Playing with non-humans: digital games as techno-cultural form

Giddings, Seth

Abstract

Game studies has yet to engage with a sustained debate on the implications of its fundamentally technologically based foundation – i.e. the ‘digitality’ of digital games. This essay calls for such a debate and offers some initial thoughts on issues and directions. The humanities and social sciences are founded on the principle that historical and cultural agency reside solely in the human and the social. Drawing on Science and Technology Studies, Actor-Network Theory and cybercultural studies, this essay argues that a full understanding of both the playing of digital games, and the wider techno-cultural context of this play, is only possible through a recognition and theorisation of technological agency. Taking the Gameboy Advance game Advance Wars 2 as a case study, the essay explores the implications for game studies of attention to non-human agency – specifically the agency of simulation and artificial life software - in digital game play.

Citation

Giddings, S. (2005, June). Playing with non-humans: digital games as techno-cultural form. Paper presented at Proceedings of DiGRA 2005 Conference: Changing Views - Worlds in Play

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: Proceedings of DiGRA 2005 Conference: Changing Views - Worlds in Play
• Start Date: Jun 16, 2005
• End Date: Jun 20, 2005
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2005
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: technoculture, game studies, technological agency, actor network theory, cyberculture, simulation, artificial intelligence, artificial life
• Related Public URLs: http://www.dcrc.org.uk/publications/playing-non-humans-digital-games-techno-cultural-form