Framing the Videogame image: A Deleuzian approach to the images and the actions of 3D videogames

Abstract

This thesis seeks to approach 3D videogames and the action contained within them through the images they bring forth. Taking the videogame as part of a wider visual culture opens up the possibility of employing cinema theory in the investigation of the videogame image. Using a phenomenological reading of Deleuze's taxonomy of the cinema image as an analytical instrument it will be possible to locate the action within the videogame image as only a part of the multifaceted movement-image. In this model, the ability of the videogame image to engage the videogame player in the activity of videogame play is dependent on the moments of perception and of affection. It is by this tripartite nature of the videogame image that the predominance of action in 3D videogames can be assessed. By their nature as computer applications, videogames are capable of flooding its users with instantaneous and omnipresent action. Yet by their nature as image-generating machines, videogames show to be capable of a more nuanced and reflexive way of presenting action.