Created by Peter Buczkowski, Current Times explores the concept of division of labour, one of the most common practice of the industrial world, applied to computer games. Using game controller as the means, each input is designed to be used individually. Depending on what is needed for the game, there are fourteen digital and six analogue controllers that can be plugged into to the control station.
First there were a few games. Some of them were so good, we played them through multiple times. Some were bad, but we did not care so much and played them anyways, because there were almost no alternatives. Over the years, accessibility, cheap prices and sales changed the way computer games are experienced nowadays. Statistics from Steam, the biggest gaming platform, show how big the percentage of not even installed games is in the game collections of their users. The stack of games is constantly growing, but there is no time, to play or even install them. Playing feels not like fun anymore. It is more like a never ending to-do list, one just wants to finish. Streaming platforms like twitch are to some extend so popular, because some people prefer more to watch others play then doing it by theirselves. So if computer games nowadays feel like work, why not consider them as such?
Like on an assembly line, every input becomes one small part of the complete process.
Each player is an expert in his or her individual task, without a bond to the end product, which is the finished game.
Created using a hacked Xbox360 Controller.