Perceptual Discrepancies in Gameworlds

Description

Imagine an in-game avatar hiding behind a wall with their head pointed downwards. Their apparent field of vision merely includes the ground in front of them. The player controlling this avatar from a third-person perspective, however, can peek behind the wall, see the enemies that are there, and adjust to the situation accordingly. This in-game situation exemplifies a discrepancy in avatar and player perceptions of the gameworld. Drawing from a Waltonian framework, I will identify three kinds of perception that are involved in digital gameplay and discuss how they can interestingly misalign: (1) Fictional perceptions, or what the characters within the gameworld, including the avatar, are represented as perceiving; (2) Players’ actual perceptions from their perspective as external observers of the gameworld; and (3) Imaginative perceptions, or what players imaginatively perceive when taking on the role of participants in the gameworld, as so-called “virtual subjects” (cf. Gualeni & Vella 2020). I will argue how perceptual discrepancies are not only valuable expressive devices, but also of theoretical interest when it comes to investigating perception and imagination in virtual environments.

Period	16 May 2023
Event title	Players, Games, & Gameworlds: Ad-Hoc Shop on Video Games
Event type	Workshop
Degree of Recognition	International