Towards a conceptualization of videogames as electronic multimodal discourses

Abstract

Videogames are cultural practices installed in our societies that require a specialized and critical view. Lines of research which aboard this phenomenon range from cultural studies, ludology, narratological studies, game design theory and videogame semiotics. All these perspectives have provided different conceptualisations in relation to this object of study, ranging from views that consider it as contemporary ways of expression to promoters of violence, isolation and school failure.

The present study considers that videogames imply new forms of discourse which are not only restricted to the verbal channel, but also take into account other semiotic resources. According to what was previously exposed, the objective of this paper is to present theoretical conceptualisation about the videogame from a multimodal and linguistic perspective. For this reason, different definitions of videogame are revised as well as the concept of discourse and digital-electronic discourse, and finally, semiotic resources present on these aspects are aboarded. This review allows to set up a definition of videogame as a multimodal electronic discourse.