Acknowledgements 1. Introduction 1.1 Attention, Economy, Power 1.2 Post-Phenomenology and New Materialism 1.3 Media, Software and Game Studies 1.4 Chapter outlines 2. Interface 2.1 Interface theory 2.2 Interface as Object 2.3 Interfaces as Environments 2.4 Interface, Object, Transduction 3. Resolution 3.1 Resolution 3.2 Neuropower 3.3 High and low Resolution 3.4 Phasing between resolutions 3.5 Resolution, Habit, Power 4. Technicity 4.1 Technicity 4.2 Psychopower 4.3 Homogenization 4.4 Irreversibility 4.5 Technicity, Time, Power 5. Envelopes 5.1 Homeomorphic Modulation 5.2 Envelope Power 5.3 Shifting Logics of the Envelope in Games Design 5.4 The Contingency of Envelopes 6. Ecotechnics 6.1 The Ecotechnics of Care 6.2 Ecotechnics of Care: two sites of transduction 6.3 From suspended to immanent ecotechnical systems of care 6.4 The Temporal Deferral of Negative Affect 7. Envelope Life 7.1 Gamification 7.2 Non-gaming interface envelopes 7.3 Questioning Envelope Life 7.4 Pharmacology 8. Conclusions 8.1 Games / Digital Interfaces 8.2 Objects / New materialism / Envelopes 8.3 Power / Economy / Capitalism Bibliography Index
Develops the new theory of 'interface envelope': how interfaces produce envelopes of space and time that serve to focus users' perception on the present moment.
James Ash is Senior Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies at Newcastle University, UK. He has a background in human geography and completed his PhD at the University of Bristol on practices of video game design and testing. James has published a number of articles on technology and video games in a range of international journals.
This book offers a wealth of in-depth analysis, which delivers on
the promise of taking games seriously. The broad and solid theory
building that the book offers is sorely needed. ... [It] pushes our
discussion and thought in a different and important direction.
*Information, Communication & Society*
The book’s readability is assisted by the format of eight
relatively short chapters and a clear expository logic ... [and
Ash] does an admirable job explaining computer games in ways that
are accessible to nongamers.
*Social & Cultural Geography*
[Raising] important questions about the commodification of
perception ... The Interface Envelope is an interesting text that
clearly articulates a vision for how video games localize folds of
time-space to orient, and profit from, our perceptual and embodied
capacities ... It serves as a platform for understanding the
ontological links between—and beyond—gaming, technology, and
power.
*Society and Space*
Theoretically nuanced and empirically rich, this discussion of how
big-budget computer games attempt to organise players' perceptions
is a must-read for all those interested in how digital technologies
are changing our forms of life.
*Gillian Rose, Professor of Cultural Geography, The Open
University, UK*
James Ash's critical study shows how interfaces create
spatio-temporal traps in which we are enveloped in alternative
worlds. Cognitive capitalism works through techniques that
stimulate our perceptions and sense of difference. Ash's book is a
strong take on the non-human aspects in contemporary media culture
without forgetting issues of political economy either. It will
definitely speak to readers in game, media and cultural
studies.
*Jussi Parikka, Professor of Technological Culture & Aesthetics,
Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton, UK, and author
of Digital Contagions*
More and more aspects of everyday life are being mediated through
digital interfaces. And yet, to date, critical thinking about
interfaces has been quite limited. The Interface Envelope is a
vital contribution to filling this lacuna, providing a compelling
new approach to making sense of interfaces that draws on
post-phenomenology and new materialist ideas. In so doing, James
Ash provides a thoroughly interdisciplinary and provocative
analysis of interfaces that takes seriously and weaves together
notions of embodiment, affect, memory, materiality, objects, power,
space and time, through a detailed analysis of gaming interfaces.
If you are interested in understanding how and why interfaces
matter read this book.
*Rob Kitchin, Professor and ERC Advanced Investigator in the
National Institute of Regional and Spatial Analysis, National
University of Ireland Maynooth, Ireland*
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
