Affective Atmospheres: cultural models for interactive narratives

Abstract

In this dissertation, I introduce a new model which I call Affective Atmospheres. This theoretical model aids in the understanding of interactive models found in video games by considering video games as systems of affordances. These systems reflect cultural ideology and work together to create emotional structures that players use to co-create narratives in games. These models focus on the emotional and narrative tensions created through gameplay and how players embodying the role structured by the game understand the story through feelings rather than the sequence of events in a story, allowing for the analysis of interactive narratives, like video games, as a text. To showcase Affective Atmosphere, I use Critical Technocultural Discourse analysis to reveal how the expected co-constructions of two video game characters, Sister Friede from Dark Souls 3 and Edelgard from Fire Emblem: Three Houses, transgress patriarchal norms in fantasy video games. This case study showcases how Affective Atmosphere allows a researcher to "read" the interactive affordances of video games as a text and how cultural ideologies are embedded deep within the co-construction of video game experiences.