Technologies of Captivation: Videogames and the attunement of affect

Ash, James (2013) Technologies of Captivation: Videogames and the attunement of affect. Body & Society, 19 (1). pp. 27-51. ISSN 1357-034X

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Abstract

This article analyses the skills and knowledges involved in multiplayer first-person shooting games, specifically Call of Duty 4 for the Xbox 360 games console. In doing so, it argues that the environments of first-person shooting games are designed to be intense spaces that produce captivated subjects – users who play attentively for long periods of time. Developing Heidegger’s concept of attunement and Stiegler’s account of retention, the article unpacks the somatic and sensory skills involved in videogame play and discusses how videogame environments cultivate a sense of captivation. In conclusion the article reflects on the politics of captivation for the bodies that engage with these games through the idea of vulnerability as an ‘opening of the body’s capacity for sense’.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	embodiment, Heidegger, memory, new media technology, phenomenology, video games
Subjects:	P300 Media studies
Department:	Faculties > Arts, Design and Social Sciences > Design
Depositing User:	Ellen Cole
Date Deposited:	14 May 2013 12:37
Last Modified:	01 Jun 2021 10:24
URI:	http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/12562

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