Index
abstract painting, 121–24
abusive games, 191, 300n10. See also masocore games
accessibility, 161
Adventure. See Colossal Cave Adventure
aesthetics, 146–50
After Finitude, 113
alternate reality games (ARGs), 287–28, 317n16, 340nn18–20
Ambassadors, The, 90–93, 95, 311n13, 312n14, 314n25
anamorphic games: definition of, 88, 99–100; examples of, 84, 313n22; as metagames, 115–16
anamorphosis: in The Ambassadors, 90–93, 95; definition, 88; and ergodic literature, 94–95; foreshortening, 89, 92; as memento mortem mortis, 93; normal sight as, 87; and perspective, 88–91, 93; in skulls, 95–97; subject positions, as critique of, 95; as unnatural, 89
animation (early history), 57–58, 307n53. See also hand of the animator
Anthropy, Anna, 31, 33, 149, 191, 300–301n12
Apple, 57–59, 81, 143, 179, 244, 310n8, 319n22, 337n57
Arabian Nights (Magic: The Gathering), 23–25, 298nn1–2
Artosis. See Stemkoski, Daniel
Atari 2600, 303nn25–26
audiogames, 161
Baio, Andy, 29–30
Battle.net, 234, 308n55, 333n31
Blizzard, 62–63, 240–41. See also StarCraft; StarCraft II; Warcraft: Humans and Orcs; Warcraft III
Blow, Jonathan, 300n9. See also Braid
Bogost, Ian, 21, 35, 37, 79–80, 110, 114–15, 149, 166, 204, 282, 298n5, 298n6, 300n12, 301n14, 339n11
Braid, 28–31, 148, 299n3, 299n6
Caillois, Roger, 98, 208, 226, 269
cane (metaphor), 164–65
Carlucci, Bruno “Statsman,” 255–58, 336n53
cognition, distributed, 110
Colossal Cave Adventure, 165–66, 308n57
combinatorial poetics, 174
Connor, Steven, 125–26, 169–70, 208, 221, 225–27, 243, 255, 269, 335n47
consciousness, 4–5
console ban, China’s, 258–59, 331n18
controllers, videogame, 35–37, 40, 302n17, 315n26, 323n13
cosmetic markets, 266–67
critical play, 38, 295n7. See also playculture
cuts (philosophical concept), 208, 225–26, 242, 270. See also grammatization
Day[9]. See Plott, Sean
Defense of the Ancients (Dota): history of, 233–40; popularity of, 218. See also Dota 2
Dendi. See Ishutin, Danil
desktop environments, 101–2
diegetic machine acts, 134–35, 143
digital any-space-whatever (digital ASW), 98, 108, 115, 312n18
digital games, 1, 226, 270. See also videogames
disability: definitions, 168–69, 321n33; in The Phantom Pain, 134–35, 141, 318n20; Quadstick, the, 302n17; simulating, 169–70; and videogames, 303n23. See also phantom limbs
disability studies, 39–40, 155
disabling acts, 144–45, 153–54
domestic labor, 337n58
Dota 2: in China, 259, 331n17; cosmetic market, 266; inspirations, 223, 225, 234, 241; mechanics of, 20; metagame, 230, 232–33, 248 (see also Turn of the Tide, The); origins, 240–41; as platform, 215, 245–47, 330n13; and race, 212–15, 255–56; as RTS, 269–70; as service, 242; statistics, 255–58; tournament prizes, 328n5; trademark issues, 240–41; and Warcraft III, 233, 240. See also Defense of the Ancients (Dota); e-sports; International, The
d-pads, 302n16
Dungeons & Dragons, 222
Dyer-Witheford, Nick, 3–4, 295n8, 337n60, 339n11
Echochrome II, 102–6. See also shadow play
ergodic literature, 94
e-sports, 242–44, 305n35, 308n56, 328n6. See also Dota 2; International, The
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (game), 79, 196, 309n1
EVE Online, 16, 67, 69–71, 309n61
exploits: in Doom 64, 45; in Dota 2, 334n41; in Final Fantasy, 321n35; in The Legend of Zelda, 166–67; in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, 44–47; in Super Smash Bros. Melee, 52–53, 59
EyeWriter, 302n18
Fabiszak, Chris, 53
feminists: as killjoys and spoilsports, 21, 283–84; organizations of, 39, 303n22; Justin Trudeau as, 278, 339n7. See also Sarkeesian, Anita
Foddy, Bennet, 33–34, 191, 198
foreshortening, 89, 92. See also anamorphosis
4 Minutes and 33 Seconds of Uniqueness, 150–52, 320n30
fourth-dimensional art, 111–12. See also Miegakure
4:32, 152–53
Fox Engine, 128–30
Galloway, Alexander, 4, 65, 112–13, 131–32, 134–35, 144, 150, 153, 214, 294n5, 310n4, 332n23
game design: critical, 125; definition, 297n21; of Dota 2, 240, 270, 334n41; fan-based, 235–36; feminist, 38, 295n7; Nintendo’s, 199; philosophy, 2–3, 21, 294n4; speedrunning as, 43; Valve’s, 265–68
Game Developers Conference (GDC), 13–14, 128, 138–39
game development, independent, 33–34
gamer theorists, 295n6
games: digital, all as, 226; in game theory, 297n18; and play, 227; speculative, 116–17; and sports, 335n47; Suits’s definition of, 6–8, 169
game theory, 11–12, 297n18, 297n21
Garfield, Richard, 13–14
gender: and blindness, 321n34; and harassment, 279; and indie games, 32; and marginalization, 155; in Valve’s games, 311n10; and virtual reality, 320n32. See also feminists; Sarkeesian, Anita; Tropes vs. Women; Wright, Narcissa
[giantJoystick], 37, 40–41, 303n26
Gianturco, Alex “The Mittani,” 16, 67–69
glitches, 44, 46, 59, 304n29. See also exploits; speedrunning
grammatization, 5, 167, 208, 226, 268, 271. See also cuts (philosophical concept)
graphical realism, 125, 128–31. See also mimesis; photorealism; realism
graphic user interface (GUI), 56–57, 101–2, 223–24, 314n24, 315n26, 327n34, 333n32
Half-Life: graphics, 77–79; as metagame, 310n3; origins of, 260–61; plot, 80, 310n5, 311n10; rules, 81. See also Portal; Valve
hand of the animator, 57–59, 307n53, 327n34. See also animation (early history)
Hansen, Mark B. N., 4, 14, 84, 94–99, 108, 115, 217, 270, 276, 312n18, 315n25, 331n20
harassment, 276, 278–79, 338nn2–4. See also Sarkeesian, Anita
Helen Keller Simulator, The, 18, 125, 154–58
Hellwig, Johann Christian Ludwig, 218–19
hobbies, 268–69
horror, 115
Howard, Nigel, 12–13, 25. See also game theory; Prisoner’s Dilemma, The
Huizinga, Johan, 20, 275, 282, 284, 296n13, 339n11, 339n13. See also magic circle, the
human experience, 114–16, 217–18, 270, 322n4
immediacy, 87, 131, 311n12, 317n9
immersive fallacy, the, 131, 317n9
Indie Game: The Movie, 26–28, 32–33
interface essentialism, 41
International, The: broadcast, 215–17; character popularity, 332n27; format, 328n7; match times, 328n8; overview, 209–10; prize pool, 328n4; teams attending, 212, 329n9; Turn of the Tide, The, 209–10, 212, 248–54. See also Dota 2; e-sports
Invictus Gaming (iG): against Na`Vi, 212, 215–17; drafting, 230, 232; members, 211; racism against, 212–13; strategy, 214–15; The Turn of the Tide, 247–52, 254–55, 259. See also Dota 2; International, The
Ishutin, Danil, 212, 252–55, 268
It Is Pitch Black, 171
Kaizo Mario World, 192, 326n28
Keller, Helen, 156–57
Kojima, Hideo, 132–33, 138–39, 144, 316n6
kriegsspiel, 218–19, 221, 331n19. See also wargames
Lazzarini, Robert, 95–98
Legend of Zelda, The, 165–68
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The (OoT): blind play, 19, 162–63, 165, 321n38, 322n39; overview, 41–42; speedrunning techniques, 44–46, 48–49, 305n34; speedrunning theory, 159–61, 168; versions, 305n31
loading screens, 148, 320n31. See also 4 Minutes and 33 Seconds of Uniqueness
ludic spectatorship, 60, 63–66, 330n15
magic circle, the, 282–84, 296n13. See also standard metagame
Magic: The Gathering, 23–25, 298nn1–2
Malabou, Catherine, 1, 4–6, 285, 295n10, 296n12. See also plasticity
Many Worlds Emulator, 192, 194–95, 326n27
mapping, 64
mashups, 186–89, 191–92, 198, 324n20, 325nn21–23. See also ROM Check Fail
masocore games, 31, 300n12. See also abusive games; Kaizo Mario World; Super Meat Boy
materiality, 293n1
McLuhan, Marshall, 5
McMillen, Edmund. See Super Meat Boy
mechanics: as constraints, 180; of controllers, 35–36, 303n21; definitions of, 8–9, 226–28, 296n14; of DotA, 236, 238, 240, 333n33; of Dota 2, 20, 217, 233, 247, 334n41; of Echochrome, 108–9; and exploits, 44–45, 52, 166–68; in first-person shooters, 80; in indie games, 31–33; of kriegspiel, 221–22; of The Legend of Zelda, 166–67; of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, 45; of The Marriage, 301n14; in mash-ups, 186–87, 324n20; of materiality, 293n1, 293n2; of Mega Man, 186; minimalist, 148, 150; money as, 266; of perspectival rendering, 80, 84; in physics, 296n14; playable critiques of, 30; of ROM CHECK FAIL, 187, 191; and rules-play friction, 227–28, 293n2; of Shahrazad card, 24; of Super Smash Bros. series, 53–54, 197; this book’s metagame, 2; in videogames, 8–9, 35–36, 98, 287
memento mortem mortis: definition, 92–93; game, 118; levelHead as, 108, 110; skulls as, 97–98; in videogames, 98–99
meta (prefix), 10, 296n16, 297n17
metagames: anamorphic, 115–16; Baio’s taxonomy of, 300n10; definitions of, 9–11, 15–17, 25, 55–56, 72, 297n22; early theories of, 11–14; end of, 286–89; examples of, 15–16, 73–76, 119, 171, 205, 273; features of, 3–4, 9, 25; as games about games, 29–31; resiliency of, 285; and rules, 228; standard (see standard metagame); in this book, 1–2, 289; using Mario, 182
Metal Gear, 132–33
Metal Gear Solid (series), 133, 142–44, 316n8, 317nn10–13, 318nn18–19
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, 145–47, 319nn24–25
Metal Gear Solid 4, 134, 141–42, 144
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain: ad campaign, 135–40; console war in, 319n22; disability in, 134–35, 141, 318n20; and Hollywood, 132; opening scenes, 126–28, 135; as sandbox, 316n3
Mickey Mouse, 57–58
Mighty Jill Off, 300n12
mimesis, 84–85, 87, 137–38. See also graphical realism
minimalist aesthetics, 146–50. See also Helen Keller Simulator, The
natural user interface (NUI), 106
Natus Vincere (Na`Vi): against iG, 212, 215–17, 232, 329n9; drafting, 230, 232; members, 211; The Turn of the Tide, 247–52, 254–55, 259. See also Dota 2; International, The
NES Remix, 198
Newell, Gabe: and customers, 261; founding Valve, 260; hobbies, 268–69; management strategies, 20, 208, 263, 337n59; on money, 266–67; on productivity, 265; on Steam, 267
99 Exercises in Play, 205
Nintendo, 196–97, 199, 201, 308n55, 313n20
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), 32, 322n5
nondiegetic machine acts, 134–35, 143
notgames, 319n28
object-oriented ontology, 79, 114–15, 309n1, 312n17
Ocarina of Time. See Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The
One Thousand and One Nights, 23–24
Oulipo, 22, 174, 322. See also Queneau, Raymond
pataphysics, 257–58
perspectival rendering: as anamorphic, 88–91, 93; and desktop environments, 101–2; fantasies of, 87; and first-person shooters, 80, 82–84; functioning of, 89; and the games industry, 87–88; technologies for, 85–86. See also mimesis
perspective, 83–84, 90, 314n23
Peuter, Greig, de, 3–4, 295n8, 337n60, 339n11
phantom limbs, 140–41
photorealism, 130–32, 144, 317n11
plasticity, 5–6, 295n9, 295n10
platforms, 35–36
play: conditions of, 59–60; forms of, 60; and games, 227; material traces of, 322n1; and production, 15; reduction of, 8; rhetorics of, 5–6; Suits’s definition, 227; in videogames, 46, 293n2. See also spectatorship: ludic
playculture, 38–39
players, standardization of, 36
Pliny the Elder, 84–87, 104, 130
Plott, Nick, 60–63
Plott, Sean, 60–62
poetics, combinatorial, 174
Portal, 81–83, 310n8, 311n10. See also Half-Life; Valve
powerups, 51, 134, 197, 306n42
Prisoner’s Dilemma, The, 11–14, 294n3
probability, 220–21, 227. See also statistics
Project M-etagame, 54–55. See also Terrell, Richard
prototypes, 52, 298n22, 299n7, 308n54
Quadstick, 302n17
Queneau, Raymond, 19, 22, 174–76, 205. See also Oulipo
race: and Dota 2, 212–15, 255–56; and Super Smash Bros., 57–59; in videogames, 327n34, 329nn10–11
realism, 130–31. See also graphical realism; photorealism
realisticness, 131
real-time strategy games (RTS), 223, 269. See also StarCraft; StarCraft II; Warcraft: Humans and Orcs
Refenes, Tommy. See Super Meat Boy
Research & Design 4 (R&D4), 304n28
Rez, 302n20
ROM Check Fail, 187–88, 190–91, 325n25
ROM hacks, 190–92
rumble, 319n21
Salen Tekinbaş, Katie, 14, 21, 131, 297n22, 339n11, 339n13
Sarkeesian, Anita: harassment of, 275–78; as killjoy and spoilsport, 283–84; recognition of, 338n5; representations of, 279; Tropes vs. Women, 276–78
Sartre, Jean-Paul, 19, 178–80, 189, 195, 326n32
self-competitive gameplay, 196, 326n32
self-cooperative gameplay, 195–96
seriality: definitions of, 177–78; and modernity, 178–79; new, 189–90; in replays, 198–99; in videogames, 19, 176–77, 180–81, 323n7, 323n9
shadow play, 104–5, 315n28. See also Echochrome II
shahrazad (Magic: The Gathering), 13, 24–25
skulls, 95–99
Smith, Sean, 67–71
spectatorship: as commodity, 245–47; of e-sports, 244–45; ludic, 60, 63–66, 330n15; as work, 67
speculative games, 116–17
speedrunning, 15; categories, 304n29; definition, 42; end of, 287; Final Fantasy, 321n35; for fundraising, 47–48; as hobby, 305n38, 306n39; ideologies of, 46; Kirby’s Adventure, 306n43; as metagame, 43–45, 47; tool-assisted (TAS), 176, 183–86; and Twitch, 48, 65; and visuality, 160–61. See also Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The
sports, 169, 225–26, 243–44, 335n47
standard metagame: as anti-metagaming, 280–81; and consumption, 279–80; definition of, 36–37, 298n27, 339n10; feminists breaking, 39, 283–84; ideology of, 281, 283; and spoilsports, 284. See also magic circle, the
StarCraft: inspiration, 225, 331n22; Korean popularity, 61–62; metagame, 63–64; overview, 60–61
StarCraft II, 16
statistics, 220–22. See also probability
Steam, 218, 267–68. See also Dota 2; Valve
streaming, 66–67. See also spectatorship: ludic
Streaming. See also Twitch
Suits, Bernard, 6–10, 37, 169, 227, 339n11. See also utopia
Super Guide, 199
Super Mario Bros. (NES): as combinatorial, 174, 176; demo mode, 327n35; repetition in, 173–74; ROM hacks, 191; speedrunning records, 340n17
Super Mario Bros. (series), 181–82, 189–90, 322n2, 323n11–12. See also Kaizo Mario World; ROM Check Fail
Super Mario Bros. AI competition, 192–94, 326n31
Super Mario Clouds, 150, 182, 324n15
Super Mario Maker, 197, 199–202
Super Mario World, 303n21
Super Meat Boy, 28–29, 31, 73, 299n3, 299n7, 300n11
Super Paper Mario, 147, 319n26
Super Smash Bros., 52, 56–57, 307n50
Super Smash Bros. Brawl, 54
Super Smash Bros. Melee, 15, 52–54, 56, 59
Super Smash Bros. Wii U, 197, 306n48, 307n52
Tasteless. See Plott, Nick
Taylor, T.L., 64, 242–43, 329n10, 335n46
technésexual, 302n19
ten Bosch, Marc. See Miegakure
Terrell, Richard, 15, 54–56. See also Project M-etagame
Tetris study, Kirsh and Maglio’s, 109–10
Tide Hunter, 273
tool-assisted speedrunning (TAS), 176, 183–86
Triforce, 75
Tropes vs. Women, 276–77
Turn of the Tide, The, 209–10, 212, 248–54
Twitch: background, 47, 333n30; and collaborative play, 66; and speedrunning, 48, 65; viewership, 336n48. See also streaming
2D space, as creative constraint, 99–100
undercurrency, 208–9, 266, 272
upgrade paths, 34, 128, 141, 281
utopia: goldfarming disrupting, 329n11; and hypertrophy, 126; the Internet as, 214; of Thomas More, 329n11; play as, 2, 227, 282; Bernard Suits, 6–10, 169; technological, 281
Valve: business model, 233, 261–62, 266, 271; and China, 259; and computational capitalism, 337n57; corporate structure, 263, 337n59, 337n60; and cosmetic markets, 266–67; and Dota 2, 240–41, 268; game development philiosophy, 265–68; and modders, 261; origins of, 260–61; and piracy, 336n55; productivity measures, 264–65. See also Dota 2; Half-Life; Portal
Verner, Jordan, 159–63
videogames: as commodities, 3–4; as communal, 73; as control allegories, 112–13; controllers, 35–37, 40, 302n17, 315n26, 323n13; definition, 298n26; and disability, 170 (see also Helen Keller Simulator, The; Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain); and empire, 295n8; and finance capital, 208; as ideological form of play, 6, 8, 37, 227, 281; as labor, 259–60; as not games, 8, 26; play in, 46, 293n2; rules in, 8–9, 332n24; seriality in, 19, 176–77, 180–81; and sports, 243–44; and violence, 331n23, 338n6, 339n14. See also digital games
Vile Rat. See Smith, Sean
virtual reality, 285–86, 320n32
von Neumann, John, 11–12, 297n20, 297n21
Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, 223–25
Warcraft III, 233, 235–36, 240, 333n34, 333n37
wargames, 220–23. See also kriegsspiel; Warcraft: Orcs & Humans
Warhammer: The Game of Fantasy Battles, 223
World Cyber Games (WCG), 61
World of Warcraft, 203, 334n38
Wright, Narcissa: exploits, interest in, 44; as speedrunner of OoT, 41–42, 46, 48–50, 158–59; and Super Smash Bros., 53, 72
Yokoi, Gunpei, 302n16
Zimmerman, Eric, 14, 21, 131, 282, 297n22, 298n22, 309n59, 339n11, 339n13. See also magic circle, the
Z targeting, 305n32