Games with Words: Textual Representation in the Wake of Graphical Realism in Videogames
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Games with Words: Textual Representation in the Wake of Graphical Realism in Videogames by Michael Hancock A thesis presented to the University of Waterloo in fulfillment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2015 ©Michael Hancock 2015 Author’s Declaration I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. ii Abstract Much of the videogame industry is based around a model of technological progress, whereby developers, individual videogames, and videogame platforms are lauded as superior based on their engagement with the latest, cutting edge forms of technology. As a direct consequence of this focus, sophisticated graphic-based representations are often employed as a yardstick for technological superiority, as it is a form of advancement that can be discerned by the naked eye. The focus on graphics has a number of consequences: it presents past videogames as inferior realizations that pale before more modern approaches; it favors image-based representation over other representational forms such as text; it enters videogames into a broader, ongoing debate in Western culture regarding mimesis and representations of reality that pit image and text against each other. An alternative to the graphic-dominated history of videogames is a variantological approach, in which marginalized and past forms of representation are not seen as dead ends and failures, but as variants that offer alternative perspectives. To that end, this dissertation analyzes five different text- based variant approaches that present ways of considering videogames apart from the dominant narrative of technology-driven graphical realism. First, the history of the instruction manual illustrates how a text-based paratext functions in regards to videogames, which can be viewed as reinforcing the technology-driven approach to videogames—up to and including technology rendering the manual defunct—but can also illustrate a second history, one which explores how a manual as paratext acts to support videogames through incorporation of other print media forms such as the comic book or the picturebook, through presenting a model of the ideal gamer, and through presenting the manual itself as an object from within the videogame. Second, in the history of videogame technology, the 1980s are a crucial period, in which console systems developed an image-based vocabulary for nascent players to learn, and the text-based videogames of the personal computer looked to literary models to do what the image-based games iii could not; the 1989 Amiga game It Came From the Desert represents the moment when text and image cease to be competing forms and turn into formations more complementary. Third, in the 1990s, this balance shifts towards image with the advent of 3D immersive graphics, and the dominance of graphic- based realism, as illustrated through DOOM and Myst—though both games not only used text, but depended on it to engage players to enter into make-believe, mimetic games with their respective gameworlds. In the face of graphical realism’s dominance, the 1999 computer game Planescape: Torment stands out as a text-heavy variant, illustrating the ability of textual representation to engage with mimesis-as-make-believe and offer an alternative to graphical realism through self-inscription, the presentation of text, and a gameworld based on the power of belief and words. Finally, a fifth approach to textual variants comes through a consideration of the role of the text-centred artifact the book within videogames, which presents a wide variety of uses including the book as epitext, book as narrative frame, book as menu system, book as found object, and book as allusive structure. iv Acknowledgments If the saying is that it takes a village to raise a child, then it takes a department (and more) to write a dissertation. I have had an immeasurable amount of support in composing this dissertation, and whatever credit it deserves must in part go to them as well, and if there is anyone whose name is omitted here, the fault is all mine. A great share of thanks goes to my committee. I have long admired Tanya Krzywinska’s work, and it has played a significant role in my own thoughts towards the subject of videogames; it is an absolute pleasure to have her serve as my external examiner. My other external examiner, Jennifer Whitson, has provided me with a wealth of ideas and some very valuable feedback, especially post- defense. Both of their efforts are greatly appreciated. A special thanks to each of my committee members. Aimée Morrison taught me my first course on digital media, and taught me the value of considering videogames—not to mention any form of digital media—in its larger social and cultural contexts. Her more recent support as graduate chair in the department has played a large part in (finally) pushing my dissertation into its finished state. Neil Randall, as director of the Games Institute, has provided me with much needed financial and intellectual support. Moreover, through his support of First Person Scholar and other Games Institute projects, he has provided me with countless opportunities to contribute to my chosen field. Most of all, thanks to my supervisor Marcel O’Gorman. He has long been a source of patience and support, and this dissertation would not have happened without him. From my first encounter with Marcel as a student in his spatial theory course and as his teaching instructor in a first year English, I have known him to be someone who spurs the people around him to new heights of creative vigour, and frankly, more than once, I’ve needed that spurring. I hope to one day be able to inspire students, in the classroom and out of it, to the degree that he does. Thanks also goes out to the department, for being open to students who wish to expand in areas v where the connection to traditional English studies may not always be apparent; there are very few English departments in Canada, if any, where I could have pursued similar research, and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to do that research here at Waterloo. I’ve received so much guidance and support from my fellow graduate students here that it would be impossible to list them all, but, well, I’m still going to make the attempt: everyone I’ve worked with at First Person Scholar—both the new folk, Emma Vossen, Betsy Brey, Alex Orlando, Chris Lawrence, Elise Vist, Judy Ehrentraut, Meghan Blythe-Adams and my fellow founders, Jason Hawreliak, Kent Aardse, and, most of all, our editor-in- chief and friend Stephen Wilcox. And thanks also to our faculty advisors, Gerald Voorhees, Neil Randall, and Jennifer Whitson. More thanks to general friends and colleagues in the department and beyond, studying digital media or doing other fun things: Ryan Tully, Nike Abbott, Danielle Stock, Sarah Gibbons, Adam Cilevitz, Lauren Burr, Islai Cote, Christine Horton, Charlotte Clarke, and all of the others I’ve failed to mention, but whose discussions and efforts have made a difference nonetheless. Finally, thanks to my family. Chris and Elsa, Steven and Matthew, and newer additions Ashley and Fisher. You may not have always understood what I was doing (or why I was doing it) but you have always supported me and made me who I am today. vi Dedication I dedicate this dissertation to what inspired it, Kiyoshi Shigematsu’s “A Thousand Years of Dreams”-- even if it turned out not to fit as a main focus in what follows, it was an example that pushed me on, and continues to do so. Human beings, who cannot live forever, daring to take a journey without end. vii Table of Contents Author’s Declaration ............................................................................................................................ ii Abstract ............................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................. v Dedication .......................................................................................................................................... vii Table of Contents............................................................................................................................... viii Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 1 1. A Short History of the Videogame Manual and Other Paratexts ..................................................... 19 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 19 The Dawn of the Videogame Instruction Manual ........................................................................... 24 Atari 2600: Three Phases of Manual .............................................................................................. 26 Kirby and the Rise of the Nintendo Character ............................................................................... 31 Move Lists and Menu Screens: The Solidification of Videogame Genre ...................................... 35 Manual Coolness: The Sega Genesis Instructional Manuals