Quake® goes the environment: game aesthetics and archaeologies

Abstract

Computer and video games are blurring the boundaries of such categories as play, narrative, space, entertainment and art. Games are, if anything, a form of popular art. They present us with a particular kind of problematic regarding narrative and aesthetics. The article discusses computer and video games in the context of the cultural history of the moving image. The focus is on one type of games in particular. This is the game genre known as 'first-person shooter' (FPS), which became hugely popular with Doom (1994) and has spawned numerous other popular games (e.g. the Quake and the Unreal series). Pre-cinematic devices and techniques, special effects, 'cinema of attraction', and theories of visuality serve as points of reflection. The differences between games and narratives are also discussed. Games are situated between the paths of two aesthetic disciplines: aesthetics of the moving image (film, television, video) and aesthetics of the environment (landscapes, architecture, space). The formulations presented in the article help us to understand the inter-dependent nature of virtual environments and their users. In this way, they light the way towards understanding new media from an aesthetic perspective.