The Joy of the Easter Egg and the Pain of Numb Hands: The Augmentation and Limitation of Reality Through Video Games

Abstract

Becoming immersed in a world where our perception of reality is highly mediated allows for the creation of an audiovisual lexicon that expands over many platforms and times. In this context we might observe the case of video games which, as a medium, does not limit themselves to the creation of puzzles to be solved, to pretend participation in the Rock and Roll world, or lead us to unexpected damages to our “flesh”. Games allow us different levels of enjoyment and also lead us to discover the physical limits of our bodies within the expansion of our senses. Furthermore, hidden in many of these games we discover many hints, influences, remnants, appropriations and quotes, expanding the web of signs and significations far beyond the limits of the games themselves. However, the extent and consequences of video games as entertainment and communicational devices surpasses their potential for representation and signification, and even impact aspects of our lives such as our physiognomy and psychology–we experience carpal tunnel syndrome, addiction and withdrawal symptoms, and we delve in debates that isolate us or make us only socially able within the confines of virtual worlds. All in all, video games have become part and parcel of our existence, extensions of our perspectives of the world that surround us. Games shape our rational cognition, they build upon our new relational memories, but they also show the limitations of our physical rootedness. This article hopes to elicit an exploration into the reality of the media and mediatized reality of our physical limitations.

doi: 10.5294/pacla.2015.18.4.9