Farman, J. (2010). Hypermediating the game interface: The alienation effect in violent videogames and the problem of serious play. Communication Quart

Farman, J. (2010). Hypermediating the game interface: The alienation effect in violent videogames and the problem of serious play. Communication Quarterly, 58 (1), 96-109.

Farman, relying heavily of the terminology of Bolter and Grusin, argues that games have developed hypermediated interfaces over the last decade and as a result have blended real life experience with virtual reality. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (GTA) provides an excellent example of Farman’s point because it provides an interfaceless interface through it’s “mapping of virtual space onto material space (or vice versa)” (p. 98). Rockstar Games generates a sense of realism within the GTA by recreating Southern California as the setting for San Andreas. Furthermore, by including other technological devices like cell-phones and navigation units, GTA creates verisimilitude through hypermediation. Farman suggests the hypermediation of game interfaces alienates the player because it forces the “loss of clear boundaries between the virtual and the material in the digital age” (p. 101). Thus, the verisimilitude of violent acts in games are the true threat to children rather than the depiction of the act itself. GTA through hypermediation either becomes a violent gang simulator for the player a satire on media and violence. These two views derive from the player’s ability to alter the appearance of CJ. For example, if players places CJ in a chicken suit, that greatly contrasts the violent acts in the game, they can detach themselves from the game’s hypermediation and realism.

Farman’s article provides an interesting way of understanding media violence that contrasts the many psychological viewpoints on this bibliography. Farman’s argument could be incorporated into my own argument to demonstrate how the interfaceless interface generates the realism of the immigrant/minorities strained American experience. As stated in Murray’s annotation, Farman and Murray provide support for each other’s arguments and should be read in context with each other. Farman does a great job of depicting GTA as a cultural object that can either promote or hinder social change depending on how the player perceives the game’s interface.