Citation

Farman J. Comm. Q. 2010; 58(1): 96.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Eastern Communication Association)

DOI

10.1080/01463370903550262

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article looks at the practices of customization in violent urban videogames (such as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas) that create “hypermediated” interfaces. Drawing from Bolter and Grusin's theory of hypermediation (which stands in contrast to immediate and immersive interfaces), this study looks at gaming practices that resist immediacy and instead focus on the disjunctions and contrasts created by forming avatars that starkly juxtapose their surroundings. Such an approach offers gamers the ability to create a space of cultural critique while simultaneously interrogating the term “serious game” because this category creates false binary oppositions between serious-trivial and serious-play.