Countergaming ftw

Editor's Notes

2. *video games are the dominant form of media of our age - informal youth survey analogy - TV comes 3rd as media source after video games and internet - games have superseded hollywood in terms of sales - games are not strictly youth culture anymore, demographic moving beyond age and gender specificity (STATS)
3. *video games are the dominant form of media of our age - informal youth survey analogy - TV comes 3rd as media source after video games and internet - games have superseded hollywood in terms of sales - games are not strictly youth culture anymore, demographic moving beyond age and gender specificity (STATS)
4. *video games are the dominant form of media of our age - informal youth survey analogy - TV comes 3rd as media source after video games and internet - games have superseded hollywood in terms of sales - games are not strictly youth culture anymore, demographic moving beyond age and gender specificity (STATS) *games are the paradigmatic cultural form of our age that reflect the cultural/political/economic milieu of our times - game logic works both in game texts and in the broader cultural logic - examples (stock markets, game theory, war, test-based education, social entrepeneurship etc...) *key theoretical models of games as defining logic of our era: -algorithmic culture, protological culture (Galloway) - the gamespace (Wark) *these build on broader philosophical & sociological models of contemporary culture in the post-Fordist era -Control Society (D&G) -Network Society (Castells) -Empire (H&N)
5. *video games are the dominant form of media of our age - informal youth survey analogy - TV comes 3rd as media source after video games and internet - games have superseded hollywood in terms of sales - games are not strictly youth culture anymore, demographic moving beyond age and gender specificity (STATS) *games are the paradigmatic cultural form of our age that reflect the cultural/political/economic milieu of our times - game logic works both in game texts and in the broader cultural logic - examples (stock markets, game theory, war, test-based education, social entrepeneurship etc...) *key theoretical models of games as defining logic of our era: -algorithmic culture, protological culture (Galloway) - the gamespace (Wark) *these build on broader philosophical & sociological models of contemporary culture in the post-Fordist era -Control Society (D&G) -Network Society (Castells) -Empire (H&N)
6. *video games are the dominant form of media of our age - informal youth survey analogy - TV comes 3rd as media source after video games and internet - games have superseded hollywood in terms of sales - games are not strictly youth culture anymore, demographic moving beyond age and gender specificity (STATS) *games are the paradigmatic cultural form of our age that reflect the cultural/political/economic milieu of our times - game logic works both in game texts and in the broader cultural logic - examples (stock markets, game theory, war, test-based education, social entrepeneurship etc...) *key theoretical models of games as defining logic of our era: -algorithmic culture, protological culture (Galloway) - the gamespace (Wark) *these build on broader philosophical & sociological models of contemporary culture in the post-Fordist era -Control Society (D&G) -Network Society (Castells) -Empire (H&N)
7. *video games are the dominant form of media of our age - informal youth survey analogy - TV comes 3rd as media source after video games and internet - games have superseded hollywood in terms of sales - games are not strictly youth culture anymore, demographic moving beyond age and gender specificity (STATS) *games are the paradigmatic cultural form of our age that reflect the cultural/political/economic milieu of our times - game logic works both in game texts and in the broader cultural logic - examples (stock markets, game theory, war, test-based education, social entrepeneurship etc...) *key theoretical models of games as defining logic of our era: -algorithmic culture, protological culture (Galloway) - the gamespace (Wark) *these build on broader philosophical & sociological models of contemporary culture in the post-Fordist era -Control Society (D&G) -Network Society (Castells) -Empire (H&N)
8. *video games are the dominant form of media of our age - informal youth survey analogy - TV comes 3rd as media source after video games and internet - games have superseded hollywood in terms of sales - games are not strictly youth culture anymore, demographic moving beyond age and gender specificity (STATS) *games are the paradigmatic cultural form of our age that reflect the cultural/political/economic milieu of our times - game logic works both in game texts and in the broader cultural logic - examples (stock markets, game theory, war, test-based education, social entrepeneurship etc...) *key theoretical models of games as defining logic of our era: -algorithmic culture, protological culture (Galloway) - the gamespace (Wark) *these build on broader philosophical & sociological models of contemporary culture in the post-Fordist era -Control Society (D&G) -Network Society (Castells) -Empire (H&N)
9. *video games are the dominant form of media of our age - informal youth survey analogy - TV comes 3rd as media source after video games and internet - games have superseded hollywood in terms of sales - games are not strictly youth culture anymore, demographic moving beyond age and gender specificity (STATS) *games are the paradigmatic cultural form of our age that reflect the cultural/political/economic milieu of our times - game logic works both in game texts and in the broader cultural logic - examples (stock markets, game theory, war, test-based education, social entrepeneurship etc...) *key theoretical models of games as defining logic of our era: -algorithmic culture, protological culture (Galloway) - the gamespace (Wark) *these build on broader philosophical & sociological models of contemporary culture in the post-Fordist era -Control Society (D&G) -Network Society (Castells) -Empire (H&N)
10. *video games are the dominant form of media of our age - informal youth survey analogy - TV comes 3rd as media source after video games and internet - games have superseded hollywood in terms of sales - games are not strictly youth culture anymore, demographic moving beyond age and gender specificity (STATS) *games are the paradigmatic cultural form of our age that reflect the cultural/political/economic milieu of our times - game logic works both in game texts and in the broader cultural logic - examples (stock markets, game theory, war, test-based education, social entrepeneurship etc...) *key theoretical models of games as defining logic of our era: -algorithmic culture, protological culture (Galloway) - the gamespace (Wark) *these build on broader philosophical & sociological models of contemporary culture in the post-Fordist era -Control Society (D&G) -Network Society (Castells) -Empire (H&N)
11. *video games are the dominant form of media of our age - informal youth survey analogy - TV comes 3rd as media source after video games and internet - games have superseded hollywood in terms of sales - games are not strictly youth culture anymore, demographic moving beyond age and gender specificity (STATS) *games are the paradigmatic cultural form of our age that reflect the cultural/political/economic milieu of our times - game logic works both in game texts and in the broader cultural logic - examples (stock markets, game theory, war, test-based education, social entrepeneurship etc...) *key theoretical models of games as defining logic of our era: -algorithmic culture, protological culture (Galloway) - the gamespace (Wark) *these build on broader philosophical & sociological models of contemporary culture in the post-Fordist era -Control Society (D&G) -Network Society (Castells) -Empire (H&N)
12. *video games are the dominant form of media of our age - informal youth survey analogy - TV comes 3rd as media source after video games and internet - games have superseded hollywood in terms of sales - games are not strictly youth culture anymore, demographic moving beyond age and gender specificity (STATS) *games are the paradigmatic cultural form of our age that reflect the cultural/political/economic milieu of our times - game logic works both in game texts and in the broader cultural logic - examples (stock markets, game theory, war, test-based education, social entrepeneurship etc...) *key theoretical models of games as defining logic of our era: -algorithmic culture, protological culture (Galloway) - the gamespace (Wark) *these build on broader philosophical & sociological models of contemporary culture in the post-Fordist era -Control Society (D&G) -Network Society (Castells) -Empire (H&N)
13. BUT * very important when thinking about the politics/economics/culture of games not to lose sight of the material labour that goes unseen in the West -Mining -Assembly * overlap of Foucault’s Disciplinary Society and D&G’s Control Society
14. BUT * very important when thinking about the politics/economics/culture of games not to lose sight of the material labour that goes unseen in the West -Mining -Assembly * overlap of Foucault’s Disciplinary Society and D&G’s Control Society
15. BUT * very important when thinking about the politics/economics/culture of games not to lose sight of the material labour that goes unseen in the West -Mining -Assembly * overlap of Foucault’s Disciplinary Society and D&G’s Control Society
16. BUT * very important when thinking about the politics/economics/culture of games not to lose sight of the material labour that goes unseen in the West -Mining -Assembly * overlap of Foucault’s Disciplinary Society and D&G’s Control Society
17. BUT * very important when thinking about the politics/economics/culture of games not to lose sight of the material labour that goes unseen in the West -Mining -Assembly * overlap of Foucault’s Disciplinary Society and D&G’s Control Society
18. BUT * very important when thinking about the politics/economics/culture of games not to lose sight of the material labour that goes unseen in the West -Mining -Assembly * overlap of Foucault’s Disciplinary Society and D&G’s Control Society
19. BUT * very important when thinking about the politics/economics/culture of games not to lose sight of the material labour that goes unseen in the West -Mining -Assembly * overlap of Foucault’s Disciplinary Society and D&G’s Control Society
20. BUT * very important when thinking about the politics/economics/culture of games not to lose sight of the material labour that goes unseen in the West -Mining -Assembly * overlap of Foucault’s Disciplinary Society and D&G’s Control Society
21. BUT * very important when thinking about the politics/economics/culture of games not to lose sight of the material labour that goes unseen in the West -Mining -Assembly * overlap of Foucault’s Disciplinary Society and D&G’s Control Society
22. Key Dilemma: *how do you fight the gamespace when you’re in the gamespace? (TRON image?) *rejection is not an option
23. Key Dilemma: *how do you fight the gamespace when you’re in the gamespace? (TRON image?) *rejection is not an option
24. Key Dilemma: *how do you fight the gamespace when you’re in the gamespace? (TRON image?) *rejection is not an option
25. Countergaming: *existing theories: -Galloway -artistic movement -modeled on new wave cinema -Apperley & Dieter -disruptive emergence -de Peuter & Dyer-Witheford -potential to divert power from corporate interests given multitude as original source of gamic culture and innovation *my own approach: -synthesises all of the above -focuses on the strategies of counterplay from the perspective of a social movement media maker/educator/activist -refer back to digipoped presentation - literacies -> power - reading/writing/rewriting the world
26. Countergaming: *existing theories: -Galloway -artistic movement -modeled on new wave cinema -Apperley & Dieter -disruptive emergence -de Peuter & Dyer-Witheford -potential to divert power from corporate interests given multitude as original source of gamic culture and innovation *my own approach: -synthesises all of the above -focuses on the strategies of counterplay from the perspective of a social movement media maker/educator/activist -refer back to digipoped presentation - literacies -> power - reading/writing/rewriting the world
27. Countergaming: *existing theories: -Galloway -artistic movement -modeled on new wave cinema -Apperley & Dieter -disruptive emergence -de Peuter & Dyer-Witheford -potential to divert power from corporate interests given multitude as original source of gamic culture and innovation *my own approach: -synthesises all of the above -focuses on the strategies of counterplay from the perspective of a social movement media maker/educator/activist -refer back to digipoped presentation - literacies -> power - reading/writing/rewriting the world
28. Countergaming: *existing theories: -Galloway -artistic movement -modeled on new wave cinema -Apperley & Dieter -disruptive emergence -de Peuter & Dyer-Witheford -potential to divert power from corporate interests given multitude as original source of gamic culture and innovation *my own approach: -synthesises all of the above -focuses on the strategies of counterplay from the perspective of a social movement media maker/educator/activist -refer back to digipoped presentation - literacies -> power - reading/writing/rewriting the world
29. Countergaming: *existing theories: -Galloway -artistic movement -modeled on new wave cinema -Apperley & Dieter -disruptive emergence -de Peuter & Dyer-Witheford -potential to divert power from corporate interests given multitude as original source of gamic culture and innovation *my own approach: -synthesises all of the above -focuses on the strategies of counterplay from the perspective of a social movement media maker/educator/activist -refer back to digipoped presentation - literacies -> power - reading/writing/rewriting the world
30. Countergaming: *existing theories: -Galloway -artistic movement -modeled on new wave cinema -Apperley & Dieter -disruptive emergence -de Peuter & Dyer-Witheford -potential to divert power from corporate interests given multitude as original source of gamic culture and innovation *my own approach: -synthesises all of the above -focuses on the strategies of counterplay from the perspective of a social movement media maker/educator/activist -refer back to digipoped presentation - literacies -> power - reading/writing/rewriting the world
31. Countergaming: *existing theories: -Galloway -artistic movement -modeled on new wave cinema -Apperley & Dieter -disruptive emergence -de Peuter & Dyer-Witheford -potential to divert power from corporate interests given multitude as original source of gamic culture and innovation *my own approach: -synthesises all of the above -focuses on the strategies of counterplay from the perspective of a social movement media maker/educator/activist -refer back to digipoped presentation - literacies -> power - reading/writing/rewriting the world
32. Countergaming: *existing theories: -Galloway -artistic movement -modeled on new wave cinema -Apperley & Dieter -disruptive emergence -de Peuter & Dyer-Witheford -potential to divert power from corporate interests given multitude as original source of gamic culture and innovation *my own approach: -synthesises all of the above -focuses on the strategies of counterplay from the perspective of a social movement media maker/educator/activist -refer back to digipoped presentation - literacies -> power - reading/writing/rewriting the world
33. Countergaming: *existing theories: -Galloway -artistic movement -modeled on new wave cinema -Apperley & Dieter -disruptive emergence -de Peuter & Dyer-Witheford -potential to divert power from corporate interests given multitude as original source of gamic culture and innovation *my own approach: -synthesises all of the above -focuses on the strategies of counterplay from the perspective of a social movement media maker/educator/activist -refer back to digipoped presentation - literacies -> power - reading/writing/rewriting the world
34. Countergaming: *existing theories: -Galloway -artistic movement -modeled on new wave cinema -Apperley & Dieter -disruptive emergence -de Peuter & Dyer-Witheford -potential to divert power from corporate interests given multitude as original source of gamic culture and innovation *my own approach: -synthesises all of the above -focuses on the strategies of counterplay from the perspective of a social movement media maker/educator/activist -refer back to digipoped presentation - literacies -> power - reading/writing/rewriting the world
35. eg: Militarist and Countermilitarist play *given the strong relationship between video games and militarism, not surprising that many key examples of counterplay address war *superquick description of MEC: -at most obvious level America’s Army, drone wars -also more broadly as the driving organisational/cultural logic of the gamespace (Wark) *2 examples on this one issue illustrate an important thread in thinking about counterplay towards social justice action - bridging of physical and simulated spaces
36. eg: Militarist and Countermilitarist play *given the strong relationship between video games and militarism, not surprising that many key examples of counterplay address war *superquick description of MEC: -at most obvious level America’s Army, drone wars -also more broadly as the driving organisational/cultural logic of the gamespace (Wark) *2 examples on this one issue illustrate an important thread in thinking about counterplay towards social justice action - bridging of physical and simulated spaces
37. eg: Militarist and Countermilitarist play *given the strong relationship between video games and militarism, not surprising that many key examples of counterplay address war *superquick description of MEC: -at most obvious level America’s Army, drone wars -also more broadly as the driving organisational/cultural logic of the gamespace (Wark) *2 examples on this one issue illustrate an important thread in thinking about counterplay towards social justice action - bridging of physical and simulated spaces
38. eg: Militarist and Countermilitarist play *given the strong relationship between video games and militarism, not surprising that many key examples of counterplay address war *superquick description of MEC: -at most obvious level America’s Army, drone wars -also more broadly as the driving organisational/cultural logic of the gamespace (Wark) *2 examples on this one issue illustrate an important thread in thinking about counterplay towards social justice action - bridging of physical and simulated spaces
39. dead-in-iraq *describe: -Joseph deLappe as activist/artist/academic -Networked AA -describe project -enter game -drop weapon -speak names of dead US military *SCREEN CLIP? -setup - text hard to read due to video quality - i’ll summarise *discuss:
40. Domestic Tension *describe -Wafaa Bilal -refugee from Iraq to US -brother killed by US -describe project -website with FPS gamelike interface -artist in gallery space for 30 days (short breaks) -paintball gun -chatroom -vlog *SCREEN CLIP? day 24 01:55 - 04:12 (Memorial Day) http://www.youtube.com/mewafaa#p/u/10/OWUfROO6-34 day 26 00:00 - 02:00 (Virtual Human Shield) http://www.youtube.com/mewafaa#p/u/6/xr9Y9suPyOc
41. Domestic Tension *describe -Wafaa Bilal -refugee from Iraq to US -brother killed by US -describe project -website with FPS gamelike interface -artist in gallery space for 30 days (short breaks) -paintball gun -chatroom -vlog *SCREEN CLIP? day 24 01:55 - 04:12 (Memorial Day) http://www.youtube.com/mewafaa#p/u/10/OWUfROO6-34 day 26 00:00 - 02:00 (Virtual Human Shield) http://www.youtube.com/mewafaa#p/u/6/xr9Y9suPyOc
42. *both highlight and seek to blur the dividing line of Huizinga’s “Magic Circle” (socially agreed “safe” space separating game from real life) *both involve performance, highlight the relation of material bodies to virtual space *both subvert the “norms” of play while adhering to the “rules” of the game. ie: you’re supposed to try not to get shot, shoot back. *both force player/users to make decisions, confront their own agency.
43. *both highlight and seek to blur the dividing line of Huizinga’s “Magic Circle” (socially agreed “safe” space separating game from real life) *both involve performance, highlight the relation of material bodies to virtual space *both subvert the “norms” of play while adhering to the “rules” of the game. ie: you’re supposed to try not to get shot, shoot back. *both force player/users to make decisions, confront their own agency.
44. *both highlight and seek to blur the dividing line of Huizinga’s “Magic Circle” (socially agreed “safe” space separating game from real life) *both involve performance, highlight the relation of material bodies to virtual space *both subvert the “norms” of play while adhering to the “rules” of the game. ie: you’re supposed to try not to get shot, shoot back. *both force player/users to make decisions, confront their own agency.
45. *both highlight and seek to blur the dividing line of Huizinga’s “Magic Circle” (socially agreed “safe” space separating game from real life) *both involve performance, highlight the relation of material bodies to virtual space *both subvert the “norms” of play while adhering to the “rules” of the game. ie: you’re supposed to try not to get shot, shoot back. *both force player/users to make decisions, confront their own agency.
46. *both highlight and seek to blur the dividing line of Huizinga’s “Magic Circle” (socially agreed “safe” space separating game from real life) *both involve performance, highlight the relation of material bodies to virtual space *both subvert the “norms” of play while adhering to the “rules” of the game. ie: you’re supposed to try not to get shot, shoot back. *both force player/users to make decisions, confront their own agency.
47. Limits to Counterplay *legal & techincal -EULA violations -might be the point of a particular countergaming action (eg SLLA avatar rights movement) -might result in banning, restriction of dissent in the gamespace *capture -the gamespace absorbs dissent, makes it part of the game (eg LBP builds game around hacks - free labour) *over-virtuality -confusion of action in virtual environments with material action (eg clicktivism) *elitist aestheticisation -expression ≠ change
48. Limits to Counterplay *legal & techincal -EULA violations -might be the point of a particular countergaming action (eg SLLA avatar rights movement) -might result in banning, restriction of dissent in the gamespace *capture -the gamespace absorbs dissent, makes it part of the game (eg LBP builds game around hacks - free labour) *over-virtuality -confusion of action in virtual environments with material action (eg clicktivism) *elitist aestheticisation -expression ≠ change
49. Limits to Counterplay *legal & techincal -EULA violations -might be the point of a particular countergaming action (eg SLLA avatar rights movement) -might result in banning, restriction of dissent in the gamespace *capture -the gamespace absorbs dissent, makes it part of the game (eg LBP builds game around hacks - free labour) *over-virtuality -confusion of action in virtual environments with material action (eg clicktivism) *elitist aestheticisation -expression ≠ change
50. Limits to Counterplay *legal & techincal -EULA violations -might be the point of a particular countergaming action (eg SLLA avatar rights movement) -might result in banning, restriction of dissent in the gamespace *capture -the gamespace absorbs dissent, makes it part of the game (eg LBP builds game around hacks - free labour) *over-virtuality -confusion of action in virtual environments with material action (eg clicktivism) *elitist aestheticisation -expression ≠ change
51. Limits to Counterplay *legal & techincal -EULA violations -might be the point of a particular countergaming action (eg SLLA avatar rights movement) -might result in banning, restriction of dissent in the gamespace *capture -the gamespace absorbs dissent, makes it part of the game (eg LBP builds game around hacks - free labour) *over-virtuality -confusion of action in virtual environments with material action (eg clicktivism) *elitist aestheticisation -expression ≠ change
52. Limits to Counterplay *legal & techincal -EULA violations -might be the point of a particular countergaming action (eg SLLA avatar rights movement) -might result in banning, restriction of dissent in the gamespace *capture -the gamespace absorbs dissent, makes it part of the game (eg LBP builds game around hacks - free labour) *over-virtuality -confusion of action in virtual environments with material action (eg clicktivism) *elitist aestheticisation -expression ≠ change
53. Limits to Counterplay *legal & techincal -EULA violations -might be the point of a particular countergaming action (eg SLLA avatar rights movement) -might result in banning, restriction of dissent in the gamespace *capture -the gamespace absorbs dissent, makes it part of the game (eg LBP builds game around hacks - free labour) *over-virtuality -confusion of action in virtual environments with material action (eg clicktivism) *elitist aestheticisation -expression ≠ change
54. Limits to Counterplay *legal & techincal -EULA violations -might be the point of a particular countergaming action (eg SLLA avatar rights movement) -might result in banning, restriction of dissent in the gamespace *capture -the gamespace absorbs dissent, makes it part of the game (eg LBP builds game around hacks - free labour) *over-virtuality -confusion of action in virtual environments with material action (eg clicktivism) *elitist aestheticisation -expression ≠ change
55. Limits to Counterplay *legal & techincal -EULA violations -might be the point of a particular countergaming action (eg SLLA avatar rights movement) -might result in banning, restriction of dissent in the gamespace *capture -the gamespace absorbs dissent, makes it part of the game (eg LBP builds game around hacks - free labour) *over-virtuality -confusion of action in virtual environments with material action (eg clicktivism) *elitist aestheticisation -expression ≠ change