An Eternal Now? An Analysis of Temporality of Computer Games

Magdalena Cielecka

kwartalnik.filmowy@ispan.pl
Jagiellonian University (Poland)

Abstract

In recent decades computer games have managed to emancipate themselves from the constraints of chronological narratives and coherent time, which they were burdened with at the beginning of their existence. Currently they are a flexible medium, susceptible to any experiments involving the theme of temporality, because of mechanisms adopted from older media, and numerous mechanisms permitting them to go beyond human experiences and notions of time. Games not only make use of retrospection and prolepsis, but also produce virtual simulations, in which the passage of time is dramatically different from the one experienced in everyday life. Magdalena Cielecka’s article summarises the state of research on the temporality of computer games and the way this issue is portrayed in games, in particular through games representing innovative temporal structures.


Keywords:

video games, narrative, game studies

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Published
2014-06-30

Cited by

Cielecka, M. (2014) “An Eternal Now? An Analysis of Temporality of Computer Games”, Kwartalnik Filmowy, (86), pp. 171–182. doi: 10.36744/kf.2423.

Authors

Magdalena Cielecka 
kwartalnik.filmowy@ispan.pl
Jagiellonian University Poland

Absolwentka elektronicz­nego przetwarzania informacji oraz projektowania gier komputerowych, obecnie doktorantka w Insty­tucie Sztuk Audiowizualnych Uniwersytetu Jagiel­lońskiego. Pełni funkcję producenta gier w firmie Artifex Mundi oraz współprowadzi warsztaty kry­tyki gier komputerowych w Artetece Wojewódzkiej Biblioteki Publicznej w Krakowie



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Copyright (c) 2014 Magdalena Cielecka

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