Schedule
:: Lesson 3 :: Track A
Summaries :: Track
B Summaries :: Both Tracks Summaries
Wolf, M. J. P., Chapter 5: Narrative in the video
game
Reading summary/quotes:
Films, and TV shows tell stories. Games today are telling stories as
well. There is narrative involved in the game that helps tell the story
as the game is played. Wolf’s chapter deals with issues surrounding the
growing use of narrative in video games. He goes on to give a
chronology of examples of video games with increasing levels of
narrative elements. These elements begin with interactive dialogue and
develop into increasingly complex representation of worlds, including
multiple player-controlled and computer-controlled characters. Wolf
also points out numerous ways that extradiegetic (outside of the main
or primary narrative) narration can be introduced. These include basing
a game on an existing movie, novel, comic book or TV show. It can also
occur through clips included on the CD-ROM or in an accompanying
booklet. All these methods can help give the player clues about the
content of the game. Notably, Wolf also discusses ways to balance story
and interactivity so that the player has some control of the ending
within the set boundaries of the narrative. This is usually
accomplished by creating branches in the narrative, so that multiple
narratives are possible based on the choices made by the player’s
character. Narrative depth can also be added through back story, which
may or may not influence the outcome of the game.
“Narration of the game’s action, then, usually begins before the player
even starts the game (p. 101).”
“At first glance it would seem that interactivity and the inclusion of
a predetermined story would work against each other (p.107).”
“…Growth of diegetic world of the video game and how outside
extradiegetic factors also shaped their narratives (p. 94).”
“Besides developing graphically, characters had to develop
personalities if they were to establish an identity (p. 96).” (How does
a character get a personality/identity if the character is controlled
by the player?)
“The changing nature of a games’ narrative outcome form one playing of
the game to the next is one of the prime reasons for players to return
and play again (p. 107).”
If the character/player has control of the main character, how can the
story be told if the player can make free choices? Answer: “severely
limiting the amount of narrative contained in the game itself (p.
107).”
Related articles/class discussions:
Discussion points/questions:
- Did Pac-man dieing in a way that wasn’t seen before (shriveling up)
help in its popularity?
- How hard is it to build a really good story/narrative?
- What is the following of non graphic based games?
- Do games today contain a narrative like text adventures?
- What is the benefit of “new and improved” graphics or animation on
the narrative, i.e. pac-man dieing (p. 97)?
- What is the effect on learning when there is no time pressure like
in Myst?
Crawford, C., Chapter 1: What is a game?
Reading summary/quotes:
Crawford breaks down the different uses for the word “game.” He creates
a basic taxonomy for games, including board games, card games, athletic
games, children’s games, and computer games. He then goes into the four
common factors of games. These are representation, interaction,
conflict, and safety. Crawford also makes a distinction between games
and simulations
“A game is a closed formal system that subjectively represents a subset
of reality (p. 7).”
“The distinction between objective representation and subjective
representation is made clear by a consideration of the differences
between simulations and games. A simulation is a serious attempt to
accurately represent a real phenomenon in another, more malleable form.
A game is an artistically simplified representation of a phenomenon (p.
8).”
Related articles/class discussions:
Discussion points/questions:
- What aspects of representation make it so that graphics-oriented
games are more popular that text adventure types of games?
Contributors: Tom Caswell, Marion Jensen, Jennifer Jorgensen,
Jon Scoresby, and Tim Stowell