Ruins of Excess: Computer Game Images and the Rendering of Technological Obsolescence

Abstract

In this article, we describe three layers of ruins related to computer game technology: in a surface layer, we examine the imagery of ruins in digital games, highlighting game design tools for developing in-game ruination. Secondly, we approach the industrial design model of technological obsolescence as an infrastructural layer that intrinsically demands the production of new provisional spaces for material decay. Lastly, through a waste layer, we unfold the geopolitical dimension of technological obsolescence, calling attention to the transcontinental flows of electronic waste, which also underscores a geological stage of ruination. While exploring these different layers of ruins, we wish to perceive how game design models might relate to different forms of contemporary ruination, inquiring what such material traces have to say as strata of the complex deterioration processes of present-day media.

Entrelaçando design e ficção científica

“…Para poder dar conta da dimensão mais ampla deste assunto, é necessária, dentre outras coisas, uma forma mais eficaz de rastrear o fluxo transcontinental de resíduos sólidos. Como apontado em um estudo anterior (Luersen & Fuchs, 2021), organizações ambientais como a Basel Action Network chegam a inventar estratégias de monitoramento bastante idiossincráticas para tentar dar conta do problema 9 . No entanto, com a persistência de descargas irregulares, mas também de incêndios e desmatamento, precisamos fazer uso das potenciais ferramentas e redes de monitoramento de ponta que já temos disponíveis.…”