Games and Cultural Play

Abstract

In this chapter we turn to the broader contexts of creativity, playfulness, and gaming—across social, locative, and mobile media—and to the argument made by a range of media theorists that we are in the midst of a cultural turn towards a lusory sensibility, that is, in turn, affecting a playful sociality. This shift is seen in the integration of SNSs, mobile games, and playful apps, and the very ordinariness of that integrated use in our everyday lives. It is also apparent in our paratextual practices surrounding gameplay—from the uptake of mobile game merchandise (Angry Birds being the prime example), discussion and commentary in game and fan blogs, and in everyday creative engagement with and remixing of game content. More generally, some suggest, it is evident in the emergence and ongoing expansion of the participatory media environment—through the rise of Web 2.0 services such as YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr—that enable users to upload and share their own small media content (Copier 2009; Jenkins et al. 2013). In Malaby’s terms, although ‘play’ can no longer be used as a term for a distinct and bounded human activity (and it is perhaps doubtful if this has ever been the case), we can usefully deploy the term to designate a ‘mode of experience, a way of engaging with the world’ (2007: 102). In what follows we will explore the various trajectories of what has been identified as the playful cultural turn, and the particular ways this is experienced across devices and contexts, and through game and media cultures.