Visualizing Game Studies: Materiality and Sociality from Chessboard to Circuit Board

Abstract

The goal of this article is to present an alternate narrative of the way that game studies has been framed as a field of research. It is our opinion that game studies, like Narcissus in Greek mythology, has jeopardized its longevity by drinking in its reflection too deeply. Scholars working within in the field frequently situate it as a chaotic “neutral zone” of interdisciplinarity, where there are few rules as long as the object of study, the game, remains consistent. Or, polemically, it is situated in an instrumental fashion where its object, the game, is grafted into a preexisting disciplinary discourse.

Keywords: games studies, video games, games criticism, digital media, games history

JEL Classification: L82