Playing at a Distance

An essential exploration of video game aesthetic that decenters the human player and challenges what it means to play. Do we play video games or do video games play us? Is nonhuman play a mere paradox or the future of gaming? And what do video games have to do with quantum theory? In Playing at a Di...

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Váldodahkki: Fizek, Sonia
Materiálatiipa: Online
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Almmustuhtton: The MIT Press 2022
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Liŋkkat:ONIX_20221118_9780262372190_12
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author Fizek, Sonia
author_browse Fizek, Sonia
author_facet Fizek, Sonia
author_sort Fizek, Sonia
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description An essential exploration of video game aesthetic that decenters the human player and challenges what it means to play. Do we play video games or do video games play us? Is nonhuman play a mere paradox or the future of gaming? And what do video games have to do with quantum theory? In Playing at a Distance, Sonia Fizek engages with these and many more daunting questions, forging new ways to think and talk about games and play that decenter the human player and explore a variety of play formats and practices that require surprisingly little human action. Idling in clicker games, wandering in walking simulators, automating gameplay with bots, or simply watching games rather than playing them—Fizek shows how these seemingly marginal cases are central to understanding how we play in the digital age. Introducing the concept of distance, Fizek reorients our view of computer-mediated play. To “play at a distance,” she says, is to delegate the immediate action to the machine and to become participants in an algorithmic spectacle. Distance as a media aesthetic framework enables the reader to come to terms with the ambiguity and aesthetic diversity of play. Drawing on concepts from philosophy, media theory, and posthumanism, as well as cultural and film studies, Playing at a Distance invites a wider understanding of what digital games and gaming are in all their diverse experiences and forms. In challenging the common perception of video games as inherently interactive, the book contributes to our understanding of the computer's influence on practices of play—and prods us to think more broadly about what it means to play.
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publisher The MIT Press
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-938912024-03-28T18:41:55Z Playing at a Distance Fizek, Sonia game studies video games play theory media studies media theory aesthetics media aesthetics digital media cultural studies videogame philosophy game ontology non-human play player posthumanism agency interaction intra-action interactivity interpassivity control automation AI self-play auto-play ambience spectacle spectatorship idling thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCT Media studies::JBCT3 Media studies: advertising and society thema EDItEUR::U Computing and Information Technology::UD Digital Lifestyle and online world: consumer and user guides::UDX Computer games / online games: strategy guides An essential exploration of video game aesthetic that decenters the human player and challenges what it means to play. Do we play video games or do video games play us? Is nonhuman play a mere paradox or the future of gaming? And what do video games have to do with quantum theory? In Playing at a Distance, Sonia Fizek engages with these and many more daunting questions, forging new ways to think and talk about games and play that decenter the human player and explore a variety of play formats and practices that require surprisingly little human action. Idling in clicker games, wandering in walking simulators, automating gameplay with bots, or simply watching games rather than playing them—Fizek shows how these seemingly marginal cases are central to understanding how we play in the digital age. Introducing the concept of distance, Fizek reorients our view of computer-mediated play. To “play at a distance,” she says, is to delegate the immediate action to the machine and to become participants in an algorithmic spectacle. Distance as a media aesthetic framework enables the reader to come to terms with the ambiguity and aesthetic diversity of play. Drawing on concepts from philosophy, media theory, and posthumanism, as well as cultural and film studies, Playing at a Distance invites a wider understanding of what digital games and gaming are in all their diverse experiences and forms. In challenging the common perception of video games as inherently interactive, the book contributes to our understanding of the computer's influence on practices of play—and prods us to think more broadly about what it means to play. 2022-11-18T11:05:22Z 2022-11-18T11:05:22Z 2022 book ONIX_20221118_9780262372190_12 9780262372190 9780262544627 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/93891 eng The MIT Press image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/13605.001.0001 The MIT Press The MIT Press 10.7551/mitpress/13605.001.0001 10.7551/mitpress/13605.001.0001 ae0cf962-f685-4933-93d1-916defa5123d 9780262372190 9780262544627 The MIT Press 186 Cambridge open access
spellingShingle game studies
video games
play theory
media studies
media theory
aesthetics
media aesthetics
digital media
cultural studies
videogame philosophy
game ontology
non-human play
player
posthumanism
agency
interaction
intra-action
interactivity
interpassivity
control
automation
AI
self-play
auto-play
ambience
spectacle
spectatorship
idling
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCT Media studies::JBCT3 Media studies: advertising and society
thema EDItEUR::U Computing and Information Technology::UD Digital Lifestyle and online world: consumer and user guides::UDX Computer games / online games: strategy guides
Fizek, Sonia
Playing at a Distance
title Playing at a Distance
title_full Playing at a Distance
title_fullStr Playing at a Distance
title_full_unstemmed Playing at a Distance
title_short Playing at a Distance
title_sort playing at a distance
topic game studies
video games
play theory
media studies
media theory
aesthetics
media aesthetics
digital media
cultural studies
videogame philosophy
game ontology
non-human play
player
posthumanism
agency
interaction
intra-action
interactivity
interpassivity
control
automation
AI
self-play
auto-play
ambience
spectacle
spectatorship
idling
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCT Media studies::JBCT3 Media studies: advertising and society
thema EDItEUR::U Computing and Information Technology::UD Digital Lifestyle and online world: consumer and user guides::UDX Computer games / online games: strategy guides
topic_facet game studies
video games
play theory
media studies
media theory
aesthetics
media aesthetics
digital media
cultural studies
videogame philosophy
game ontology
non-human play
player
posthumanism
agency
interaction
intra-action
interactivity
interpassivity
control
automation
AI
self-play
auto-play
ambience
spectacle
spectatorship
idling
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCT Media studies::JBCT3 Media studies: advertising and society
thema EDItEUR::U Computing and Information Technology::UD Digital Lifestyle and online world: consumer and user guides::UDX Computer games / online games: strategy guides
url ONIX_20221118_9780262372190_12
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