The Theme of the ConferenceComputer
games constitute a major cultural and economic force in contemporary
society. Whether in the form of PC
games, consol games on machines such as PS2, Gamecube or XBox, Java games on
the internet, or handheld games like Nintendo Gameboy, computer games make up a
part of everyday life for a rapidly increasing number of people. Millions of
individuals spend significant portions of their time playing
massive-multiplayer games on the net, and the real economies of some such games
equal those of small real-life countries. These
phenomena call for collective research by a range of disciplines and
traditions. There are psychological questions concerning the impact of computer
games on the mentality and behaviour of individual players; sociological and
culture-theoretical questions about their impact on society and culture at
large; literary questions about narrative structure; and ethical, legal and
political questions concerning the production, distribution and consumption of
games. As with any
area of knowledge, research into computer games engenders philosophical
questions about their most general or fundamental traits. There are in particular
two characteristics of the computer game medium that immediately give rise to
highly pertinent philosophical questions.
The first of these is the fact that the computer game medium is built on
iterated feedback between the medium and the user; the second is that the
environments provided by the medium are based on “virtual” objects and events. Computer
games have only existed for a short time, and the study of them has as yet
barely begun to provide the distinctions, concepts and explanatory models that
will allow us to grasp the nature of the medium. A more adequate understanding
of the philosophical issues arising from the nature of the medium will provide
a dearly sought-after “bird's eye view” on the field. Just as importantly, however, such discussions are
philosophically rewarding in their own right, in that they provide the
established philosophical subjects with the refreshing challenge of new topics
and angles. For the
upcoming conference, we disseminate a call for philosophical papers treating of
matters relevant to the study of computer game phenomena. Since there is as yet
little or no consensus on what these issues are, it seems wise to keep the
agenda reasonably open this time around, rather than attempt to force some
particular question. Contributions to
the conference will be classified under three general headings, corresponding
to the tripartition of day topics during the conference. The first day is
titled “Computer Game Entities”, and is devoted to metaphysical issues that can
be related to the virtual nature of computer game objects and events. The
second day, “Player Experience”, contains papers on the subjective standpoint
of the player, ranging from issues about identity to issues concerning
perceptual experience. The last day, “The Ethics of Computer Games”, will be
devoted to ethical and political issues that relate to the design or public
consumption of games.
|