Global Issues in Design & Visuality March 14, 2006

The Imaginary Cultures of Online Multiplayer Video Games

This event is part of a series

65 Fifth Ave. Swayduck Auditorium
Tue, Mar 14
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM

Presented by: Katie Salen, Associate Chair, Design & Technology, Parsons

Just as globalization has accelerated the mobility of people, images, and products, constantly reconfiguring the cultures associated with them, massively multiplayer online gaming has become a universe of identities (and geographies) constantly in the making. Gamers represent themselves through virtual beings that are complex composites of character traits. In addition to assuming various roles and behaviors, players also shape the spaces where the games are played. ?Spaces? are translated into ?places? with features drawn from various archetypes: suburbs, inner city ghettos, medieval castles. Overlaid onto these spaces are cultural frameworks drawn from sources ranging from Japanese science fiction to American pop music. This lecture will look at how video game players build imaginary cultures.

Open To: All