![]() ![]() The second section accommodates hermeneutics to ludocriticism. The first section revisits the concept of hermeneutics in game and videogame research. Hermeneutics is thus not applied here solely as a pragmatical (Aarseth, 2003a), phenomenological (Sicart, 2009), or meaning-making (Arjoranta, 2011) instrument but as an analytical meta-ludic method for describing and fostering the ludocritical process. The idea is to take hermeneutics as a method for explaining and guiding this doubly active practice. With reference to Espen Aarseth’s (2003a) founding methodological review, the premise is that ludocriticism rests upon two fundamental dominators: empirical play and critical analysis. Instead of continuing the study of these values, the present article chooses to focus on the scarcity of ludocritical methods, nonetheless. A frequent (but not too frequent) emergence of attempts to explain and advance ludocritical values is hence not surprising (e.g. A comprehension of how videogames become worth the player’s time, money, and effort is an analytical donation to ludo-ontology, -phenomenology, and -aesthetics, to name but a few major schemes. This evaluative criticism of videogame products shall henceforth be referred to as ludocriticism: a practice that is not so much concerned of understanding the product, but rather of whether the product is worth understanding.įor the academic who normally holds reverse interests, the concept of "worth" provides a lucrative view to the videogame’s unseen mechanisms. Whereas the journalistic criticism of most aesthetic products is governed by guiding interpretation (what they "mean"), the journalistic criticism of videogame products is governed by judging evaluation (are they "good"). The difference becomes most visible in journalistic criticism. For paintings, films, and novels the situation is quite the opposite: While they operate ipso facto, their understanding poses a challenge. One of the most distinctive characteristics of the videogame as an aesthetic artifact is the manual, which safeguards its use: While the operability of the product remains an enigma, its understanding is ultimately secured. ![]() If the reader has the endurance to reach the last section, she or he will discover one of the key outcomes of the discussion the notion of hermeneutic play, which refers to a mode of playing videogames for the sake of understanding their ludo-generic identities. ![]() If the reader chooses to enter the main article, she or he will find out how the concept of hermeneutics has been previously used in game and videogame research, and how it can also be used to explain and perhaps even cultivate the evaluation of videogame artifacts. The primary method of this practice is hermeneutics. This article introduces the concept of ludocriticism as a practice for evaluating videogame artifacts. ![]()
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