Jamming Econo: The Phenomenon of Perspectival Shifts in Indie Video Games

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Author(s): Keri Duncan Valentine (West Virginia University, USA)and Lucas John Jensen (Georgia Southern University, USA)
Copyright: 2016
Pages: 34
Source title: Examining the Evolution of Gaming and Its Impact on Social, Cultural, and Political Perspectives
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Keri Duncan Valentine (West Virginia University, USA)and Lucas John Jensen (Georgia Southern University, USA)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-0261-6.ch015

Keywords: Digital Media / Gaming / Information Science Reference / Media & Communications

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Abstract

By their nature, video games create perspectival relationships between the game space, with its mechanics, characters, etc. and their players. Perspectival mechanics in games like Monument Valley and Fez require one to simultaneously transform the environment, the objects in the environment, and one's egocentric reference frames, illustrating the complex nature intrinsic to video game spaces. The authors seek to investigate the ways perspectival mechanics in video games are both created and experienced using postphenomenological inquiry. This investigation is situated within the indie genre of games in particular, a context where these mechanics are intentionally being explored. In addition, this chapter draws parallels between indie games and indie music, contexts where boundary pushing is the norm. In addition to explicating the phenomenon of perspectival shifts in indie games, the authors review research related to spatial thinking, conjecturing affordances of indie games as geometric gifts, possibly well positioned to support spatial thinking.

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Jamming Econo: The Phenomenon of Perspectival Shifts in Indie Video Games

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