According to the vast majority of game scholars, freedom is very important for games, relatively both to the dynamics which constitute their syntax properties and to the contents which give a framework to their semantics. But which is the type of freedom involved in games? Early computer games provided a freedom based on movement and interaction (ontic freedom). The notion of movement has been deeply grounded upon that of spatiality: the exploration of computer gaming spatiality is enacted by players through the interaction with a system of affordances, which in any case must be conceived by the very same players within a fictional context confining their behaviours in a state of psychological and ontological quarantine. Understanding the roles of fiction and interaction in defining the structure of games leads to discover that but the technical development of the representation of real time movement has created the possibility of implementing also a type of freedom based on choice and fiction (deontic freedom). In any case, almost all computer games provide just a negative freedom, i.e. a freedom from external constraints, whereas only few computer games provide a positive freedom based on social engagement.

From Movement to Choice: Ontic and Deontic Freedom in Video Games.

MOSCA, IVAN
2014-01-01

Abstract

According to the vast majority of game scholars, freedom is very important for games, relatively both to the dynamics which constitute their syntax properties and to the contents which give a framework to their semantics. But which is the type of freedom involved in games? Early computer games provided a freedom based on movement and interaction (ontic freedom). The notion of movement has been deeply grounded upon that of spatiality: the exploration of computer gaming spatiality is enacted by players through the interaction with a system of affordances, which in any case must be conceived by the very same players within a fictional context confining their behaviours in a state of psychological and ontological quarantine. Understanding the roles of fiction and interaction in defining the structure of games leads to discover that but the technical development of the representation of real time movement has created the possibility of implementing also a type of freedom based on choice and fiction (deontic freedom). In any case, almost all computer games provide just a negative freedom, i.e. a freedom from external constraints, whereas only few computer games provide a positive freedom based on social engagement.
2014
Freedom of Play
Istanbul
14.11.2014
The Philosophy of Computer Games Conference
1
13
http://gamephilosophy2014.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Mosca-2014.-From-Movement-to-Choice.-Ontic-and-Deontic-Freedom-in-Video-Games.-PCG2014.pdf
Ivan Mosca
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2318/150995
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