Paper Abstract - Susana Pajares Tosca

This page is part of the CRIC web archive

PLAYING WITH THE FUTURE:
DEVELOPMENT AND DIRECTIONS
IN COMPUTER GAMING

HOME | PRESS RELEASE | ABSTRACTS | PROGRAMME | PHOTOS

ABSTRACT

Games ARE the New Black

Susana Pajares Tosca

A recent and influential addition to the functional uses of games noted by Avedon and Sutton-Smith is the use of games in the academic community. It would seem that games are a new cool academic icon, specially for us in the humanities. This year alone there are close to 10 conferences which focus on computer games. But is this focus exclusive? Academics from all backgrounds are flowing into this brave new field performing analyses that concentrate on narrative, psychological, or gender issues in games among other things. Why have games suddenly become such an interesting object of study? What is the functional value of games in this context?

Probably the main question behind this paper is if we are talking about games or about us, applying our "old" perspectives and theories to a new object of study that is radically different. Unlike in the case of previous humanistic revolutions ?I am thinking about the "birth" of cultural studies, the disruption of the literary canon and the interest of academics in what has been called popular culture genres, like soap operas or science fiction? this is the first time that we focus on an object that is not a text in the semiotic sense (or not only a text), but something else entirely. Narratives (books, plays, films) are interpreted, games are played, but the gameplay seems conspicuously absent from the current discussion. There are various possible reasons for this: it might be that other things are considered more interesting (like themes or interpretations) or that playing is an activity that is not seen as appropriate to be handled with the humanist tools. Maybe we can gain some insights by considering the discussion about high/popular culture and even the discussion about interactivity and art in relationship to games and the decision to undertake academic study/teaching of games. Is it games we are really talking about? What can we learn from this discussions as a community of researchers trying to "establish" a new field?

Back to Abstracts page

Top

CRIC is now proud to be part of the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research (MIoIR)
Centre for Research on Innovation and Competition (CRIC), The University of Manchester,
Harold Hankins Building, Booth Street West, Manchester M13 9QH, England
Phone +44 (0)161 275 7365 Fax: +44 (0) 161 275 7361
Site maintained by: Ishty Hussain