Dirt, not soil: A unit analysis of "Minecraft" dirt blocks and gameworld representations of global environmental ideologies
First author: WeaglyYear: 2013
Abstract
Increasing numbers of people around the globe spend an increasing amount of time exploring and deriving meaning from the virtual environments in videogames. This thesis asks readers to confront the fact that videogame environments may shape everyday perceptions of real world nature in both positive and problematic ways. By combining a range of contemporary voices in the disciplines of videogame studies (Huizinga, Castronova, Juul, Murray, Lehndonirta, Aarseth, Shaw, and McGonigal) and literacy studies (Gee, Hawisher, Selfe, and Ong), I offer the start of a videogame ecocriticism by focusing on Minecraft (2011) gameworlds and the environmental perspective that they privilege. In particular, I draw on Ian Bogost"s concept of unit operations and unit analysis to identify characteristics of the gameworld—such as the texture and interactive properties of the dirt block—that might strongly interact with player ideologies about nature. I argue that the privileged position of player over gameworld evident in Minecraft represents a dominant contemporary understanding of nature as existing mostly to support human activities. With at least ten million players and millions of non-players who learn about the game through association, Minecraft is likely to influence ideologies about humanity"s relationship to nature through its gameplay mechanics and environmental representations. Minecraft gameworlds also complicate an emerging sense of nature at a moment when children and adults may spend more time exploring virtual environments than natural environments.Details
Language: EnglishCountry of affiliation: United States
Published in: dissertation
Publication type: Dissertation
Source: https://www.proquest.com/openview/546c77f76f921384bf43bc0a7d64d944/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750
Games
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Franchises
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