Experiences of embodiment and subjectivity in Haunting Ground

This chapter explores the nature of videogame avatars, using Capcom's survival horror title Haunting Ground as case study. Various approaches to theorising the relationship between player and avatar are outlined and contrasted, including a film studies model of spectatorship, an approach emphasising avatars' functionality, and notions of the avatar/player's relationship as variously cyborgian. Particular attention is paid to the forms of subjectivity facilitated and constructed by the game, especially in relation to issues of gender. Throughout this chapter, my own position as a white heterosexual male player will also be considered as impacting on my relationship with the avatar of Haunted Ground.