  To examine the aesthetics of video games, this paper proposes to consider
video games as a contemporary multi-media version of the so-called "Denkbild,"
or "thought-image," an experimental genre of philosophical writing employed by
members of the Frankfurt School. A poetic mode of writing, the Denkbild takes
literary snapshots of philosophical, political, and cultural insights that
interrupt and challenge the enigmatic form of traditional philosophical
thinking. Thinking of video games through the lens of the Denkbild allows us to
understand the diversity, conditionality, and incommensurability of video game
as a form without reducing it to separate pieces to be examined within their
respective disciplines too quickly. By presenting two snapshots of video game
players, the collector and the glitcher, this paper argues that the concept of
Denkbild allows us to better understand the relationships between game, gamers,
and the socio-political context in terms of unexpected bonds, accidental
breakthroughs, and moments of absolute freedom.
