Walton Wood

"DNA and Code: Replicating the Organic in a Digital Medium"


In a living organism, the DNA structure determines the entirety of the
organism's foundation.  Likewise, video game programs can be broken
down into binary code. As theorists like Lev Manovich in <em>The
Language of New Media</em> have argued, binary code and the
reproducibility that stems from that code is a fundamental element of
new media. Binary code itself is a collection of ones and zeros; DNA
can be broken down into a series of four amino acids. In both DNA and
binary code, the underlying code provides the basis for the organism's
basic functioning. Therefore, the binary code used in a game character
is analogous to a living organism's DNA.  Like DNA, the binary code of
a video game character determines the background for the character in
the game. From this background information, games add complexity and
further shape the characters through elements analogous to real world
social norms. Games do so through by adding and configuring elements
like narrative, visual representation, and world structures.

By connecting code and DNA, video games afford the possibility to
examine current concerns within a more simplistic simulated
environment. In creating a form of life analogous to carbon-based
existence, video games allow players to interact in a life-like
environment that continues some of the existing real world
philosophical and religious concerns. This paper will argue for the
connections between code and DNA and then show how those connections
can best be examined in order to show how the Alien/Other is both
represented and evolves within emergent game systems.