Media archaeology and video games: hardware, software, and platforms

Media Archaelogy and Videogames

In today's world, the rapid development of technology has opened worlds of vast information and entertainment that are instantly accessible at the touch of a button. The relationships created in this way not only involve those we interact with online or via gaming, but also our own perception, the mental imagery we create and the apparatus we use to access these. A researcher who truly wants to understand the past of a medium cannot only work with historical imagery or archival footage. There must also be a consideration of the technologies used in the past; the technology used to create historical imagery and archival footage. This is the point of study for media archaeology; where the researcher studies the specific technological devices used in the past to create media from the past and how this developed and its relationship to technology today.

Media archaeology is a field of study that involves theories and methodologies to address media history in unconvenitonal ways. Elements of repetition and variation are used to determine relationships between past and present media technologies. In this essay, recent medial archaeological waves in European and U.S. media studeis are examined in terms of its hardware materiality and time-critical focus, as wella s software and platform studies in their relationship to videogames.

The Nature of Media Archaeology

Part of media archaeology is investigating the concept of "new media" and where the starting point of this new media lies as opposed to "old" or traditional media (Huhtamo and Parikka, 2011, p. 1). The "new media" today are considered to be things like the Internet, digital television, interactive multipmeida, virtual reality, mobile communicaiton, and video games. These have spawned research areas such as network analysis and software studies. Network economies and new media as ways of seeing are investigated in all their divergent areas and experiences. In addition, philosophies and languages have been identified as these pertain to what we regard as the new media today. What is interesting about this is the many focus points that researchers may choose from when investigating the new media and their points of origin. Some, for example, focus on the social and psychological aspects of the new media, while others would investigate the economical or ideological aspects.

In video gaming, for example, an economic aspect might consider the revenues that innovative factors within various versions of the same game might bring in. Many researchers have investigated the psychological effects of playing violent games such as Grand Theft Auto on the young mind. In terms of social aspects, it is interesting to investigate the demographic who is allowed to purchase and play games such as Grand Theft Auto when the age restriction is clearly delineated as no persons under 18. Indeed, many teenagers from as young as 11 and 12 play this game, which can lead to further social study of the kind of parent who would allow his or her child access to such potentially harmful gaming.

According to Huhtamo and Parikka (2011, p. 1), many of these studies tend to disregard the past that led to the current manifestation of gaming and the new media. One reason for this is the complexities and challenges offered to researchers looking for opportunities to study the new media. Hence, the past has been considered as somewhat irrelevant in untangling the inherent intricacies of the new media today. For many researchers therefore, the new media have been considered as a phenomenon that is somewhat "timeless" and can be explained and resolved from within itself.

The authors point out, however, that there has begun to appear in the research a new regard for the importance of the past in the new media. More historically oriented research has appeared with increasing fequency; something the authors are inclined to greet "with a cheer." This phenomenon is what has become known as "media archaeology," in which the past of media and its technology has been used to inform the study of its current manifestations.

Parikka and Ernst (2012) further implicate that media archaeology is not so much about old forms of media recordings, such as silent film or black and white television, but is more focused on the devices used to record these ancient images. It is aboutu "how stories are recorded" rather than about "telling stories" or "counterhistories. Theh physicla media and the processes and durations used are at issue. In other words, the focus of such study is object-centered.

The Role of the New Media

Kittler, writing in 1999, focuses on the general digitization of all media channels, which would result in something "coming to an end." Instead of varied media, there would be an erasing process of differences among individual media forms. All sound and image would become a singular surface effect, or interface. Perhaps the best example of this when it comes to video games is films based on video games or vice versa. The film "Resident Evil" serves as a good example. Various versions of the game have appeared, while the movie also followed its own parallel evolution. Today, there are even films that concern video gaming worlds, of which "Wreck-It Ralph" serves as a good example. Indeed, this film concerns the ability of video games to continue entertaining its audiences on the strength of its upgrades and new developments. The old is discarded in favor of the new. In the film, the old interacts with the new in a desperate bid to save its gaming world, which is in danger of being shut down.

As Kittler (1999, p. 1) points out, the digitization of media offers the opportunity and the ability to translate any medium into any other. Today, this can be done in a matter of seconds. Things that would have taken hours or days in the past can now be done much faster thanks to digitization and the relative uniformity that is possible as a result. On the other hand, Kittler (1999, p. 2) also points out that today's entertainment is deeply rooted within the entertainment forms of the past. It should be seen as a streamlined development of media and formats that started with the electronic tube courtesy of Germany's von Lieban and De Forest in California.

Like Kittler, Hayles (2012, p. 2) also points towards the gradual evolution of the media away from print towards new forms of creating and disseminating information. The author points towards the new forms of information that are possible today, including e-mail web searching, and text messaging. She also positions the computer as a sort of prosthetic extension of the human limb, used to connect the individual to the world and those in it via communication, information searches, and so on. She points out that, should a computer break down or the Internet fail, the user tends to feel helpless, disoriented, and unable to work.

In this way, the new media has become an ven greater part of how a human being thinks and lives. Indeed, the increased ability to access information and connect with people across the globe has changed the individual's relationship with the media that offers this ability.

For video gaming, today's player can connect with others across the world to play a given game on a PS3 or similar device. This is a great leap forward from old arcade games, where partners in a game had to be physically present at the same game console.

According to Hayles (2012), this ability to connect worldwide has decreased the sense of isolation for those living in small towns or those who are housebound by physical disability or old age.

Another interesting field of research is the way in which computer technology and the new media have strongly influenced the way in which the individual physically interacts with such media. Typing, using a mouse, and moving a cursor, for example, have created a platform for retraining the neural circuitry. This means that the influence of the new media extends not only to the human psyche, but also to the physical aspect. Indeed, even very basic functions such as learning to read has been influenced and changed by the new media. Hence, the new media has become both a physical and cognitive extension of human action and interaction.

The same can be said for a game console, in which the player uses controls to manipulate his or her alter ego in the game world. One good example of this is games such as "Spiderman" or "Hulk," in which the superhero in question moves in certain ways in response to buttons and levers on the game remote.

The Human Aspect of Media Archaeology

Addording ot Parikka (2013), there has been a tendency among critics to regard media archaeology as a kind of "boys' club," when the predominantly male authorship in the field is considered. She points out, however, that there are numerous female authors who have made a significant contribution to the field. Zoe Beloff, for example, has worked to unearth alternative media histories of women, imposing a feminist viewpoint on media archaeology.

The author lists a variety of other women who have played an important role in media archaeology. The point is that there is no person whose work is negligible or indeed of more vital importance simply because of their gender.

Like the changes we experience in technology and communications today, there is also a change in our view of society in terms of class and gender. Indeed, the greater accessibility of media by everybody has leveled the playing field in the social and corporate worlds to a greater extent than ever before.

Even in gaming, women and men have equal access. In the online world, one's gender, class, and any other physical attributes are disguised behind the face offered as an alter ego in the specific game. A woman can, for example, be a warrior, a princess, or any of a myriad characters on offer. A male player has the same options. Gaming has become a way to live in a world of fantasy, offering escape from everyday physically-related prejudice and preconceptions.

The author's final point is that gender and variation offers vibrance in a field traditionally dominated by men. Today, such distinctions are becoming increasingly blurred, which is a good thing, because such blurring opens fields of greater inquiry and deeper research in fields that desperately need these.

Counterpoints

In considering all these phenomena, Manovich (n.d.) claims that the idea of the "digital" as one of the identifyingn factors of the new media is a "myth." The author is considering here the factors that differentiate new media from old media. The author suggests that the idea of the digital is far too vague to truly discuss it without its component parts (Manovich, n.d., p. 68). Digitization can mean either a common representational code, a numerical representation, or analog to digital conversion. Importantly, the author also points out that these concepts are unrelated. Each can refer to a different aspect of medium phenomena.

An image that can be copied endless times without any loss of quality is, for example, the result of analog to digital development. In analog imagery, the image loses quality every time it is copied. The argument on the basis of this might therefore be that digitization is the basis upon which "new" media might be identified.

The "myth" attached to this is that there is, in fact, no losses when digital images are copies. Although indistinguishable in terms of quality and clarity, the author poitns out that ther are indeed losses when these images are copied. The concept involved is "lossy comprehension." What this means is that copied digital files are made smaller by deleting some of the information associated with it. Hence, there is a compromise between image quality and files size when the image is copied. There is therefore indeed a loss of quality.

Digital image copying could therefore not be absolutely distinguished from more traditional media simply as a result of copied image quality. More specific distinctions or definitions need to be in place for this to happen. It is therefore important to make clear distinctions in terms of attributes and definitions to distinguish the new media from the old.

Anderson (2011) addresses an extra dimension of historiography in order to discuss how media deals with elements of time. His main claim is that there is a cultural tendency to return to key historical moments and reimagine the events. Because this is such a culturally expressive thing to do, it is important that critics pay attention to it (Anderson, 2011, p. 17).

This can also be done via gaming. Gaming, by nature, is a reimagination of a world or event. Although this is not necessarily applicable to true historical events, games such as "Resident Evil" is a reimagination of the world presented in the film. Depending upon the actions of the user, the events change and reform themselves. This gives the user the illusion of power and of actually interacting with the world created in the film. It caters to the cultural tendency of belief in the fact that events that have occurred can be changed by human intervention. It is a way for the collective cultural consciousness to handle the helplessness involved in horrific events in the past. In the apocalyptic world of the game mentioned above, the player has the power to fight against and overcome the zombies. In film, events such as the Kennedy murder or Hitler's actions are explained by their collaboration with aliens or control by evil forces without their consent or knowledge. It is designed to restore trust in humanity.

This is often what the media, new or old, is designed to do. It restores trust and a sense of humanity in a world in which these are often lost as a result of senseless violence, loss, and trauma.

According to Anderson (2011, p. 19), historically oriented stories are often fictionlized to articulate social and cultural obsessions, concerns, and anxieties. In science fiction, for example, a historiographic work can exist to articulate the ideal relationship of human beings with the past.

Final Words: Investigating Media Archaeology