UDC 7.06
Contemporary video game studies are closely linked to the problem of defining the nature of the game as a new aesthetic practice. The development of experimental video games is linked not only to their internal structure, which facilitates their inclusion in the realm of artistic practice, but also to the external context, which determines the nature of this inclusion. An analysis of several video game projects released in the 2000s allows us to identify several persistent variants of discourses that dissolve the materiality of video games. The first such discourse concerns the problem of integrating video games into the academic space, for which games are transformed into a means of practically implementing theoretical concepts. The second discursive space is the area of distinguishing commercial and non-commercial projects, in relation to which the artistry of video games is a means of erasing the boundary between mass and specialized audiences. The third variant of discourse is associated with a special version of the relationship between developer and audience, which allows the game to transform into a mystical and indeterminate space, whose representation is linked to a fundamentally blurred materiality, creating the perception of the game as an artistic practice.
Experimental Game Design, Media Art, "Flower," "Dear Esther," "Knock Knock"
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