READING BODIES AND MACHINES : CYBORGS IN GRAND THEFT AUTO : VICE CITY PC GAME

Video game as studies is a recent field in scholars for doing a research. This is one of the studies in the field of Cyberculture Studies. This study attempts to do an analysis toward a video game as its studies with viewing the game and the game player as inseparable component. A game titled Grand Theft Auto: Vice City PC Game and its game players as respondents are chosen as the text in doing analysis of reading the game and the game players. It is as a possibility of tendency in displaying the issues in questioning between the bodies and machines, of embodiment as it appears as “human-computer interaction” in cooperation while playing the game, in gameplay. This study has its focus in the experience of the game players toward the game, especially in its interactivity and the sense of immersion to the game-world through avatar and interface. A number of respondents is also used in gathering the data to support the analysis. Using questionnaires and in-depth interview as the process of data collection, the question of this then will be analyzed further in the theory of cyberculture studies particularly to reveal the game players as cybernetic organisms or cyborgs in playing Grand Theft Auto: Vice City PC Game. Key words: Cyborg, Gameplay, Interface, Avatar, Game-world, Interaction, Immersion.