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• 1 media/digital kevin spacey.jpg 2016-12-01T07:21:00-08:00 The Kevin Spacey Effect: Video Games as an Art Form, the Virtual Uncanny, and the Simulacrum 28 plain 2016-12-15T14:53:36-08:00
  The graphic presentation of video games is advancing at a rapid rate, in which it is becoming difficult to distinguish real world cinematic techniques versus digital manufacturing and coding. Film, as a medium, has molded itself into blockbuster video games, creating interactive stories that transcend the Hollywood standard. The annual Call of Duty franchise has released every year since 2005 and continues to push the boundaries of graphic fidelity. Known for including top-name Hollywood actors among the likes of Ron Perlman, Jimmy Kimmel, and Jeff Goldblum, to name a few, they only represented the voice behind the character. That is, until 2014’s entry, Advanced Warfare, where Kevin Spacey appeared as a literal, digital version of himself; the first of the series to include a convincing replica. Despite the millions of players that purchase the product every year, the game does have its fair share of criticism for its derivative gameplay, but there’s no denying the fact that gamers and non-gamers alike were astonished to see a video game character resemble a popular actor when the reveal trailer dropped on social media outlets and television. Judging from archived Twitter posts upon the release of the trailer, reactions were positive. (Co.Create) With the help of successful marketing and theories of the uncanny, the simulacrum, and the cartoon, from Sigmund Freud, Jean Baudrillard, and Scott McCloud, it becomes apparent as to how the reveal was so successful and puts into question where our video games will ascend to eventually blur the lines between the physical and virtual world.
   
• 1 2016-12-15T13:44:05-08:00 Concluding the Kevin Spacey Effect 2 plain 2016-12-15T14:47:23-08:00 If we are to understand that Freud’s theory of the uncanny is associated with our repressed childhood emotions, then we can draw conclusions as to where we first began to feel this excitement and awe. Celebrities such as Kevin Spacey weren’t frequently replicated in video games until late into the PS3 and Xbox 360 console cycle. Child gamers and young adult gamers grew up with the mere possibilities of where gaming will one day take them. They grew up during the ages where the imagination ran rampant, and they associated themselves with characters. Now, in an age where the association is with established celebrities and the excitement of gaming possibilities has already been ingrained subconsciously at a young age, here we can understand why now is the time the uncanny is affecting our gaming experiences. It transcends the realm of “better graphics” in an age where we have come to expect developers to push the possibilities of reality in video games.