Finland is home to one of the world’s leading hubs for game research, the Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies. This joint project between three Finnish universities aims to understand, anticipate and influence the effect games have on culture and society.
“People are spending more and more time on video games,” says Raine Koskimaa, professor of contemporary culture studies at the University of Jyväskylä and vice director at the Centre of Excellence. “They have become a prominent form of entertainment, but also of socialisation and self-expression. They are just as important to our society as other, earlier forms of culture, such as literature or cinema – and that is why we study them.”
Koskimaa has studied digital literature and video games since the 1990s. To him, the question of whether or not games are a form of art that everyone should at least try to experience is a no-brainer.
“When games are used as a form of expression and to depict meaningful human experiences and emotions, they absolutely do fulfil the definition of art,” he says. “Are all games objectively great art or somehow aesthetically pleasing? Of course not, but neither are all movies or paintings.”
To Koskimaa, the allure of video games currently lies in how accurately and observantly they depict today’s technology-obsessed world.
“In a video game, the player’s every move and decision is being tracked by technology. In that sense, games are the best way to represent the algorithm-driven era we live in, and as such, a great tool for reflecting on what it means to be a part of this modern society.”
By Johanna Teelahti, ThisisFINLAND Magazine 2024
