To better understand the impossible nature of video game genres, this chapter compares video games of the early twenty-first century with the literary-philosophical idea of the objet ambigu. An objet ambigu is an object that is impossible to determine in its origin and nature. It makes sense as a whole, but its indispensably rooted together components appear to be contradicting. Video games can be seen as such, as they are also made up of various media components. They cannot be separated into individual parts that may, just as well, contradict one another in genre representation, and so on. The single components are self-contained, but capturing all the components as a whole is sheer impossible. Traditional scientific analysis of video games fails because of the unlimited possibilities and the diversity of possible experiences. Focusing on the amorphous interplay of various levels of meaning and understanding brings new impressions regarding video game genres.

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The Video Game: An Objet Ambigu

  • Felix Schniz

摘要

To better understand the impossible nature of video game genres, this chapter compares video games of the early twenty-first century with the literary-philosophical idea of the objet ambigu. An objet ambigu is an object that is impossible to determine in its origin and nature. It makes sense as a whole, but its indispensably rooted together components appear to be contradicting. Video games can be seen as such, as they are also made up of various media components. They cannot be separated into individual parts that may, just as well, contradict one another in genre representation, and so on. The single components are self-contained, but capturing all the components as a whole is sheer impossible. Traditional scientific analysis of video games fails because of the unlimited possibilities and the diversity of possible experiences. Focusing on the amorphous interplay of various levels of meaning and understanding brings new impressions regarding video game genres.