TY - JOUR

T1 - Ruins of Excess

T2 - Computer Game Images and the Rendering of Technological Obsolescence

AU - Luersen, Eduardo H.

AU - Fuchs, Mathias

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2021.

PY - 2021/12/1

Y1 - 2021/12/1

N2 - In this article, we describe three layers of ruins related to computer game technology: in a surface layer, we examine the imagery of ruins in digital games, highlighting game design tools for developing in-game ruination. Secondly, we approach the industrial design model of technological obsolescence as an infrastructural layer that intrinsically demands the production of new provisional spaces for material decay. Lastly, through a waste layer, we unfold the geopolitical dimension of technological obsolescence, calling attention to the transcontinental flows of electronic waste, which also underscores a geological stage of ruination. While exploring these different layers of ruins, we wish to perceive how game design models might relate to different forms of contemporary ruination, inquiring what such material traces have to say as strata of the complex deterioration processes of present-day media.

AB - In this article, we describe three layers of ruins related to computer game technology: in a surface layer, we examine the imagery of ruins in digital games, highlighting game design tools for developing in-game ruination. Secondly, we approach the industrial design model of technological obsolescence as an infrastructural layer that intrinsically demands the production of new provisional spaces for material decay. Lastly, through a waste layer, we unfold the geopolitical dimension of technological obsolescence, calling attention to the transcontinental flows of electronic waste, which also underscores a geological stage of ruination. While exploring these different layers of ruins, we wish to perceive how game design models might relate to different forms of contemporary ruination, inquiring what such material traces have to say as strata of the complex deterioration processes of present-day media.

KW - e-waste

KW - game design

KW - geopolitics of media

KW - material culture

KW - ruins

KW - Media and communication studies

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85104842695&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/2535bc92-999e-39cb-ac10-04faed77c958/

U2 - 10.1177/15554120211005363

DO - 10.1177/15554120211005363

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85104842695

VL - 16

SP - 1087

EP - 1110

JO - Games and Culture

JF - Games and Culture

SN - 1555-4120

IS - 8

ER -