Taking a Shot at Interactivity

[se101]

Anybody else notice that Aarseth criticized the use of interactivity to describe video games. I really found this interesting because we so often use this term to describe these pieces of new media

Comments

Representation

[nonarey]

Illusions --- I'm starting to think I am in a Philosophy class. Everything in life and games are going to have boundaries.

I don't remember which article we read this week that was about representations and how they differ from reality. They wrote about the a ball and gravity, and how the creator has a choice to let it float or drop. It seems that games can be limitless in that sense, but the program will still have the restraints.

[digital_liz]

I would have to agree with you, Ross. We can call a video game "interactive," but it's not the same as the "interactive exhibits" at museums where you can actually physically touch starfish or what have you. You are one step removed from actual interactivity with games, as you can watch your avatar interact, but you yourself are not getting ye flask.

It's a slippery concept to play with, especially now that we have things like the Wii where you can actually wave your controller and physically interact with the pixels on the screen to some extent.