Abstract
This chapter brings video games into conversation with the study of petrocultures-in particular, concepts that speak to the unique affects and temporalities surrounding oil, namely “petromelancholia” and “petromasculinity.” Using these concepts, this chapter unveils in video games a deep-seated desire for oil and its transgressive pleasures. Oil-themed games can be spaces in which to indulge the pleasures of oil, even while they might also acknowledge its incongruity in the present. Specifically, I will argue that video games accommodate oil within a stretched out, flowing present that resists change and is nostalgically oriented to the past. I call this temporality “petroduration.” Aesthetically and experientially, this temporality manifests as flow, a concept bridging video game studies and petrocultures research.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Ecogames |
| Subtitle of host publication | Playful Perspectives on the Climate Crisis |
| Publisher | Taylor and Francis |
| Pages | 295-310 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781040841846 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9789463721196 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© All authors/Taylor & Francis Group, 2024.
Keywords
- bad environmentalism
- duration
- flow
- temporality