Virtuality and Depiction in Video Game Representation

This article seeks to clarify the role of the image in video game representation. I argue that virtuality is incompatible with depictive representation and that the distinction between virtual environments and interactive depiction is important in game theory and analysis. In the first part, I combine a critical modification of Kendall Walton’s concept of reflexive representation with Edmund Husserl’s concept of image consciousness, in order to clarify the ontological difference between physical models and depictive images. In the second part, I discuss the relationship between physical models and virtual things, and the difference between photographic depiction and screen-mediated prosthetic vision. Finally, I show how this theoretical framework can help clarify the nature of interactive depiction in games.