Games and Rules | Beat Suter, Mela Kocher, René Bauer (eds.) [E-Book PDF]
Game Mechanics for the “Magic Circle”
Why do we play games and why do we play them on computers? The contributors of “Games and Rules” take a closer look at the core of each game and the motivational system that is the game mechanics. Games are control circuits that organize the game world with their (joint) players and establish motivations in a dedicated space, a “Magic Circle”, whereas game mechanics are constructs of rules designed for interactions that provide gameplay. Those rules form the base for all the excitement and frustration we experience in games. This anthology contains individual essays by experts and authors with backgrounds in Game Design and Game Studies, who lead the discourse to get to the bottom of game mechanics in video games and the real world – among them Miguel Sicart and Carlo Fabricatore.
322 Seiten (PDF), transcript, 2018
ISBN 978-3-8394-4304-0
Architectonics of Game Spaces | Andri Gerber, Ulrich Götz (eds.) [E-Book PDF]
What consequences does the design of the virtual yield for architecture and to what extent can the nature of architecture be used productively to turn game-worlds into sustainable places – over here, in “reality”?
This pioneering collection gives an overview of contemporary developments in designing video games and of the relationships such practices have established with the design of architecture. Due to their often simulatory nature, games reveal constructions of reality while positively impacting spatial ability and allowing for alternative avenues to complex topics and processes of negotiation. Granting insight into the merging of the design of real and virtual environments, this volume offers an invaluable platform for further debate.
343 pages, transcript, 2019
ISBN 978-3-8394-4802-1
Fines Hominis? Zur Geschichte der philosophischen Anthropologiekritik | Marc Rölli (Hg.)
CHF 37.50
Seit bereits gut 50 Jahren geistern in der Philosophie die Thesen vom “Verschwinden des Menschen”, seiner “Auflösung” oder seinem “Ende” herum. Vom “Tod des Subjekts” ist immer wieder die Rede. Es etabliert sich eine philosophische Skepsis, die sich auf “den Menschen” bezieht und über ihn hinausweist. Dieses Buch klärt über die Hintergründe und Bedeutungen dieser als “postmodern” geltenden Postulate auf, ohne dabei in polemische Vorurteile zu verfallen. In den einzelnen Beiträgen werden die historisch einschlägigen Kritiken rekonstruiert, die sich gegen eine anthropologische Erhöhung oder Verabsolutierung “des Menschen” aussprechen. Zugleich bezieht der Band philosophisch Position gegen den aktuellen Trend einer Wiederbelebung naturalistischer Menschenbilder in Biowissenschaften und Hirnforschung.
232 Seiten, transcript, 2015
ISBN 978-3-8376-2956-9
Not at Your Service. Manifestos for Design | Björn Franke, Hansuli Matter (eds.) [E-Book PDF]
Not at Your Service: Manifestos for Design brings together the broad spectrum of beliefs, subjects and practices of designers at Zurich University of the Arts. It offers different approaches and insights on the present-day role and impact of design. It is not conceived as a finished project, but as a fluid document of its time. Collaborative design, interaction within complex systems, attention economics, the ecological shift, visual literacy, gender-neutral design, “quick and dirty” design ethnography, social responsibility, the value of ugliness, death futures, immersive technologies, identity and crises, design as a transformative discipline – all of these topics are presented for debate with passion, conviction and professional expertise.
526 pages (PDF), Birkhäuser, 2021
ISBN 978-3-0356-2275-1