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Debugging game history : a critical lexicon
Lowood H., Guins R., The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2016. 464 pp. Type: Book (978-0-262034-19-7)
Date Reviewed: Oct 21 2016

Game history has not, according to the editors of this book, emerged from the era of chronicles. This is not necessarily a bad thing. The editors go on to say: “Chronicles have many good qualities. They establish essential chronologies, and their writers often uncover and deploy extensive collections of historical documentation and other forms of evidence.” At the same time, “chronicles are limited in certain ways” as they are “descriptive rather than interpretive.” That is to say that we can try to document what is happening today in the world of video games, but any attempt to make sense out of it all still lies in the future. This background is necessary to explain the editors’ intent for this book. “We conceived Debugging game history as a collection of essays to jump start the critical historical study of games.” It consists of 49 essays on topics that range from mundane to insightful to thought-provoking. Here are a few examples.

Don Ihde’s essay on embodiment provides “a postphenomenological analysis of variations on embodiment in screen games,” which is to say that different games provide a different sense of where the player is located. In traditional games like football, the player is clearly “in” the game, whereas in other traditional games such as chess the player is clearly outside of the game in a god-like role determining the fate of the pieces. Some video games, such as early arcade games, provide a similar god-like experience, but later games locate the player differently. First-person shooter games have the person physically outside of the game, but in the game emotionally. Nintendo Wii games have the player inside the game physically, or at least virtually, as they make physical movements to return a virtual tennis ball or aim a virtual rifle. This is a thought-provoking idea, as one can see an emerging trajectory with virtual world games that may have the player completely present emotionally while physically still outside of the game. And if one goes a step further to a virtual reality game, one might be back in the game again as one is in a physical sport. Pushing things a bit, one can see an evolution of game technology where the question “Where is the player actually located in the game?” might make no more sense than asking where a website is located. Yes, it is definitely something to think about.

The essay “Identities,” by Carly A. Kocurek, provides a snapshot in time of gamer identity. As Kocurek says, “When gamers are so easily recognized as young, straight, white, able-bodied men, it is unsurprising that the game industry might overly cater to that perceived market.” This is a fair assessment documenting a moment in time. But that moment is changing. It might be true for the players of Grand Theft Auto, but it does not accurately describe the middle-aged women who play FarmVille on Facebook or the senior citizens playing Nintendo Wii at senior centers. Nor does it accurately describe the numerous audiences addressed by independent game producers. To be fair, I should mention that another essay addresses indie games, which points to another aspect of the book. The editors were looking for snapshots in time reflecting the current state of gaming. As one would--or should--expect, those snapshots are taken from different perspectives--some overlapping, some blurry.

Some of the essays are frustrating in their limitations, such as Katherine Isbister’s essay “Character.” According to Isbister, “Digital games also originated and refined an innovated form of projection of oneself into the alternative terrain of the game world--the avatar, or player--character.” Isbister then goes on to trace the history of these digital avatars to 1997. While this is probably true superficially, the word avatar is a Sanskrit word for a deity projecting its self into the temporal plane, while the notion of projection into an alternative terrain has a history as long as the history of literature. Later, Isbister states that “NPCs [non player characters] unlock emotion by performing social roles that players know and understand from everyday life experience.” Again, this is true, but the player’s avatars also unlock emotion, giving rise to an area of psychology sometimes referred to as avatar attachment. Perhaps these limitations are the author’s attempt to stay within the word limits of the essay. But, they ignore important related things that we know about player-characters and feel like little more than a tease to anyone who does know more.

I chose these particular essays because I found them interesting. There are 46 others. Some readers may find my choices to be uninteresting to them, while raving about others that I did not address. In essence, this book is a time capsule containing a snapshot of this moment in time in the history of the video game phenomenon. If journalism is the first rough draft of history, then books like this are the first rough draft of a consensus interpretation of the video game phenomena as seen far into the future. Whereas journalism focuses on facts and events, this book focuses on fledgling interpretations--ideas that we have begun to think about, but that will grow in meaning and significance over time.

Reviewer:  J. M. Artz Review #: CR144863 (1701-0044)
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