Currency (2014), by Chris Wille and Brian Patrick Franklin, uses an antique Burroughs adding machine to control player movement on a constantly printing roll of receipt paper.But Currency throws players into a map generated by live financial information, not by some developer’s omnipotent hand. Everything about Currency challenges our common sense classification of games as either “digital” or “analog,” from its paper display to its antique controller. The tactile pleasures of cranking commands through a Burroughs machine remind us that lines between digital and analog gaming are socially constructed, historically contingent, and never completely stable. In keeping with the theme of pushing game studies beyond the analog/ digital divide, I asked Chris and Brian a few questions about their work.
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