Resolution: Understanding Affective Design in Military FPS Games
James Ash, University of Newcastle

Abstract
Drawing upon the work of Graham Harman and Jean Luc Nancy, this paper develops the concept of resolution to understand how weapons in military FPS games are designed to generate positive affects for players. Using examples from Battlefield 3, the chapter demonstrates how games designers attempt to create objects with an optimal resolution through modulating the relationship between high and low resolution. In doing do, the paper links the concept of resolution to Warren Neidich’s theory of neuropower and Catherine Malabou’s understanding of plasticity to show how modulating the resolution of weapons in Battlefield 3 can generate synaptic relations between body and brain to create habits that are beneficial for the designers and publishers of military FPS games.


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