Upgrading the self: technology and the self in the digital games perpetual innovation economy
Upgrading the self: technology and the self in the digital games perpetual innovation economy
This article explores the upgrade and perpetual innovation economy of digital gaming as it informs understandings and practices of the ?self?. Upgrade is situated in terms of digital gaming as a globalized techno-cultural industry. Drawing on accounts of governmentality and cultural work, research with digital games design students is drawn on to explore the overlapping twin logics of technological upgrade and work-on-the-self. The games industry-focused higher education context is examined as an environment for becoming a games designer and involving processes of upgrading the self. Having examined processes and practices of upgrading the self in terms of technological skills and personal development/enterprise, the article turns to some of the critical issues around anxiety, industry conventions and working practices.
digital gaming, governmentality, perpetual innovation, the self, upgrade culture
307-321
Ashton, Daniel
b267eae4-7bdb-4fe3-9267-5ebad36e86f7
August 2011
Ashton, Daniel
b267eae4-7bdb-4fe3-9267-5ebad36e86f7
Ashton, Daniel
(2011)
Upgrading the self: technology and the self in the digital games perpetual innovation economy.
Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 17 (3), .
(doi:10.1177/1354856511405758).
Abstract
This article explores the upgrade and perpetual innovation economy of digital gaming as it informs understandings and practices of the ?self?. Upgrade is situated in terms of digital gaming as a globalized techno-cultural industry. Drawing on accounts of governmentality and cultural work, research with digital games design students is drawn on to explore the overlapping twin logics of technological upgrade and work-on-the-self. The games industry-focused higher education context is examined as an environment for becoming a games designer and involving processes of upgrading the self. Having examined processes and practices of upgrading the self in terms of technological skills and personal development/enterprise, the article turns to some of the critical issues around anxiety, industry conventions and working practices.
Text
Ashton (2011) 'Upgrading the the self' Convergence 17(3).doc
- Author's Original
More information
Published date: August 2011
Keywords:
digital gaming, governmentality, perpetual innovation, the self, upgrade culture
Organisations:
Winchester School of Art
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 375640
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/375640
ISSN: 1354-8565
PURE UUID: 4fe4f335-4242-4cfc-b212-be9157961337
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 23 Jun 2015 09:31
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:52
Export record
Altmetrics
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics
