DOCSLIB.ORG

A Clash Between Game and Narrative

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A Clash Between Game and Narrative ¢¡¤£¦¥¦§¦¨©§ ¦ ¦¦¡¤¥¦ ¦¦ ¥¦§ ¦ ¦ ¨© ¦¡¤¥¦¦¦¦¡¤¨©¥ ¨©¦¡¤¨© ¦¥¦§¦¦¥¦ ¦¦¦ ¦¦¥¦¦¨©§¦ ¦!#" ¦$¦¥¦ %¤©¥¦¦¥¦©¨©¦§ &' ¦¦ () ¦§¦¡¤¨©¡*¦¡¤¥ ,+- ¦¦¨© ./¦ ¦ ¦¦¦¥ ¦ ¦ ./¨©¡¤¥ ¦¦¡¤ ¦¥¦0#1 ¦¨©¥¦¦§¦¨©¡¤ ,2 ¦¥¦ ¦£¦¦¦¥ ¦0#%¤¥¦$3¦¦¦¦46555 Introduction ThisistheEnglishtranslationofmymaster’sthesisoncomputergamesandinteractivefiction. Duringtranslation,Ihavetriedtoreproducemyoriginalthesisratherfaithfully.Thethesiswas completedinFebruary1999,andtodayImaynotcompletelyagreewithallconclusionsorpresup- positionsinthetext,butIthinkitcontinuestopresentaclearstandpointontherelationbetween gamesandnarratives. Version0.92. Copenhagen,April2001. JesperJuul Tableofcontents INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................................... 1 THEORYONCOMPUTERGAMES ................................................................................................................................ 2 THEUTOPIAOFINTERACTIVEFICTION...................................................................................................................... 2 THECONFLICTBETWEENGAMEANDNARRATIVE ...................................................................................................... 3 INTERACTIVEFICTIONINPRACTICE........................................................................................................................... 4 THELUREOFTHEGAME........................................................................................................................................... 4 TOREADACOMPUTERGAME.................................................................................................................................... 5 METHOD ................................................................................................................................................................. 5 THESTRUCTUREOFTHISTEXT ................................................................................................................................. 6 THEHISTORYOFTHECOMPUTERGAME...................................................................................................... 7 INTERACTIVEFICTION:UTOPIAANDGENRE .............................................................................................................. 9 Therhetoricofinteractivefiction...................................................................................................................... 10 BrendaLaurelandJanetMurray...................................................................................................................... 12 THEORETICALINTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................... 14 COMPUTERGAMES................................................................................................................................................. 14 INTERACTIVITY ..................................................................................................................................................... 16 GEORGEP.LANDOW ............................................................................................................................................. 17 ESPENAARSETH.................................................................................................................................................... 19 LITERARYPRECURSORS ......................................................................................................................................... 21 ADanishangle................................................................................................................................................. 23 Astrologyandcut-up ........................................................................................................................................ 24 ATHEORYOFTHECOMPUTERGAME .......................................................................................................... 26 THESTRUCTUREOFTHEGAME ..................................................................................................................... 26 ANARRATIVEMEDIUM?......................................................................................................................................... 27 Frommovietogame:StarWars ....................................................................................................................... 28 TIME,GAMEANDNARRATIVE................................................................................................................................. 29 Storytime,narrativetime,andreadingtime ..................................................................................................... 30 Timeinthecomputergame............................................................................................................................... 30 Ishappening:Thenowofliterature .................................................................................................................. 32 Thetemporaldifference.................................................................................................................................... 33 SEQUENCE............................................................................................................................................................. 34 AMODELOFNON-LINEARTEXTS............................................................................................................................ 35 THENARRATIVEFRAMEINACOMPUTERGAME ....................................................................................................... 36 ThenarrativeframeinSpaceInvaders.............................................................................................................. 36 Themeaningoftheframe ................................................................................................................................. 38 THENARRATOR ..................................................................................................................................................... 40 Isthisyourdoing?............................................................................................................................................ 40 THEPLAYERANDTHEGAME.......................................................................................................................... 42 EMPATHYANDIDENTIFICATION ............................................................................................................................. 43 Theactant ........................................................................................................................................................ 44 Theeyeoftheactant......................................................................................................................................... 46 Theinvisibleactorandtheabstractgame ......................................................................................................... 47 Thebodyandthemotorskills ........................................................................................................................... 48 Gameandcognition ......................................................................................................................................... 50 DESIRE.................................................................................................................................................................. 50 DEATH:HIERARCHIESOFKNOWLEDGE................................................................................................................... 51 REPEATABILITY..................................................................................................................................................... 52 READINGS:SIXVERSIONSOFACONFLICT.................................................................................................. 54 READINGACOMPUTERGAME................................................................................................................................. 54 Method............................................................................................................................................................. 55 MYST.................................................................................................................................................................... 55 Theplayerandtheinterface ............................................................................................................................. 56 Narrationandtime........................................................................................................................................... 57 Programandmaterial ...................................................................................................................................... 58 INTERMEZZO:THEPLACEMENTOFTHEPLAYER ...................................................................................................... 59 DOOM ................................................................................................................................................................... 61 Temporality...................................................................................................................................................... 61 Identification...................................................................................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Incommensurate Wor(L)Ds: Epistemic Rhetoric and Faceted Classification Of
    Incommensurate Wor(l)ds: Epistemic Rhetoric and Faceted Classification of Communication Mechanics in Virtual Worlds by Sarah Smith-Robbins A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Rai Peterson Ball State University Muncie, IN March 28, 2011 Table of Contents Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................................... ii List of Tables ........................................................................................................................................... vi List of Figures ......................................................................................................................................... vii Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. ix Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. xi Chapter 1: Incommensurate Terms, Incommensurate Practices ............................................................... 1 Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................................................... 3 Significance of the Study ............................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Invisible Labor, Invisible Play: Online Gold Farming and the Boundary Between Jobs and Games
    Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law Volume 18 Issue 3 Issue 3 - Spring 2016 Article 2 2015 Invisible Labor, Invisible Play: Online Gold Farming and the Boundary Between Jobs and Games Julian Dibbell Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/jetlaw Part of the Internet Law Commons, and the Labor and Employment Law Commons Recommended Citation Julian Dibbell, Invisible Labor, Invisible Play: Online Gold Farming and the Boundary Between Jobs and Games, 18 Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law 419 (2021) Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/jetlaw/vol18/iss3/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Vanderbilt Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law by an authorized editor of Scholarship@Vanderbilt Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. VANDERBILT JOURNAL OF ENTERTAINMENT & TECHNOLOGY LAW VOLUME 18 SPRING 2016 NUMBER 3 Invisible Labor, Invisible Play: Online Gold Farming and the Boundary Between Jobs and Games Julian Dibbell ABSTRACT When does work become play and play become work? Courts have considered the question in a variety of economic contexts, from student athletes seeking recognition as employees to professional blackjack players seeking to be treated by casinos just like casual players. Here, this question is applied to a relatively novel context: that of online gold farming, a gray-market industry in which wage-earning workers, largely based in China, are paid to play fantasy massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) that reward them with virtual items that their employers sell for profit to the same games' casual players.
    [Show full text]
  • COMPARATIVE VIDEOGAME CRITICISM by Trung Nguyen
    COMPARATIVE VIDEOGAME CRITICISM by Trung Nguyen Citation Bogost, Ian. Unit Operations: An Approach to Videogame Criticism. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 2006. Keywords: Mythical and scientific modes of thought (bricoleur vs. engineer), bricolage, cyber texts, ergodic literature, Unit operations. Games: Zork I. Argument & Perspective Ian Bogost’s “unit operations” that he mentions in the title is a method of analyzing and explaining not only video games, but work of any medium where works should be seen “as a configurative system, an arrangement of discrete, interlocking units of expressive meaning.” (Bogost x) Similarly, in this chapter, he more specifically argues that as opposed to seeing video games as hard pieces of technology to be poked and prodded within criticism, they should be seen in a more abstract manner. He states that “instead of focusing on how games work, I suggest that we turn to what they do— how they inform, change, or otherwise participate in human activity…” (Bogost 53) This comparative video game criticism is not about invalidating more concrete observances of video games, such as how they work, but weaving them into a more intuitive discussion that explores the true nature of video games. II. Ideas Unit Operations: Like I mentioned in the first section, this is a different way of approaching mediums such as poetry, literature, or videogames where works are a system of many parts rather than an overarching, singular, structured piece. Engineer vs. Bricoleur metaphor: Bogost uses this metaphor to compare the fundamentalist view of video game critique to his proposed view, saying that the “bricoleur is a skillful handy-man, a jack-of-all-trades who uses convenient implements and ad hoc strategies to achieve his ends.” Whereas the engineer is a “scientific thinker who strives to construct holistic, totalizing systems from the top down…” (Bogost 49) One being more abstract and the other set and defined.
    [Show full text]
  • Copyright by Jason Todd Craft 2004 the Dissertation Committee for Jason Todd Craft Certifies That This Is the Approved Version of the Following Dissertation
    Copyright by Jason Todd Craft 2004 The Dissertation Committee for Jason Todd Craft Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Fiction Networks: The Emergence of Proprietary, Persistent, Large- Scale Popular Fictions Committee: Adam Z. Newton, Co-Supervisor John M. Slatin, Co-Supervisor Brian A. Bremen David J. Phillips Clay Spinuzzi Margaret A. Syverson Fiction Networks: The Emergence of Proprietary, Persistent, Large- Scale Popular Fictions by Jason Todd Craft, B.A., M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin December, 2004 Dedication For my family Acknowledgements Many thanks to my dissertation supervisors, Dr. Adam Zachary Newton and Dr. John Slatin; to Dr. Margaret Syverson, who has supported this work from its earliest stages; and, to Dr. Brian Bremen, Dr. David Phillips, and Dr. Clay Spinuzzi, all of whom have actively engaged with this dissertation in progress, and have given me immensely helpful feedback. This dissertation has benefited from the attention and feedback of many generous readers, including David Barndollar, Victoria Davis, Aimee Kendall, Eric Lupfer, and Doug Norman. Thanks also to Ben Armintor, Kari Banta, Sarah Paetsch, Michael Smith, Kevin Thomas, Matthew Tucker and many others for productive conversations about branding and marketing, comics universes, popular entertainment, and persistent world gaming. Some of my most useful, and most entertaining, discussions about the subject matter in this dissertation have been with my brother, Adam Craft. I also want to thank my parents, Donna Cox and John Craft, and my partner, Michael Craigue, for their help and support.
    [Show full text]
  • Theescapist 042.Pdf
    putting an interview with the Garriott Games Lost My Emotion” the “Gaming at Keep up the good work. brothers, an article from newcomer Nick the Margins” series and even “The Play Bousfield about an old adventure game, Is the Thing,” you described the need for A loyal reader, Originally, this week’s issue was The Last Express and an article from games that show the consequences of Nathan Jeles supposed to be “Gaming’s Young Turks Greg Costikyan sharing the roots of our actions, and allow us to make and Slavs,” an issue about the rise of games, all in the same issue. I’ll look decisions that will affect the outcome of To the Editor: First, let’s get the usual gaming in Eastern Europe, both in forward to your comments on The Lounge. the game. In our society there are fewer pleasantries dispensed with. I love the development and in playerbase. I and fewer people willing to take magazine, read it every week, enjoy received several article pitches on the Cheers, responsibility for their actions or believe thinking about the issues it throws up, topic and the issue was nearly full. And that their actions have no consequences. and love that other people think games then flu season hit. And then allergies Many of these people are in the marketing are more than they may first appear. hit. All but one of my writers for this issue demographic for video games. It is great has fallen prey to flu, allergies or a minor to see a group of people who are interested There’s one game, one, that has made bout of forgetfulness.
    [Show full text]
  • Myst 3 Exile Mac Download
    Myst 3 exile mac download CLICK TO DOWNLOAD Myst III: Exile Patch for Mac Free UbiSoft Entertainment Mac/OS Classic Version Full Specs The product has been discontinued by the publisher, and renuzap.podarokideal.ru offers this page for Subcategory: Sudoku, Crossword & Puzzle Games. The latest version of Myst III is on Mac Informer. It is a perfect match for the General category. The app is developed by Myst III renuzap.podarokideal.ruin. Myst III: Exile X for Mac Free Download. MB Mac OS X About Myst III: Exile X for Mac. The all NEW sequel to Myst and Riven new technology, new story and a new arch enemy. It's the perfect place to plan revenge. The success of Myst continues with 5 entirely new ages to explore and a dramatic new storyline, which features a pivotal new character. This version is the first release on CNET /5. Myst III (3): Exile (Mac abandonware from ) Myst III (3): Exile. Author: Presto Studios. Publisher: UbiSoft. Type: Games. Category: Adventure. Shared by: MR. On: Updated by: that-ben. On: Rating: out of 10 (0 vote) Rate it: WatchList. ; 3; 0 (There's no video for Myst III (3): Exile yet. Please contribute to MR and add a video now!) What is . myst exile free download - Myst III: Exile X, Myst III: Exile Patch, Myst IV Revelation Patch, and many more programs. 01/07/ · Myst III Exile DVD Edition - Windows-Mac (Eng) Item Preview Myst III Exile DVD Edition - renuzap.podarokideal.ru DOWNLOAD OPTIONS download 1 file. ITEM TILE download. download 1 file.
    [Show full text]
  • Engaging with Videogames
    INTER - DISCIPLINARY PRESS Engaging with Videogames Critical Issues Series Editors Dr Robert Fisher Lisa Howard Dr Ken Monteith Advisory Board Karl Spracklen Simon Bacon Katarzyna Bronk Stephen Morris Jo Chipperfield John Parry Ann-Marie Cook Ana Borlescu Peter Mario Kreuter Peter Twohig S Ram Vemuri Kenneth Wilson John Hochheimer A Critical Issues research and publications project. http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/critical-issues/ The Cyber Hub ‘Videogame Cultures and the Future of Interactive Entertainment’ 2014 Engaging with Videogames: Play, Theory and Practice Edited by Dawn Stobbart and Monica Evans Inter-Disciplinary Press Oxford, United Kingdom © Inter-Disciplinary Press 2014 http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/publishing/id-press/ The Inter-Disciplinary Press is part of Inter-Disciplinary.Net – a global network for research and publishing. The Inter-Disciplinary Press aims to promote and encourage the kind of work which is collaborative, innovative, imaginative, and which provides an exemplar for inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission of Inter-Disciplinary Press. Inter-Disciplinary Press, Priory House, 149B Wroslyn Road, Freeland, Oxfordshire. OX29 8HR, United Kingdom. +44 (0)1993 882087 ISBN: 978-1-84888-295-9 First published in the United Kingdom in eBook format in 2014. First Edition. Table of Contents Introduction ix Dawn Stobbart and Monica Evans Part 1 Gaming Practices and Education Toward a Social-Constructivist View of Serious Games: Practical Implications for the Design of a Sexual Health Education Video Game 3 Sara Mathieu-C.
    [Show full text]
  • This Is the Title
    1 Welcome! If you’re here to learn about some art tools, you’ve come to the right place. While this talk does assume at least a basic understanding of the Unreal Engine, it’s really about the concepts behind these tools, not the exact implementation - So hopefully even non-Unreal users will be able to find some of this stuff helpful. First I’m going to do some quick introductions... 2 Hi. I’m Eric Anderson. I’m the Art Director at Cyan. 3 We are a small game development studio up in Spokane, Washington, and one of the oldest surviving independent studios in the industry. I’ve been with the company on and off for over 15 years. 4 Cyan is best known for the game Myst, which was released in 1993. In Myst, players find themselves trapped on an uninhabited - but visually lush island... ...surrounded by challenging puzzles - and are given little to no instruction on what to do - or where to go next. It was a hit. Myst quickly became the best selling computer game of the 20th century. 5 It was followed up a few years later by Riven. While Riven didn’t quite sell as well as Myst, it was acclaimed for its visual artistry - its rich story - and its immersive world. 6 I joined the company in 2000 to work on Uru… …Our ill-fated foray into Massively Multiplayer Online Games… …which was released in 2003 as a single player game, due to publisher cutbacks. 7 Followed shortly by Myst 5… …which was mostly built from the bones of Uru’s online content… …and sold about as well as one might expect.
    [Show full text]
  • From Within the Frame: Storytelling in African-American Fiction
    W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1998 From within the frame: Storytelling in African-American fiction Bertram Duane Ashe College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the African American Studies Commons, and the American Literature Commons Recommended Citation Ashe, Bertram Duane, "From within the frame: Storytelling in African-American fiction" (1998). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539623921. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-s19x-y607 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USRRS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. U M I films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter free, while others may be from any type o f computer printer. The quality o f this reproduction is dependent upon the quality o f the copy submitted* Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send U M I a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps.
    [Show full text]
  • The Framing of Charles W. Chesnutt: Practical Deconstruction in the Afro-American Tradition
    Studies in English, New Series Volume 9 Article 3 1-1-1991 The Framing of Charles W. Chesnutt: Practical Deconstruction in the Afro-American Tradition Craig Werner University of Wisconsin Follow this and additional works at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/studies_eng_new Part of the American Literature Commons Recommended Citation Werner, Craig (1991) "The Framing of Charles W. Chesnutt: Practical Deconstruction in the Afro-American Tradition," Studies in English, New Series: Vol. 9 , Article 3. Available at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/studies_eng_new/vol9/iss1/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the English at eGrove. It has been accepted for inclusion in Studies in English, New Series by an authorized editor of eGrove. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Werner: The Framing of Charles W. Chesnutt THE FRAMING OF CHARLES W. CHESNUTT: PRACTICAL DECONSTRUCTION IN THE AFRO-AMERICAN TRADITION Craig Werner University of Wisconsin First, three quotations. “Under exegetical pressure, self-reference demonstrates the impossibility of self-possession. When poems denounce poetry as lies, self-referentiality is the source of undecidability, which is not ambiguity but a structure of logical irresolvability: if a poem speaks true in describing poetry as lies, then it lies; but if its claim that poems lie is a lie, then it must speak true.”—Jonathan Culler, On Deconstruction: Theory and Criticism after Structuralism (202). “They ain’t no different from nobody else....They mouth cut cross ways, ain’t it? Well, long as you don’t see no man wid they mouth cut up and down, you know they’ll all lie jus’ like de rest of us.”—Zora Neale Hurston, Mules and Men (22).
    [Show full text]
  • John Fu March 1, 2000 History 274B Prof
    Marmalade, Jute, and Video Games: The story of how Dundee, Scotland became the home of a thriving video game development community John Fu March 1, 2000 History 274B Prof. Thomas Hughes 2 Video Games…In Scotland? Japan and the United States are sometimes thought to be the sole creators of the world’s video games. This belief may stem from the fact that the most famous video game console and arcade game manufacturers (such as Atari, Midway, Namco, Nintendo, Sega, Sony, and Capcom) are located in Japan and the US. And with few exceptions, the best-known, most heavily merchandized video game characters (for example, Mario of Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog of the game of the same name) are of American or Japanese origin. Over the past decade, however, many best-selling video games have come from Great Britain. English and Scottish developers have been responsible for such hits as Populous, Syndicate, Lemmings, Goldeneye, and Tomb Raider. Lara Croft, the main character in the Tomb Raider series of adventure games, has become a worldwide star, and Tomb Raider is currently set to be made into a motion picture. Nonetheless, with few characters as recognizable as Mario or Sonic and the absence of a major game console manufacturer, it is remarkable that game development has flourished in specific communities within Great Britain, namely Guildford (near London), northwest England (Liverpool/Birkenhead) and Scotland. Guildford is the home of Bullfrog, a development studio that has created numerous hit games such as Syndicate and Dungeon Keeper, and of a number of companies founded by ex-Bullfrog employees.
    [Show full text]
  • I Fought the Law: Transgressive Play and the Implied Player Espen Aarseth Center for Computer Games Research IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark Aarseth at Itu Dk
    I Fought the Law: Transgressive Play and The Implied Player Espen Aarseth Center for Computer Games Research IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark aarseth at itu dk ABSTRACT development cycle), can exist without players, and always This paper is an attempt to understand Game Studies without one particular, historical player. through the contested notion of the “player” both inside and outside “the game object” – that is the object that game The potential player, before becoming an actual users perceive and respond to when they play. Building on player, must receive some instructions, either from the Hans-Georg Gadamer’s notion of games as a subject that game itself, or from a guide or accompanying material. “masters the players”, the paper will go beyond the Thus, the player is created, by these instructions, and by his traditional split between the social sciences’ real players or her initial learning experience. In many cases, this and the aesthetics/humanities critical author-as-player, and experience is social, and the player learns from other, more present a theory of the player and player studies that experienced players. But this is far from always the case, incorporates the complex tensions between the real, especially with singleplayer games. While it is important to historical player and the game’s human components. Since acknowledge that even singleplay can be perfectly social games are both aesthetic and social phenomena, a theory of (eg. when two players cooperate or in a group discuss the the player must combine both social and aesthetic intricacies of a singleplayer game) it is perhaps just as perspectives to be successful.
    [Show full text]