Video Game Presentism
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Noble 1 Video Game Presentism: The Digital Now and Identities of Interactive Media California State University San Marcos Mark Jason Jimenez Noble Noble 2 Table of Contents Video Game Presentism: The Digital Now and Identities of Interactive Media ... 1 THESIS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... 3 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 4 CHAPTER ONE Day One Patch: Critical Frames for Video Games ............................................................. 9 Presentism and Present Shock: Douglas Rushkoff’s Crisis of Now ..................................... 10 Gender Identity: Judith Butler’s Subversion of the Binary...................................................... 21 Feminist Inquiry: Anita Sarkeesian’s Video Game Criticism ................................................. 29 MDA Framework, Gamification, and Player Taxonomy ......................................................... 31 CHAPTER TWO Gaming Presents: The Pros and Cons of a Digital Now ............................................... 41 The Digital Present of Video Games .............................................................................................. 43 Gamer’s Choice: Interactivity and Supermassive’s Until Dawn............................................ 48 CHAPTER THREE Gaming Presence: Role Performative Games and Gamers ........................................ 65 Gender Identity and Video Games .................................................................................................. 67 Identity within Video Games............................................................................................................. 81 Assigned Identity ................................................................................................................................................ 83 Constructed Identity and Character Creation ............................................................................................ 86 The “Gamer” Identity: Externally Speaking ................................................................................ 97 From MDA to Aesthetics of Play to Player Taxonomy ......................................................... 102 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................... 107 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................. 111 Video Games Cited ................................................................................................................... 115 Images Used ............................................................................................................................... 117 Noble 3 THESIS ABSTRACT Video games invoke and inform a digital present that represents our society’s current orientation to the now. To engage with this present, video games provoke the construction and assumption of a digital self. This discussion explores the scholarship regarding the presentist lens, identities in the game space, and video game research that positions the medium as a platform for critical analyses. In order to provide a framework for these claims, I explore a range of discourses that addresses each seemingly disparate element. Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now by Douglas Rushkoff establishes the context for our society’s presentist state and humanity’s response to a lifestyle in the now. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity by Judith Butler provides the foundational aspects of gender studies and feminism, which I channel towards my own discussion of identity in video games; this is further supported by Anita Sarkeesian, whose research explores the same intersection. Additional ludological (video game) scholarship from Gabe Zichermann, Richard Bartle, and the MDA Framework of Hunicke, LeBlanc, and Zubek helps develop a status quo for video game research. Ultimately, my examination of intersections between each discourse allows for a synthesis wherein I propose the notion of video game presentism – the digital presentist experience offered by video games. The medium and its begotten realities necessitate multiple tiers of identities, and the analysis of society’s influence on these identities in addition to the subculture it created ultimately demonstrates how video games can advance the discourse of identity and gender paradigms. Noble 4 INTRODUCTION In the spring of 2014, the video game Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn was released for the PlayStation 4. A Realm Reborn is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, a video game genre colloquially identified by the initialism MMORPG. The term actually stands for a combination of two distinct genres: MMOs refer to games that feature a large online population of subscription-based players; and RPGs are games where players assume the role of a character in a virtual world, typically driven by long narratives that require scores of hours to complete. MMORPGs combine and expand both genres by blending the game and narrative in a manner that simultaneously supports large player quantities while serving the narrative experience. In other words, MMORPGs are RPGs with a story where the protagonist is among a population of individuals circumstantially privileged with the ability to affect the fate of the world. This set up creates a narrative justification for the existence of the large player base whereas standard RPGs contrarily feature only one agentive hero. Imagine an application of Joseph Campbell’s hero myth in the context of a story where it makes sense to have multiple heroes active all at once. Other well-known MMORPGs include Blizzard’s World of Warcraft and FromSoftware’s Dark Souls series, which follow the same general formula. In the same vein, A Realm Reborn features a fantasy post-war/calamity era where adventurers explore to engage with the resulting world, unlock the events of the past, and awaken their powers as chosen “Warriors of Light.” Noble 5 Now despite being a gaming enthusiast, I had personally never managed to complete an RPG, let alone attempt an MMORPG at all. I always viewed them as tremendous time sinks and repetitive, task-based game formats that never seem to end. And I tried many times, often drawn in by the premise of engaging narratives and mechanics, but I would always end up stopping in favor of devoting my time to other games or real-world pursuits (like grad school). With this track record in mind, it was particularly unusual for me to subscribe to A Realm Reborn. Its parent franchise Final Fantasy essentially defined the RPG genre and the additional burdens of an MMO format certainly ensured that I would not complete the game. I had no illusions about the amount of time the game would necessitate, and yet I still signed on. So why sign up for a game that, as all evidence suggests, I would not enjoy? Short answer: it was because of my friends who signed up with me. This daunting and insurmountable effort seemed more appealing if experienced with friends; therefore, the prospect of completing the narrative seemed more likely. And so it was …after purchasing the game and inputting my credit card information, I entered the world of Eorzea – the titular realm reborn that my fellow Warriors of Light and I would explore together. I created my character, selected my career path, declared my allegiance to a free company, and thusly began my first foray into the MMORPG world. Perhaps the most striking aspect of ARR was how much time and attention it demanded of the player. It quickly became clear to me how Eorzea was essentially a Noble 6 living and thriving world. It had its own (sub)culture, class structure, economy, and societal norms that I needed to learn in order to be a proper member of the realm. And as a newly created level 1 “n00b” (gamer-speak for newbie), I had a long journey ahead of me before I could even engage with the many aspects of the game. It went beyond basic video game play, coming rather close to being a second job or even a second life. Eorzea required my full dedication and attention to the digital present simulated by the video game world. This immersive reorientation to the video game present is a phenomenon I aptly term video game presentism. In this thesis project, I argue that video games invoke and inform a digital present that represents our society’s current orientation to the now. To engage with this present, video games provoke the construction and assumption of a digital self. My experience with A Realm Reborn, along with many experiences from my gaming history, inspired me to focus on video games for my thesis project. It was clear that many avenues of this game and the medium itself could easily be applied to various fields of study, and perhaps I may in future projects. However, this particular thesis will focus on video game presentism – the digital presentist experience offered by video games. The medium and its begotten realities necessitate multiple tiers of identities, and the analysis of society’s influence on these identities in addition to the subculture it created ultimately demonstrates how video games can advance the discourse of identity and gender paradigms – two central claims of this paper. Chapter One examines the critical frameworks that inform the development