Game interfaces, and game mechanics, have long been sites where hegemonic models of physical, sensory, and cognitive functioning are expressed and enacted—spaces where normative mechanic subjectivities are constructed. But recently, they have also become sites where such hegemonic models are contested, as aspiring players demand recognition for their own individual and collectivized bodies. Consequently, a new class consciousness emerges around game interfaces, as they undergo a test of their compatibility with a range of bodies previously excluded from consideration. For those players whose bodies do not mesh seamlessly with standardized game interfaces, these machines are experienced as exclusionary, requiring players to actively reshape and modify in order to function effectively. As Stephanie Boluk and Patrick LeMieux suggest, the “screens, interfaces, and protocols” of games “can be inaccessible and disabling for many players.”
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