UNIT OPERATIONS: AN APPROACH TO VIDEOGAME CRITICISM

Ian Bogost

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In Unit Operations, Ian Bogost argues that similar principles underlie both literary theory and computation, proposing a literary-technical theory that can be used to analyze particular videogames. Moreover, this approach can be applied beyond videogames: Bogost suggests that any medium—from videogames to poetry, literature, cinema, or art—can be read as a configurative system of discrete, interlocking units of meaning, and he illustrates this method of analysis with examples from all these fields. The marriage of literary theory and information technology, he argues, will help humanists take technology more seriously and hep technologists better understand software and videogames as cultural artifacts. This approach is especially useful for the comparative analysis of digital and nondigital artifacts and allows scholars from other fields who are interested in studying videogames to avoid the esoteric isolation of "game studies."

The richness of Bogost's comparative approach can be seen in his discussions of works by such philosophers and theorists as Plato, Badiou, Zizek, and McLuhan, and in his analysis of numerous videogames including Pong, Half-Life, and Star Wars Galaxies. Bogost draws on object technology and complex adaptive systems theory for his method of unit analysis, underscoring the configurative aspects of a wide variety of human processes. His extended analysis of freedom in large virtual spaces examines Grand Theft Auto 3, The Legend of Zelda, Flaubert's Madame Bovary, and Joyce's Ulysses. In Unit Operations, Bogost not only offers a new methodology for videogame criticism but argues for the possibility of real collaboration between the humanities and information technology.

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PUBLICATION DETAILS

LANGUAGE	BINDING	EDITION	ISBN	YEAR	PAGES
English	Paperback		9780262524872	2008	264
English	Hardcover		9780262025997	2006	264
English	eBook		N/A	2008	264

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TAGS

Authors: #IanBogost

Publishers: #MITPress (The MIT Press)

Languages: #English

Format: #Hardcover #Paperback #eBook

Accessibility: #TextToSpeech #ScreenReader #EnhancedTypsetting

Year: #Year2006 #Year2008

Genres: #GameStudies

Companies:

N/A

Public Figures:

N/A

Games:

#Adventure (Adventure)

#AmericasArmy (America's Army)

#Combat (Combat)

#CrazyTaxi (Crazy Taxi)

#DeusEx (Deus Ex)

#DonkeyKong (Donkey Kong)

#Doom (Doom)

#ET (E.T. The Extra Terrestrial)

#Everquest (Everquest)

#FullSpectrumWarrior (Full Spectrum Warrior)

#GrandTheftAuto (Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas)

#HalfLife (Half-Life, Half-Life 2, #CounterStrike [Counter-Strike])

#HeXen (HeXen 2)

#Mario (Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.)

#Maya (Maya)

#MetalGear (Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid)

#NeverwinterNights (Neverwinter Nights)

#Pong (Pong)

#Quake (Quake, Quake 2)

#SimAnt (Sim Ant)

#SimCity (Sim City)

#SimHealth (Sim Health)

#SpaceInvaders (Space Invaders)

#StarWars (Star Wars, Star Wars Galaxies)

#TakeBackIllinois (Take Back Illinois)

#Tank (Tank)

#TennisForTwo (Tennis For Two)

#Tetris (Tetris)

#TheHowardDeanForIowaGame (The Howard Dean For Iowa Game)

#TheSims (The Sims, The Sims: Hot Date, The Sims 2)

#Thief (Thief)

#TomClancy (#RainbowSix [Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six], #SplinterCell [Splinter Cell])

#Tron (Tron)

#Ultima (Ultima Online)

#Unreal (Unreal Tournament)

#Zelda (The Legend of Zelda, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, The Legend of Zelda II: Adventure of Link)

#Zork (Zork)

Misc:

#DeleuzeAndGuattari (Deleuze and Guattari)