Unit Operations

Unit Operations is a term introduced by Bogost. To be honest, I found it difficult to get my head around the concept. I am still not sure if I understand what he is proposing but this is what I took from it.

Bogost uses unit operations to describe how every medium can be broken down into separate units so that intellectual mediums can be compared to technical mediums and critiqued. When I say intellectual mediums I am referring to mediums such as poetry, literature, etc.
In relation to technical mediums, he introduces us to the term called Object Technology. This states that when a developer is developing a program, they create separate components which can be reused.

By looking at unit operations and object technology it is clear that both take the same approach, breaking down components of a system into smaller units so they can be examined and reused in other mediums.

It is by using this approach that the analysing of video games takes place. Both the technical and non-technical aspects can be examined and compared to other mediums. With unit operations it enables us to see how the smaller parts of the game relate to other mediums which we could not see when view the game as a whole.