference.In each chapter, Mathias Fuchs brings to the fore an archetype commonly found in old and new digital games: The Ruin, The Cave, The Cloud, The Portal, The Road, The Forest, and The Island are each analysed at length, through the perspectives of aesthetics, games technology, psychoanalysis, and intertextuality. Gridding these seven tropes together with these four analytical lenses provides the reader with a systematic framework to understand the various complex considerations at play in evocative game design.>

About the author

Mathias Fuchs is Professor of Culture and Aesthetics of Media at Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Germany. An artist as well as media scholar, Fuchs pioneered the artistic use of computer games and has exhibited work at ISEA, SIGGRAPH and the Millennium Dome. He is the editor of Diversity of Play (2015) and co-editor of Rethinking Gamification (2014).

Product details

• Authors: Mathias Fuchs, Mathias (Leuphana University of Luneburg Fuchs, FUCHS MATHIAS
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 30.04.2019
• EAN: 9781501332920
• ISBN: 978-1-5013-3292-0
• No. of pages: 176
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art; Social sciences, law, business > Media, communication > Media science; Computer- und Onlinespiele, Medienwissenschaften, Sociology, GAMES / Video & Electronic, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Media Studies, ART / Digital