----------empyre- soft-skinned space---------------------- I'm so glad that Lauren brought up the power of worldbuilding, nonhuman gameplay, and good old-fashioned media content and influence, because I don't want everyone to get the impression that we're advocating for everyone to throw their PlayStations in the nearest e-waste container or decamp to crossword puzzles with moral certitude.
Case in point, today my digital theory class played/watched Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding, which has been mocked as a "walking/hiking simulator" or a tale of post-apocalyptic Amazon Prime deliveries, but has a real visceral impact as you watch the protagonist flee (always) acid rain and trek across a planetary surface that is no longer hospitable to humans. Still, let's run the fun thought experiment of imagining how to address what Sonia termed "play structure / gameplay mechanics which foster data-heavy irresponsible entertainment consumption." What would that look like? To me this might resemble Kris De Decker's argument that we need a "speed limit" for the internet (https://www.resilience.org/stories/2015-10-21/why-we-need-a-speed-limit-for-the-internet/). What about a return to text-only adventures? A cap on resolution or polygon count? Single, not multiplayer or at least networked play? Paper, and pencil? (Next week's guests on analog gaming, get ready!) In the future, in the name of computational environmental justice, will we observe, akin to Meatless Mondays... Text-Only Tuesdays? (Lo) Framerate Fridays? Or are these merely "green nudges" when we're well into needed "shove" territory? One last thought, since Jeff usefully brought up both the Mills et al. report and recent attempts to Netflix-ize gaming. Last week, a study was published in Science declaring that data centers aren't quite as naughty energy guzzlers as they were thought to be, due to increased efficiencies. And although the authors note that such a trend is unlikely to continue, the tenor of a lot of reporting on the study had a dismaying head in the sand quality: "see--look! we're fine! it's not so bad!" keep calm and game on? Alenda _______________________________________________ empyre forum empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au http://empyre.library.cornell.edu
