UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE THE AESTHETIC VALUE OF VIDEOGAMES: AN ANALYSIS OF INTERACTIVITY, GAMEPLAY, AND PLAYER PERFORMANCE A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By ZACHARY LEE JURGENSEN Norman, Oklahoma 2018 THE AESTHETIC VALUE OF VIDEOGAMES: AN ANALYSIS OF INTERACTIVITY, GAMEPLAY, AND PLAYER PERFORMANCE A DISSERTATION APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY BY ______________________________ Dr. Sherri Irvin, Chair ______________________________ Dr. Hugh Benson ______________________________ Dr. Stephen Ellis ______________________________ Dr. Dean Hougen ______________________________ Dr. Martin Montminy © Copyright by ZACHARY LEE JURGENSEN 2018 All Rights Reserved. For my parents: Perry and Betty Jurgensen Acknowledgements This dissertation is the product of a long, demanding journey made possible by the continued support of my family, my wife, close friends, colleagues, and mentors. There undoubtedly will be someone I miss, but I am indebted and deeply grateful to the following people who helped shape me into the philosopher, gamer, and person capable of finishing this project: My father, Perry Jurgensen, for showing me the value of hard work; my mother, Betty Jurgensen, for encouraging my endless curiosity and love of knowledge; my friends, Rob Byer, Steve Dwyer, Casey Stull, and Mike Jordan for challenging me both literally and figuratively when it comes to playing and thinking about games; my wife, Trish Catalano for keeping me focused when my will and spirit were tested time and again; my undergraduate teachers, Gene Rice, Doug Drabkin, Stephen Tramel, and Ruth Tallman for turning a freshman student interested in arguing about religion into an aspiring philosopher; my graduate professors, Martin Montminy, Stephen Ellis, Chris Swoyer, Hugh Benson, and Ray Elugardo for teaching me how to properly engage in rigorous, disciplined philosophical thought and writing; and my dissertation committee for their continued patience and advice. Finally, I want to thank Sherri Irvin for her continued academic, professional, and emotional support throughout my graduate career. Without her guidance and understanding, I wouldn’t be the philosopher or person I am today, nor would this project be finished. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... iv Abstract ............................................................................................................................ vi Chapter 1: Introduction and Overview .............................................................................. 1 Chapter 2: Appreciating Videogames ............................................................................... 6 Chapter 3: Interactivity, Unpredictability, and Aesthetic Change in Videogames ......... 39 Chapter 4: Gamers as Performative Instantiators............................................................ 73 Chapter 5: An Apology for Videogames ...................................................................... 103 References ..................................................................................................................... 149 v Abstract In this dissertation, I set out to examine the artistic and aesthetic features of videogames as games. Ultimately, I argue that a complete understanding of the aesthetics of videogames requires a more robust account of the role of the player and the aesthetic impact of the choices she makes than has been previously given. While the idea that videogames are a strongly interactive media is acknowledged in the literature, less attention is given to how the unique relationship between game and gamer affects both the overall aesthetic experience of playing videogames and the position these games hold in the artworld. I first argue that the prevalent attempts at categorizing videogames as art fall prey to a similar pitfall, which ultimately contributes to a common mishandling of the aesthetic value videogames can offer. After highlighting the problems that the leading theories of art have in defining videogames as art, I turn attention to interrelated concepts of interactivity, gameplay, and player performance. I develop an original account of interactivity as it relates to videogames. My account is meant to capture the uniqueness videogames offer as works of art and also the importance interactivity plays in understanding the aesthetic experience of playing videogames. Working from my proposed account of interactivity, I then look to concepts of gameplay and player performance and how they relate to the overall aesthetic experience of playing videogames. I argue that gameplay mechanics affect the overall aesthetic value of videogames by both delimiting and creating opportunities for how the player engages with the game. In this way, vi gameplay mechanics need to be taken into account when evaluating the overall functionality of a videogame as a game, and subsequently, need to be considered when assessing the aesthetic quality of a videogame. Moreover, how a player chooses to utilize and navigate gameplay mechanics with respect to the choices she makes when interacting with the game ultimately affect the aesthetic experience she has while playing. Hence, I argue that player performance can have a significant impact the aesthetic quality of videogame play. In doing so, I highlight how the atypical relationship among artist, audience, and artwork in videogames plays a pivotal role in shaping the aesthetic experience of gameplay. Finally, I offer a defense against the argument that even if videogames are art, they are artistically and aesthetically worthless. In doing so, I develop a novel account of kitsch gameplay to better understand and evaluate videogames as artworks. vii Chapter 1: Introduction and Overview I’ve been to Vatican City twice. Once in 2006, as an undergraduate student in a study abroad program. And again, during the 15th century Italian Renaissance, when I was asked to assassinate Pope Alexander VI, also known as the notorious Templar leader, Rodrigo de Borja. I gleefully accepted my mission and completed it with overwhelming prejudice. Anyone who’s played Assassin’s Creed II (2009) can relate to my second visit and my cavalier attitude towards murdering a Pope (he totally deserved it). Videogames are highly immersive because they necessitate an interactive relationship with their users. In doing so, they invite entertaining, educational, introspective, emotional, and compelling aesthetic experiences. And in our increasingly technology-driven society, they are quickly establishing a firm foothold as objects worthy of rigorous intellectual study. As such, videogames are studied across multiple academic disciplines, exploring them as socio-cultural artifacts that can reflect free market behavior and social trends; as avenues for understanding artificial intelligence and our society’s emerging relationship with advanced technology; as ethical case studies; as forms of mass entertainment; as educational and motivational tools; and as potential artworks.1 My efforts here are a philosophical exploration on the artistic and aesthetic value of videogames and the experiences they offer, but I believe this project has cross-disciplinary value with its critical insight on videogames as complex cultural artifacts. 1 For example, see Kosminksy (2009), Mateas (2003), Luck (2009), McGonigal (2011), and Gee (2003). 1 I was a gamer before I was a philosopher, spending countless hours of my adolescence in arcades and in front of TVs with a videogame controller in my hands. As such, my experiences as a gamer shape and inform many of my arguments here. I see this a strength of the project, in part because one of the overall goals is to help establish open lines of communication between the philosophical community interested in videogames and the gaming community interested in creating, designing, and engaging in worthwhile and rewarding gameplay experiences. For philosophers, a great deal of what I argue here connects directly with central questions in aesthetics including, but not limited to: What are the criteria for arthood? What is aesthetic experience? What aspects of a work account for the aesthetic experience it affords? What is aesthetic and artistic value? How are we to understand revolutionary artworks regarding their artistic and aesthetic value? Further, I hope that my efforts will help shift the discussion of videogames in philosophy of art to one that focuses on analyzing the aesthetic and artistic value of games on their own merit and distinct nature, instead of relying primarily on comparisons with other art mediums. For the gaming community, a philosophical analysis of the artistic and aesthetic value can provide the tools needed to categorize videogames as a legitimate art form. Contextualizing videogames as art can prime society to take more seriously the potential artistic and aesthetic value of the medium. It’s not necessarily an ontological impetus that motivates my desire to classify videogames as artworks, but a need for shifting the focus among scholars, game designers, and 2 gaming communities to the potentially unique normative value to be had while playing videogames. As a gamer, I’m attempting to bring the possible aesthetic value of videogame play into greater public consciousness. Hopefully, this helps in the production of better videogames