Indigo Prophecy: Week#7

If ever there were a game that I would dred having to actually play, it would be this one. The gameplay mechanics are uniteresting and down right boring, and that damn simon sez game is really pissing me off. It's almost like playing a video game version of "Point of View"; it is a movie that should have never been a game.

In it's defence, I must say that the story is actually quite interesting. Unfortunatly, it took this long for it to reveil any hint of it's mystic splendor. Yeah, it's about a secret cultish group using a Mayan oracle to witness the events of the future. The ritual killings that have been happening in the game were caused by this oracle who posessed "executers" to kill victims so the two headed snake god would open it's mouth so the oracle could view the events of the "other world"; a world of gods and the dead. Fantastic! It should have been a movie. As a matter of fact, it is a movie... a movie that won't end because the player has to actual play the game in order to have the plot of this movie unfold. And as I have already stated earlier, there are plenty of other things that I would rather be doing than actually playing this "game", like ramming my head into a wall until I became unconscious.

Upgrading myself to Cyborg...

In the article "As We Become Machines" by Martti Lahti, she dicusses how we, as gamers, are slowly evolving into half human, half machine entities. This is due inpart by our obsession to become something other than what we are in reality. Though the experience differs in reguards to how a game is played, the end result is the temporary fulfillment of discarding one's physical body in favor of a digitized one. In respect to PC and counsel forms of gaming, the player has the choice of solitary play or play in numbers with friends, but the experience is most likely restricted to the home. Though the experience is rich in mental and physical stimuli, one does not usually have the option of attaining this euphoric experience outside the home due to interference from unwanted, outside stimuli, noise, social encounters.

The arcade is a different senario. Like a collusium where gladiators come to prove their worth in a sea of fierce digitized combat against each other or a previous champion who has left his mark on the scoreboard, the arcade is a sanctuary for those who wish to share, learn, and impress others with their skill. Purely a social gathering ground, the illusion is lessened by the intereaction with numerous others, the blending of multiple sounds and music, and the contant diappearance of money from one's wallet.

The portable video game experience is the closest simulation one can recieve outside the home of the virual space. Though images are displayed in less grandure (ie. a small screen, and down graded preformance) the portable system is used by those who wish to entertain themselves in that which they are most familiar with, from taking care of a virual pet "Tomagotchi" in a quarter sized system able to be carried in one's pocket, to "World of Warcraft" running in full on one's high priced labtop.

The devices used to interact with a system are the future of the interactive experience. To fully submerse one's self in a virtual environment is the ultimate goal of the gaming experience. With new an inovative ways of doing this such as dance pads, styluses, Sony's "eyetoy" and virual reality (even gaming "spaces" such as the "Battletech" pods) we become ever closer to the point where we will be able to leave our physical beings and completely and utterly become someone else.

There are some simulations best left to the narrative.

In "Stories for Eye, Ear and Muscles" by Torben Grodal, he raises the question of whether video games should be observed as a narrative (like a story being told to an audience) or as a simulation (the act of simulating an experience). Granted, the temptation of calling call video games a simulation of real life would be understandable, but I personally have not made that comparison before unless the game was officially listed as a "simulator". Games series like Grand Tourismo and Ace Combat are viewed as simulators due to their ability to mimic, with super exact replication, the power of their vehicles, the different sounds that each one would make, and their faults and advantages (don't try to chase an F-22 with an A-10 "tank killer"). Even though a narrative mayor may not be present in these simulations, it's not the drawing factor that interests the audience, the realism of tearing around in a Dodge Viper or the imitation of the F-14 from topgun is the real reason for playing these games.

A narrative on the other hand puts you in the shoes of a character and sets you out upon a path so as to tell the story of the events that befall this particular character. I can see where the author of this article can believe that in this day and age, the sand box gameplay of games such as the Grand Theft Auto series can be viewed as slightly more simulator like than a traditional narrative. But to me, there seems to always be a set path to follow and a intriguing stroy to be told, regaurdless of how fat/skinny/buff you can make your avatar appear to be (see Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas) And what's so realistic about shooting a bunch of random people just to get arrested, die, and end up outside the closest police station? If it were a actual simulation wouldn't it be necessary to punish the avatar and the player for the "crime" they commited. If you take for example one of the many drive-bys you can participate in, a simulation would show you that tension, the screams of your victims, the bits of grey matter splattering against your ride as you blow the head off some hapless rival gang member, an eyeball hanging from it's socket, teeth shattering, heads exploding, the whole nine yards! Just the mention of such an activity makes my stomach turn. That, in a sense, is a simulated narrative. The real life ability to feel as though you are directly linked to the person who pulls the trigger. The ability to know the difference between shooting actual people, and ragdolls that just flop over and dissappear. That in itself would construct a situation that I would not be eager to repeat or recreate or realise in any material form, not even on the fictional level at which it is being displayed. I would definatly consider my other options and weigh the consequences of my actions before I wanted to experience anything like that.

Is it really bad if it's good for you?

In his book "Everything Bad is Good for You", Steven Johnson talks about the importance of the new media in which most young adults are enthralled with. He makes a comparison between books and video games stating that even though the popluar trend of bashing videogames as a waste of time, his arguement includes the good aspects of both subjects. He states that books stimulate the mind, force it to exersize itself, and even though video games are considered unstimulating by some, the truth is that they are very stilmulating, causing the player to use his mind and overcome the obstacles in his way. He also argues that video games will one day surpass the intellectual stimulation of books, but I argue that that time is already here.

My reasoning for the this is because there are many times where the only narrative avalable is through written text. The vitual world created through MUDs and MOOs is textually based, leaving the only graphical representations in these worlds to be created through use of letters and signs on the keyboard. RPGs, on the other hand, mostly tell an entire story though written text, forcing the user to read the story as he plays it. The simple graphic representations of old RPGs are evolving in to gougeous, high poly-count characters and locations (since they are leaning toward a more cinimatic presentation these days), but most still retain the presents of the telling of a story through textual means. One can say what they want about videogames, but the truth is, they promote the same useage as books, but to a diffferent extent. And since text has been easier to create in videogames than sound or scripted voice, then one must consider that early videogames were more similar to an electronic narrative (ie, a book) than Johnson believes them to be.

Indigo Prophecy: Week#6

Interstingly enough, after a few boring puzzles and the more infuriorating "simon sez" game, the story started to pick up speed. While I was alternating between the two groups of characters (Carla and Tyler, the cops, and Lucas and Marcus, the two brothers) I was forced to make a choice between the them, knowing full well the storyline and the links between the charaters. The game pits you against yourself, first trying to save Lucas, and in the next scene tring to capture him. Things get really weird when Lucas starts to lose his mind; when the cops raid his place it's trashed, with a large red pentagram painted on the floor and what seems to be blood all over the walls. As Lucas is confronted by the police he uses his new found powers to "matrix" on outta there and make his excape. The direction the story has taken has made me sympathize less with Lucas and more with the personal lives of the police officers. I just wish there was more of a balence between the story and the remedial tasks that need to be accomplished to advance the story.

Indigo Prophecy: Week#5

Why does it seem like it's becoming a chore to sit down and play this game. It's not that I don't like the story, but the things I had to do this week were completely rediculus. Push a blind lady around? Feed the birds? Collect candles? Find matches? Close the drapes and turn off the lights? was it really necessary for my avatar to preform all these unentertaining, remedial tasks just to advance the story? Oh! And what's with the "play the Simon sez" game during important parts of the narrative? How are you suppose to know what's happening in the story if your attention is being distracted the very mini-game that lets you advance the story in the first place!

Gonzalo Frasca...rolls right off the tongue, don't you think?

Pertaining to an article called "Simulation vs. Narrative" by Gonzalo Frasca, she debates the differences between the simulation and the narritive in a game/gaming environment. The arguement proposed is that in this modern age in which we live in, the narrative, the story, is being lost in the overwhelming and continual growth of the simulation. To this, I have to say, I do not believe. In my personal opinion, simulation may be great and the more things about reality that can be simulated the better, but users, players, consumers, whatever you want to call them are more likely to pick up a title for the combine efforts of the simulation and the narrative. There have been many times a simulation of reality in a game has been promoted but fell through the cracks do to weak story elements, and likewise, a narrative might be engrossing but with not as much gameplay as the user would have been expecting (I'm looking at you "Metal Gear Solid 2"). So yes, I have to agree that simulation and narrative need to share the spotlight for a game to be successful (and good marketing is nessecary as well, poor poor "Beyond Good and Evil".)

Don't hate the player, hate the game...

The article "From Gamers to Players and Gameplayer" by Bernard Perron has the author creating new catagories for words that we are already familiar with. He has chosen words that can be recognized in in multiple languages and still retain the same context. In the same way Roger Caillois has defined agôn, alea, mimicry and ilinx, Perron has divided the user into three catagories, the gamer, the player and the game player. Each is defined by specific identities that constitute what makes that particular user fall into a certin class. The way he has defined each class makes sence if you don't care about why he has chosen to classify a semi-related term to a particular action. Consider the "Gamer", granted he gave an explanation of where the word originated from, but how does the catagory, "Gamer", classify a user that likes to identify themselves as the avatar? Likewise for the "Gameplayer" catagory. The Gameplayer supposibly enjoys the act the challenge, the obstacle... The gameplayer will become part of the game just for the sake of conquering it. And I believe the "Player" falls into the catagory of one whose interest is based around the experience of the game as oppose to it's mastery. One could use any combination of gaming terms to classify these types of users...even expand on it. What about the "Fragger"? Someone dedicated to first-person shooters who loves fast paced, respawnable action. How about "Solo", the user who has the ability to play with other users, but tends to want to play alone with no outside intereaction. The "adventurer" could play RPGs, the "Agent" could be interested in the action aspects titles, The "Earnhardt" would be all about the racing simulator.

I believe that the terms he has coined for the purpose of his catagorization are appropriate, but these groups also have the ability to be broken down into many sub-groups.

McMahan's way

Alison McMahan discusses in her article, "Immersion Engagement and Presence", several analitical veiw points for determining what makes a game interesting to a user. When she defines "immersion", as in being submerged in something (like water), the first thing that came to my mind was the immersive quatilies of an MMORPG (massive multiplayer online role playing game). Since I have yet to experience multiple MMORPGs, I will discuss the one I am most familiar with, Final Fantasy XI.To be immersed in something like a game, that game must have certain qualities that attract a user and keep them entertain throughout their entire experience. The idea of having a massive world to explore helps when immersing a user. More, and contantly changing content also factors into whether a user will find a particular virtual environment worthy of consuming mass quantities of their time. Some attachement to reality also helps (bathrooms, restraunts, souvenir shops) users feel confortable in their new "reality".

The idea around immersion doesn't nessecarily involve the graphical or audio aspects of a game. Even thought humans are attracted to visual and aural stimuli, such things are not a nesessity to immerse a user into a virtual relm. Take for instance the poplularity of the MUD (mutli user dimention) or the MOO (MUD object oriented). Though they are purely text base, the immersive qualities they have continue to attract users their simplistic worlds.