Perceiving Time in Videogames and Virtual Space
Research Mentor(s)
Eren Odabasi
Description
A phenomenological turn is taking place within the field of gamestudies (Keogh), encouraging players and scholars to consider perceptions which were always present during the act of play but rarely so apparent as to be studied directly. With this research I mean to discover a direct approach to studying the unique perception of time (or timelessness) created by 3D videogames. The work of urban planners like Kevin Lynch, filmmakers such as Andrei Tarkovsky, and the unclassifiable William S. Burroughs comprise my theoretical framework for understanding virtual time and space. Particularly, Burroughs’ experiments about affecting perception through the adaptation of cinematic editing techniques in prose writing seem as strange as they do relevant when studying how a medium that accomplishes an impression of space like videogames might also produce an impression of time. What this research ultimately aims at is revealing how videogame mechanics, audiovisuals, and kinetic sensations are and can be mobilized to affect the embodied subjectivity of players, and perhaps facilitate encounters with the ludic sublime (Vella).
Document Type
Event
Start Date
May 2022
End Date
May 2022
Location
SMATE Library (Bellingham, Wash.)
Department
English
Genre/Form
student projects; posters
Type
Image
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Perceiving Time in Videogames and Virtual Space
SMATE Library (Bellingham, Wash.)
A phenomenological turn is taking place within the field of gamestudies (Keogh), encouraging players and scholars to consider perceptions which were always present during the act of play but rarely so apparent as to be studied directly. With this research I mean to discover a direct approach to studying the unique perception of time (or timelessness) created by 3D videogames. The work of urban planners like Kevin Lynch, filmmakers such as Andrei Tarkovsky, and the unclassifiable William S. Burroughs comprise my theoretical framework for understanding virtual time and space. Particularly, Burroughs’ experiments about affecting perception through the adaptation of cinematic editing techniques in prose writing seem as strange as they do relevant when studying how a medium that accomplishes an impression of space like videogames might also produce an impression of time. What this research ultimately aims at is revealing how videogame mechanics, audiovisuals, and kinetic sensations are and can be mobilized to affect the embodied subjectivity of players, and perhaps facilitate encounters with the ludic sublime (Vella).