As a play writer, I was not surprised that Seamus Sullivan said, “Drama is in every videogame.” We invest our times into the characters, story, and action, and therefore characterization is a very important part of videogames. However, I was most struck by the idea of dialogue and how such a simple scene between two characters can reveal so much about their personalities and traits. Sullivan re-enacted a scene from the game, “The Secret of Monkey Island”, and display the naïve voice of the main character, Guybrush Threepwood. From a 60 second dialogue, not only were we able to infer what was happening in the story, but we also infer Threepwood’s polite and forgetful personality. I agree that dialogue is the most difficult to write, whether it is in a story, movie, play or a videogame. Having the right words and the right amount of words can affect the characters and story greatly. One of the greatest tips for dialogue has to be show and not tell. This same advice was given to me by my 8th grade English teacher and I see that it can be very effective in games. Showing the story allows the creator to evoke different moods, tones and feelings. Using fewer words can also be effective because it eliminates clunky sentences that may confuse the audience. To master these obstacles in dialogue, it is important that the creator continues to write, revise and ask for other people’s opinion. Therefore videogames contain many qualities that are attached in film, stories and plays, and we sometime forget the intricacy of such a simple game like “Super Mario”.
Author Archives: Que Le
JFK Reloaded- The Aftermath
I found a very interesting blog (http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=7443178) that talks about the controversy of JFK Reloaded. Some of the interesting question that it raised is why did JFK reloaded receive so much public attention, while other games that contain more violence are not heavily criticized. This did not occur to me, but that is true. Games such as God of War contains nudity, sex and decapitation, but yet receives great ratings compared to JFK reloaded, which is simply a shooter game . I believe JFK reloaded receive more criticism because President Kennedy was a symbol of the United States and an icon which many people living today still remember. If a designer created a game of how many ways can you burn/destroy the American flag, it would also receive the same negative reaction. Simulating an assassination of a respected President can actually provoke feelings of threat or endangerment. It is unlawful in the United States to depict any kind of threat to the life of a President.
I agree with a point someone made in class that if it was President Lincoln who was assassinated, then it would not have received as much publicity because no one knew him personally. On the other hand, the Kennedy family is still around and was the one who pushed for a lawsuit against Traffic (company that created the game). The game designer’s intention may be pure, but having an award of $100,000 to the person who can recreate the Lee Harvey Oswald shootings did not help them. Instead, the people see this as the company’s attempt to capitalize and promote the game in other ways than originally intended. In my opinion, Traffic did cross the line because they recaptured a very painful moment in American history without providing any background or context that this is a study or simulation of what really occur that day. The American people are not ready to have such sensitive topics be depicted in games. Therefore any games containing topics about 9/11, Columbine, V-Tech shooting will not receive any praise from the majority of the people.
Undermining the Multi-use of Videogames
It did not really sink in to me that videogames have such a wide variety of uses until Ian Bogost introduced specific examples of how videogames can portray art, empathy, reverence, music and prank. I had the same assumption as many people that videogames are only a source of entertainment. I believe it is a medium that provides temporal distraction from real life and therefore my perception and importance of videogames do not compare to that of film, art, and literature. To me, videogames do not belong to the same rank as the three mentioned above and saying it has the same reverence to film seems comical. However, my perception has changed and I realize my belief that videogames are only for entertainment is plain stereotypical
While playing “Passage” created Jason Rohrer, I was confused of what to do. I start out as a young man who soon picks up a lady companion to begin my journey. As I continue to walk to the right, the landscape changes and time progresses. The vibrant blond hair my character dons begins to change to a muter brunette color, and soon after a grey color. The fast walking movement progresses to slower paces and finally I see the old couple feebly walk with crooked backs. Towards the end, my wife dies and I continue the journey alone until I pass away too. A 5 minute game play of “Passage” shows more than the simple goal of moving towards the right hand side, it also evokes deep emotions. The reflection that time does not stop, and everyone will inevitably age and die is really what struck me in the game. It mirrors the scene from the Disney Movie “Up”, when the main character Carl and his wife Ellie began as children who grew up, fell in love, and married. As the female character in the game, Ellie dies due to an illness and Carl continues to live alone. I was extremely sad when I saw this scene and had the same emotion as I played the game. Bogost mentions that theses artgames simply do not provide a decorative visual depiction, but allow the audience to reflect on a theme or two. Some themes I see in “Passage” are life, death, marriage, time and making decisions. I soon realize that the game is a complete metaphor that life is a journey. The characters start at the left hand side and ends at the right, which symbolizes birth and death. Unlike the game “Braid” where one can go back in time, time in Passage is linear and does not stop, which reflects the reality the man cannot control time. After seeing the powerful effect of such a simple game, I realize that videogames do not have the credit that they deserve because they are infants compared to veterans such as film, literature and music. I am sure that the uses of videogames in society will be diverse as those of film.
Seeker: E.T. is not the Cause of Atari’s Collapse
http://2600connection.atari.org/et.html
In class, professor Sample showed the Atari version of E.T. and mentioned that others believed it was one of the worst games created, which lead to Atari’s failure. Initially, I did agree that it was a bad game; however, I wanted to know why it was the cause of Atari’s demise. In contrary to my finding, an article stood in defense of the E.T. game. E.T. was based from the movie of which it involved a friendly alien and a boy who was suppose to help the alien get home. The movie is non-violent and Howard Scott Warshaw, the game designer, had to create a game similar to the movie in a period of just five weeks. Unfortunately the only thing E.T. could do was to eat candy and grow flowers. That said, the design and action content of the game was unappealing to many young players. However, E.T. is not the sole cause of Atari’s collapse. Other factors were already at play which began to cripple the company’s success. These factors include Atari not owning a licensing agreement, which allowed other companies to create unsuccessful games that affected Atari’s name. Also these no-name companies were selling their games for one third of the price that attracted many consumers. These were but a few factors that contributed to Atari’s failure and E.T. cannot take all of the blame. Therefore, people need to understand that not a single game flop can bring down an entire company. It has to take several factors in order to do so.
A Biological Insight to Video Games
As a biology major, I have serious doubts whether there are any sort of connection between video games and the study of life. However while reading the beginning of the first chapter, I develop a different view of the machinistic portion of the video game medium. As described by Alexander Galloway, the medium is created by “organic and nonorganic actors” (p. 5). These two adjectives immediately catch my attention because life also involves organic and inorganic substances. What fascinates me is that nonliving objects, such as, the atom, oxygen, nitrogen and other necessary elements can come together to form a living organism. This idea coincides with the creation of the gaming medium. Parts from a computer that cannot function by itself (motherboard, video card, cooling fan, etc), become usable when it is brought together in the right combination.
The algorithmic codes is another important aspect in developing a video game. These codes are necessary for the game to function as DNA is necessary to carry out the instruction for life. Galloway describes the codes as messages that pass throughout the software (p.4), which reminds me of how the cells in the body send and receive messages via hormones and receptors. The relationship of the machine and operator can also be thought as a symbiotic, mutualistic or even parasitic relationship. For example, a parasitic relationship exists when the player tries to defeat the game while the software obstructs the player by using traps. As I am making these estrange biological connections, I begin to question whether these connections are random and coincidental. I soon discover the term “deep play” and realize that my observation of biology to video games are completely relevant (p.16). If Geertz can connect the Balinese cockfights to the caste system, I certainly can say that the study of life is of great significance to the gaming world.
Something to think about:
Galloway mentions that culture affects the development and evolution of video games. However is the reverse true? Do video games affect culture and if so to what extent or in what ways?