Religion is Playing Games: Playing Video Gods, Playing to Play
Humans are game players. Such a designation began long before video games, but has taken on new significance in light of present technological advances. Video games extend the designations of what it means to be "homo ludens," and thus what it means to be both human and religious. Studies...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2010
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| In: |
Religious studies and theology
Year: 2010, Volume: 29, Issue: 2, Pages: 215-230 |
| Further subjects: | B
Play
B Johan Huizinga B god games B religion and popular culture B Video Games B Ritual B Roger Caillois |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Humans are game players. Such a designation began long before video games, but has taken on new significance in light of present technological advances. Video games extend the designations of what it means to be "homo ludens," and thus what it means to be both human and religious. Studies of video games often take account of the religious content of games, but it is the experiential nature of playing games that extends the argument far into the past and into the future. This article makes an argument that religion, particularly in its ritual form, can be seen through a dialectical relation between the structures of games, and the freedom experienced by players. This is ultimately argued by attention to two different designations of video game varieties: god games and purposeless games. |
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| ISSN: | 1747-5414 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religious studies and theology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1558/rsth.v29i2.215 |