L. B. Jeffries wrote an interesting article on Moving Pixels, examining the complex interaction of the concepts of space, design, and content in video games. Jeffries uses Tschumi and Derrida to try to make sense of the layers of objective and subjective inherent in art, from architecture to video games:
Many of [Tschumi’s] points are more rigidly structured and meant to be applied towards physical spaces rather than the awkward semi-omniscient design of a video game. What’s applicable is his attempt to apply post-modernism to a medium like architecture, which constantly juggles the subjective and objective while hiding one behind the other, and his outlining of three core discussions that need to be present—the action, the experience, and the overall structure itself while all of these aspects change in response to each other.
This is rich stuff that gets to some of the basic elements of how games work: what they do to us, what we do to them, etc. There are elements of the piece that I do not agree with, and I look forward to elucidating and exploring those ideas here in the future.
But make no mistake: the issues that Jeffries addresses are extremely difficult to discuss in relation to video games, particularly because games do not yet have a mature theory of space. This is the main reason that I think this article is on the right track: bringing architecture into the discussion is a great move that means good things for the collective discourse.
Thanks to Ben Abraham at Critical Distance for the link.
Pseudoplay 
“games do not yet have a mature theory of space.” STRONG AGREE. It seems like 90% of the time I pick up a game, particularly a jRPG, I am spending 5-10 minutes wandering through completely empty space placed in the level only because the designer thought they needed a realistic environment rather than a playable one.
There was a weird Russian game, Pathologic. Took place in a surreal 1900s russian town. As you wandered around this town, you would see impossible structures, staircases going nowhere… As it turns out, these structures were the work of demented architects who lived in town.
I was so impressed with a game that 1) chose to use architecture as something to enrich the atmosphere instead of a means to an end (like every bioware game uses corridors as a location for combat, and towns as a means of questing & merchants) and 2) played with the idea that in a videogame, physics are optional. In the end, the image of a crooked staircase leading nowhere, sitting in the middle of the town stuck with me much longer than the actual gameplay.
Thanks for the tip, Pathologic had slipped under my radar.
Acute understanding of the form and function of space in games is so rare. The games that show such an understanding can really stand out, even if they’re totally deficient in other areas.