Well Played 3.0: Video Games, Value and Meaning Drew Davidson et al. Published: 2011 Categorie(s): Tag(s): "Video Games" Criticism Analysis Play Literacy 1 Preface Copyright by Drew Davidson et al. & ETC Press 2011 ISBN: 978-1-257-85845-3 Library of Congress Control Number: 2011932994 TEXT: The text of this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NonDerivative 2.5 License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/) IMAGES: All images appearing in this work are used and reproduced with the permission of the respective copyright owners, and are not released into the Creative Commons. The respective owners reserve all rights. Design & composition by John J. Dessler THANK YOU This third Well Played book was yet another enjoyable project full of in- teresting insights into what makes videogames great. A huge thank you to all the contributors who shared their ideas along with some insipiring analysis. A thank you to John Dessler for his great work on the book design. And thanks again to participation and support of everyone who has joined in the discussion around games being well played. And to my wife, as always. 2 Table of Contents The Deeper Game of Pokémon, or, How the world's biggest RPG inad- vertently teaches 21st century kids everything they need to know ELI NEIBURGER Hills and Lines: Final Fantasy XIII SIMON FERRARI And if You Go Chasing Rabbits: The Inner Demons of American McGee's Alice MATTHEW SAKEY Limbo ALICE TAYLOR The Neverhood; A Different Kind of Never Never Land.You Had Me at Claymation STEPHEN JACOBS Heavy Rain – How I Learned to Trust the Designer JOSÉ P. ZAGAL Fallout 3: How Relationship-relevant Decisions craft Identities that Keep Bringing Us Back to Enjoy the Horrors of the Nuclear Wasteland ALEX GAMES Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - Becoming a Hero DREW DAVIDSON & RICHARD LEMARCHAND Mass Effect: Leveraging a Science Fiction Childhood MATT MCLEAN The World Ends With You THERESA CHEN Anything you can do, Chrono Trigger can do better FRANCISCO SOUKI The Opposite of Accessible: Street Fighter IV JASON VANDENBERGHE Majora's Mask SCOTT JUSTER Blocks, Planes, Drain, and Kain: Well Played for Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver MARK SIVAK Toy Soldiers CHARLES PALMER Siren is the Scariest Game Ever Made CHRIS PRUETT 3 Narrative Reincarnation in The Way of the Samurai 3 ARTHUR PROTASIO Limbo and The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom ANDY JIH The Path HEATHER CHAPLIN La Noche de los Muertos GREG TREFRY Ding! World of Warcraft Well Played, Well Researched CRYSTLE MARTIN, SARAH CHU, DEE JOHNSON, AMANDA OCHSNER, CARO WILLIAMS, & CONSTANCE STEINKUEHLER Playing Ico: from Involvement through Immersion to Investment DREW DAVIDSON Well Read: Applying Close Reading Techniques to Gameplay Experi- ences JIM BIZZOCCHI & JOSHUA TANENBAUM 4 Introduction Well Played 3.0 Further Perspectives on Video Games, Value and Meaning Well Played 3.0 is another great book of in-depth close readings of video games that parse out the various meanings to be found in the ex- perience of playing a game. As before, contributors have analyzed se- quences in games in detail in order to illustrate and interpret how the various components of a game can come together to create a fulfilling playing experience unique to this medium. Across the three books, con- tributors have provided a variety of insightful perspectives on the value of games. For those who have yet to see the two previous books, the term “well played” is being used in two senses. On the one hand, well played is to games as well read is to books. So, a person who reads books a lot is “well read” and a person who plays games a lot is “well played.” On the other hand, well played as in well done. So, a hand of poker can be “well played” by a person, and a game can be “well played” by the develop- ment team. Contributors are looking at video games through both senses of “well played.” So, with well played as in well read, contributors are looking closely at the experience of playing a game. And with well played as in well done, contributors are looking at a game in terms of how well it is designed and developed. And this book is completely full of spoilers on all the games discussed, so consider this your fair warning. While it’s not necessary, all the con- tributors encourage you to play the games before you read about them. Well Played 3.0 is going to be the last book. We’re now going to follow these three books with a regular on-going Well Played journal series open to anyone who is interested in submitting an essay analyzing a game. We’re also going to host Well Played tracks with live play and analysis of games at the Games, Learning and Society Conference and at IndieCade as well. The goal of all of the books, and the following series and conference tracks, is to help create a forum for discussion that further develops and defines a literacy of games as well as a sense of their value as an experi- ence. Also, the books have focused specifically on close readings, having an on-going journal and conference tracks can also enable us to consider distant readings (a la Franco Moretti) of games and how they’ve evolved across time. Video games are a complex medium that merits careful 5 interpretation and insightful analysis. By having contributors to look closely (or distantly) at video games and the experience of playing them, we hope to show how many different games are well played in a variety of ways. 6 The Deeper Game of Pokémon, or, How the world’s biggest RPG inadvertently teaches 21st century kids everything they need to know - Eli Neiburger 1. Introduction So, is Pokémon really that big of a deal? Yes, it is really that big of a deal. 200 million units sold, only the Plumber is bigger, and even run- away hit franchises like Halo or Madden can only dream of success on this scale. Most of these players are future adults, and the franchise en- snares their little minds with not just the narcotic Japanese adorableness of this little fleet of collectible fluffy ideas, but with a nearly bottomless gameplay, offering young players the opportunity to find out exactly how deep the rabbit hole goes… but almost entirely outside the game world. While not discounting the masterful management of the property for Nintendo by The Pokémon Company, a big part of the enduring appeal is the slowly increasing complexity of the dynamics underneath the rel- atively simple and fixed surface gameplay, as well as a steady trickle of new creatures and features. Balancing this ever-deepening knowledge space with a front end that remains extremely accessible and inviting is a goal that few franchises attain; part of Pokémon’s perennial success is due to the fact that each new release is devoured by the hardcore fans as readily as it encourages new fans to take the first step. Pokémon is so big with so many kids, across its various formats, me- dia, and series, that many adults can’t help but look at it as some new hot impenetrable craze that these kids are into, and it snares them so deeply it must be because it’s narcotic and nefarious, leading innocent children to commit crimes against culture and tradition such as naming the family dog Squirtle or other atrocities. On the lists of things banned from many elementary school classrooms, along with weapons, drugs, and cell phones, are Pokémon cards. While it’s understandable that something so much more interesting than the curriculum would get a chilly reception from the teacher, it’s an unfortunate perception because Pokémon is a powerful learning tool, far deeper and robust as a learning mechanism than the educational technologies normally found in a classroom. Pokémon teaches some obvious things; one of the most powerful im- pacts, frequently overlooked by disapproving teachers and librarians, is that Pokémon is an outstanding literacy tutor. There are over 200,000 lines of text in a Pokémon cartridge and no voice or video; all the 7 multiple layers of information that the players interact with through the game is plain old text, often with vocabulary far beyond grade level and ample opportunities to immediately apply the information gained through text parsing, one of the critical literacy building loops. And un- like the assigned curriculum, Pokémon players actually want to read and understand every single line of dialogue that every single player, termin- al, or talking signpost says as they never know where critical informa- tion will be hidden. In addition to being such a literacy driver, Pokémon is a very positive example of how to compete with grace and sportsmanship, what win- ning and losing really mean (not much), and how to balance risk and re- ward. Primarily, engaging in battles against other players risks nothing other than honor; the player’s game save is unaffected by either a win or a loss. This sets up a low risk environment so that players are more will- ing to experiment, take chances, and go for the brass ring, with the op- tion of trying it again and again if need be. Allowing kids to try challen- ging tasks repeatedly until they find success is not a common experience in today’s test-driven schools. However, the real power of Pokémon is that far beyond these benefits, the very fabric and gameplay of the series stretches young minds in ex- actly the directions they most need to be stretched, and that their 20th- century styled educations barely even poke, as they are required to act- ively subsume large bodies of abstract knowledge through play and ex- perimentation (supplemented with online resources) and build a ready working knowledge of a complex and hidden set of rules.