ABSTRACT

This article explores non-human looking avatars as models for alternative conceptions of identity. Thatgamecompany’s Flower is used here as the specific example of a more general model for Game and Cultural Studies scholars to think about the representation and reproduction of relationality and identity through avatars that are not designed to resemble human or animal-like beings. The avatar is discussed here in relation to its visual and aural configuration, the actions it affords, and the way controls are designed around it. Flower breaks with many of the standards and expectations that can be found in most games and, in doing so, it puts forward a notion of identity as an entanglement of humans, non-human beings, and objects. Game and Cultural Studies scholars interested in finding a broader, more diverse way of discussing identity representations will find here a useful resource.

摘要

本文探讨了非人类的化身作为替代身份概念的模型。此处使用Thatgamecompany 的Flower作为游戏和文化研究学者更通用模型的具体示例，以通过并非设计为类似于人类或动物的化身来思考关系和身份的表示和再现。这里讨论化身的视觉和听觉配置、它提供的动作以及围绕它设计的控件的方式。花它打破了大多数游戏中的许多标准和期望，并在此过程中提出了一种将人类、非人类和物体纠缠在一起的身份概念。有兴趣寻找更广泛、更多样化的方式来讨论身份表征的游戏和文化研究学者将在这里找到有用的资源。