Alex Wade
With their significant impact upon economic, social and political spheres, videogames are a crucial site of sociological research. The spaces in which videogames are played are often referred to by generic terms which do not adequately incorporate or convey the experiences of those who use technologies as a means of communication, work and play. Placing Lefebvre's The Production of Space (1991/1974) as its cornerstone, Exploring Videogames through Digital Space and Time examines how Lefebvre's conceptual typology of space can be used as a tool of analysis, arguing that the experiences of postindustrial society is concurrent to experiences of space: transient and in flux. Following a discussion of the influence of Lefebvre's writing upon contemporary considerations of space and specifically drawing on the work of Baudrillard, Bourdieu, McLuhan and Virilio, the book engages with the problem of identifying, defining and describing the spaces produced by videogames. It achieves this by revising and updating Lefebvre's typology and therefore offering an original and critical model for engaging with the complex spaces produced by videogames. Following a critique of the current uses of spatial terminology in literature specific to videogames, Exploring Videogames through Digital Space and Time applies the updated model of space to a critical and empirical study of the play, production, consumption and politics of videogames. Throughout the progression of the book it becomes apparent that the impact of digital space is symptomatic of wider sociological changes in interaction, politics, work, perception of time, everyday life and the body.
Inside the New Media of Videogames: Exploring Digital Space and Time