ABSTRACT

This chapter concerns the apparatus of the video game. We discuss where we can draw the line between form and content in video games, suggesting that form is structure, including rules and simulation, while content is the representational aspects of games. We show that a strict division between form and content in game is impossible, as the two collapse into each other due to the interactive nature of games. Important to the chapter is a discussion of how games are transgressive due to its relationship to the social world beyond the game. The chapter further discusses on what level a game can be said to be transgressive and argues that a sense of transgression can spring out of either form or content, or a combination of the two, because meaning in games emerges from a combination of game rules, mechanics, and representation.