查看文章

P ainStation, an interactive art project developed since 2001 by German artists Volker Morawe and Tilman Reiff, introduces a new form of interaction and competition in computer games. It consists of a table console for two players, who confront each other in the first-generation arcade game Pong (1972), a simple tennis game in which each player must intercept a bouncing ball and send it back to the opponent. In order to play, the participants hold a controller with the right hand, while resting their left hand on a metallic panel. This hand will suffer from electroshocks, heat, or a whiplash every time the ball is not returned. The player could avoid the punishment by drawing back the hand, but this would mean losing the game, that is indeed a competition, in which each participant tries to beat the opponent not only by returning the ball but also by enduring the pain. The artists describe the PainStation as an “Enhanced Duelling Artefact”(Morawe & Reiff, 2001, p. 1), a virtual face-off with physical consequences seen by many as the ultimate gaming experience. Indeed, the artwork has met with great success in numerous game conferences and media art festivals over the last years, receiving the Honorary Mention at the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz (2002) and the International Media Art Award at the ZKM Center in Karlsruhe (2003). At every event, the machine captivates the attendees and some even play for so long they have to be asked to stop due to too severe injuries. There’s usually a crowd gathered around the two players, turning the game into what could be compared to a street fight, a boxing match or any other sort of duel. Competition in this …