Harsh Noise Industrial Games : À propos d’une pratique artistique industrielle du jeu vidéo

Abstract

This article proposes an analysis of recent alternative video games through the particularities of industrial music’s aesthetics. Considering a massive increase in video game production by solo designers since 2015, the author identifies how singular practices of game creation can be inspired by underground art forms. To further this research, five game developers were invited to participate through interviews: Yames, Selfish Dream, Valerie Dusk, Stef Pinto and Andrea Pignataro. The article proposes an analysis of the common production strategies between industrial culture and these game creators, more precisely by studying the singular use of noise in their games (audio but also visual and spatial) and how their creations act as noise in the context of the dominant video game industry by weakening its core definitions of what games are and the technocentrist history of the medium.

Keywords

• video games
• industrial music
• noise
• indie games
• horror
• game development