Games of empire : global capitalism and video games

336 Pages·2009·3.355 MB·English

by  Dyer-Witheford, Nick, De Peuter, Greig

Games of Empire
Electronic Mediations
Katherine Hayles, Mark Poster, and Samuel Weber, Series Editors
29 Games of Empire: Global Capitalism and Video Games Nick Dyer- Witheford and
Greig de Peuter
28 Tactical Media Rita Raley
27 Reticulations: Jean- Luc Nancy and the Networks of the Political Philip Armstrong
26 Digital Baroque: New Media Art and Cinematic Folds Timothy Murray
25 Ex- foliations: Reading Machines and the Upgrade Path Terry Harpold
24 Digitize This Book! The Politics of New Media, or Why We Need Open Access Now Gary Hall
23 Digitizing Race: Visual Cultures of the Internet Lisa Nakamura
22 Small Tech: The Culture of Digital Tools Byron Hawk, David M. Rieder, and Ollie Oviedo, Editors
21 The Exploit: A Theory of Networks Alexander R. Galloway and Eugene Thacker
20 Database Aesthetics: Art in the Age of Information Overfl ow Victoria Vesna, Editor
19 Cyberspaces of Everyday Life Mark Nunes
18 Gaming: Essays on Algorithmic Culture Alexander R. Galloway
17 Avatars of Story Marie- Laure Ryan
16 Wireless Writing in the Age of Marconi Timothy C. Campbell
15 Electronic Monuments Gregory L. Ulmer
14 Lara Croft: Cyber Heroine Astrid Deuber- Mankowsky
13 The Souls of Cyberfolk: Posthumanism as Vernacular Theory Thomas Foster
12 Déjà Vu: Aberrations of Cultural Memory Peter Krapp
11 Biomedia Eugene Thacker
10 Avatar Bodies: A Tantra for Posthumanism Ann Weinstone
9 Connected, or What It Means to Live in the Network Society Steven Shaviro
8 Cognitive Fictions Joseph Tabbi
7 Cybering Democracy: Public Space and the Internet Diana Saco
6 Writings Vilém Flusser
5 Bodies in Technology Don Ihde
4 Cyberculture Pierre Lévy
3 What’s the Matter with the Internet? Mark Poster
2 High Techne¯: Art and Technology from the Machine Aesthetic to the Posthuman
R. L. Rutsky
1 Digital Sensations: Space, Identity, and Embodiment in Virtual Reality Ken Hillis
Games of Empire
Global Capitalism and Video Games
Nick Dyer- Witheford and Greig de Peuter
Electronic Mediations 29
University of Minnesota Press Minneapolis / London
Chapter 4 was previously published as “Armed Vision and the Banalization of War: Full Spectrum
Warrior,” in Fluid Screens, Expanded Cinema, ed. Janine Marchessault and Susan Lord (Toronto:
University of Toronto Press, 2007).
Copyright 2009 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Published by the University of Minnesota Press
111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290
Minneapolis, MN 55401- 2520
http://www.upress.umn.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dyer-Witheford
Games of empire : global capitalism and video games / Nick Dyer-Witheford and Greig
de Peuter.
p. cm. — (Electronic mediations ; 29)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8166-6610-2 (hc : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8166-6611-9 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Video games—Social aspects. 2. Video games—Economic aspects. 3. Capitalism—
Social aspects. 4. Imperialism—Social aspects. I. de Peuter, Greig. II. Title.
GV1469.34.S52D94 2009
794.8—dc22
2009029170
Printed in the United States of America on acid-f ree paper
The University of Minnesota is an equal- opportunity educator and employer.
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction: Games in the Age of Empire xi
I. Game Engine: Labor, Capital, Machine
1. Immaterial Labor: A Workers’ History of Videogaming 3
2. Cognitive Capitalism: Electronic Arts 35
3. Machinic Subjects: The Xbox and Its Rivals 69
II. Gameplay: Virtual/Actual
4. Banal War: Full Spectrum Warrior 97
5. Biopower Play: World of Warcraft 123
6. Imperial City: Grand Theft Auto 153
III. New Game?
7. Games of Multitude 185
8. Exodus: The Metaverse and the Mines 215
Notes 231
References 239
Index 277
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Acknowledgments
Nick Dyer- Witheford thanks his colleagues in the Faculty of Information
and Media Studies at the University of Western Ontario for the crea-
tion of the exceptional academic program that has incubated Games
of Empire, especially Tom Carmichael and Catherine Ross, for their
leadership as present and past deans of the faculty; Gloria Leckie, for
her mentorship in the black art of associate deanship; James Compton
and Bernd Frohmann for years of academic comradeship; and Tim
Blackmore, Jacquelyn Burkell, Jonathan Burston, Grant Campbell,
Norma Coates, Ed Comor, Carole Farber, Amanda Grzyb, Alison
Hearn, Keir Keightley, Sandy Smeltzer, Daniel Robinson, Daniela
Sneppova, David Spencer, Sasha Torres, and Sam Trosow for collegial
inquiries, suggestions, and conversations. An indispensable part in the
composition of this book has been played by graduate students, as
research assistants or participants in the “Games of Empire” seminar
that was a laboratory for many parts of the project. Sarah Coleman
was an early and extraordinary guide to online virtual worlds; Derek
Noon, an ongoing example of gaming integrity and intelligence,
whose insights inform the text at many points; Jeff Preston, a source
for invaluable recommendations for Ferrari laptops. The research of
Trent Cruz and Jen Martin underpins our analysis of virtual gam-
ing in China; Stephen Swain supplied mind- bending facts about sports
games; Henry Svec developed an outstanding analysis of Guitar
Hero as a game of multitude that has found independent publica-
tion; Michael Schmalz endured the Marxist analysis of the industry
in which he is a leading entrepreneur with enormous grace and good
humor; Owen Livermore pointed out ominous connections between
vii
viii Acknowledgments
games and German e xpressionism; and Brian Brown rapidly made the
connections between video games and the wider ranges of Web 2.0
aesthetics and politics. This book is a political project: salutations are
therefore given to the student and faculty members of the Counter-
Stryker collective, whose opposition to the University of Western
Ontario’s involvement in the production of Stryker light- armored fi ght-
ing vehicles for the U.S. Army in Iraq was, during somber times, an
inspiring instance of struggle in and against Empire. Beyond all these
acknowledgments, Nick thanks his wife, Anne, not just for abiding
the rigors of this book’s composition but for a life lived in common.
Greig de Peuter thanks Mark Coté, Richard Day, David Firman,
and Sharla Sava, for many memorable, and evidently inspiring, read-
ing groups in Vancouver; Yuezhi Zhao, his doctoral supervisor in
the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University, for being
so consistently supportive throughout the preparation of this book;
Adrian Blackwell, Christine Shaw, and Marcelo Vieta, for excellent
conversations about theory and politics in the context of the Toronto
School of Creativity and Inquiry project; Enda Brophy, for ongoing
discussions about autonomist thought, from which he has learned a
great deal; Roberta Buiani, Tanner Mirrlees, Todd Parsons, and Scott
Uzelman, for a rewarding reading group in which some of the currents
of theory driving this book were explored and challenged; students in
political economy classes in the communication studies department at
Wilfrid Laurier University, for reading parts of this book in early form
and for their feedback on it; Albert Banerjee, for his sustained encour-
agement; and his parents, for being so tremendously supportive of his
seemingly ludic pursuits. Most of all, Greig is immensely thankful to
Sheila, for a contribution beyond measure; and, though he arrived late
in this game, our son, Kieran, whose utopian joy is evinced each time
he effortlessly diverts from work to play.
Nick and Greig together thank Stephen Kline, for his collaboration
on our previous coauthored book, Digital Play; the many Canadian
game developers who took the time to speak with us about their work
and their industry; the Social Sciences and Humanities Research
Council of Canada, for fi nancial support for portions of the research
that informs this book; Timothy Lenoir and Zach Pogue, for invit-
ing us to present our work in their games lab at Duke University
and for invigorating discussions; Catherine McKercher and Vincent
Mosco, for facilitating the publication of our research in other venues;
Siobhan McMenemy, for tremendously helpful comments on an early
Acknowledgments ix
draft of this manuscript; Sebastian Budgen, Michael Hardt, Peter
Ives, John K. Sampson, and Stevphen Shukaitis, for support for this
project at various phases in its life course; Mark Poster and the other
Electronic Mediations series editors for their enthusiastic reception
of our initial proposal; Alberto Toscano and the anonymous review-
ers for the University of Minnesota Press for their instructive remarks
on the manuscript; and, fi nally, Douglas Armato, our editor, and edi-
torial assistant Danielle Kasprzak, not only for welcoming this book
into such a good home but also for their generosity throughout the
publication process.