Logic and Structure of the Computer Game

DIGAREC Series 04 Logic and Structure of the Computer Game ed. by Stephan Günzel, Michael Liebe, and Dieter Mersch DIGAREC Series 04 Logic and Structure of the Computer Game ed. by Stephan Günzel, Michael Liebe, and Dieter Mersch with the editorial cooperation of Sebastian Möring DIGAREC Series 04 Potsdam University Press 2010 Bibliographic Information from the German National Library The German National Library has cataloged this publication in the German National Bibliography; detailed bibliographic data is available over the internet through: http://dnb.d-nb.de Potsdam University Press 2010 Am Neuen Palais 10, 14469 Potsdam phone: ++49 (0) 331 / 9 77 46 23 fax: ++49 (0) 331 / 9 77 34 74 web: http://info.ub.uni-potsdam.de/verlag.htm e-mail: [email protected] The DIGAREC Series is published by: Digital Games Research Center (www.digarec.org) Advisory Board: Prof. Dr. Oliver Castendyk (Media Law, Erich Pommer Institut Potsdam) Prof. Winfried Gerling (Department of Design, University of Applied Sciences Potsdam) Prof. Dr. Barbara Krahé (Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam) Prof. Dr. Dieter Mersch (Department for Arts and Media, University of Potsdam) Prof. Dr. Torsten Schaub (Department of Informatics, University of Potsdam) Prof. Ulrich Weinberg (School of Design Thinking, Hasso-Plattner-Institut Potsdam) This publication was made possible by funding from the Medienboard Berlin- Brandenburg, the Association for the Promotion of Computer Games Research “Gamology”, the German Research Foundation, and the Department for Arts and Media at the University of Potsdam. Layout: Klaus Zimmermann (www.signandshine.com) Typesetting: Martina Kellner Proof-Editing: Benjamin Gaede Print: docupoint GmbH Magdeburg ISSN 1867-6219 (print), 1867-6227 (online) ISBN 978-3-86956-064-9 This publication has also been simultaneously published online through the publications server of the University of Potsdam: URL http://pub.ub.uni-potsdam.de/volltexte/2010/4269/ URN urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-42695 [http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-42695] Content Introduction – 008 Stephan Günzel, Michael Liebe, and Dieter Mersch Logic and Structure of the Computer Game – 016 Julian Kücklich Seki. Ruledness and the Logical Structure of Game Space – 036 Response (Gordon Calleja) – 058 Martin Warnke Logic as a Medium – 064 Response (Rune Klevjer) – 076 Daniel Cermak-Sassenrath The Logic of Play in Everyday Human-Computer Interaction – 080 Response (Barry Atkins) – 104 Michael Nitsche Games as Structures for Mediated Performances – 110 Response (Gordon Calleja) – 128 Rolf F. Nohr The Naturalization of Knowledge. Games between Common Sense and Specialized Knowledge – 130 Response (Rune Klevjer) – 144 Karin Wenz Narrative Logics of Digital Games – 146 Response (Barry Atkins) – 162 Content Serjoscha Wiemer Playing on the Plane of Immanence. Notes on the Resonance between Body and Image in Music Video Games – 166 Response (Gordon Calleja) – 192 Jochen Venus Simulation of Self-Action. On the Morphology of Remote-Controlled Role Playing – 196 Response (Rune Klevjer) – 208 Mark Butler On Reality and Simulation in an Extra-Moral Sense. The Playful Logic of Life and Death in Liberty City – 212 Response (Barry Atkins) – 232 Introduction Stephan Günzel, Michael Liebe, and Dieter Mersch The conference on the “Logic and Structure of the Computer Game” that took place on Friday, November 6th and Saturday, November 7th of 2009 at the House of Brandenburg-Prussian History in Potsdam was hosted by DIGAREC, the Digital Games Research Center of the University of Potsdam. It was the first conference to explicitly ad- dress the medial logic and structure of the computer game. It focused on the specific potential for mediation and on the unique form of mediation inherent in digital games. Computer games research has come a long way quickly; after ten years, the research community can already look back on an increas- ing number of conferences, volumes, research projects, and a lot of comparisons between digital games and cinema, literature, the- atre, and arts – nearly every artistic practice was taken into account. Within this period, one can look back not only on the (by now al- most classic) controversy between ludology and narratology, but also on several other approaches, for instance the discussion about the character of action and interaction, ethics in computer games, and the interrelationship between games and violence, the social impact of digital games. More recently, the interconnection between space and the visual or the role of the first person perspective, as it was discussed in analytical philosophy, and the question of the dispositive or empowerment, to name but a few, have been topics of discussion.. Some consequences may be drawn from this: Firstly, computer games are a complex issue which has to be analyzed from an in- terdisciplinary angle. This is why DIGAREC started with a combi- nation of different fields, including Media Studies, Psychology, Law, Art Processes, Design, Computer Science, and others. Secondly, the research of computer games leads not only to insights pertaining to 008 Introduction computer games as such; these insights have to be contextualized. This contextualization, including the position in the history of media and the arts, allows for new reflections on art and cinema, on popular culture and the role of games in culture in general. This in turn leads to new perspectives for cultural studies. Thirdly, the concepts of the medial, the intermedial and of mediality are salient. They are the main frame for all such different studies and their contextualization. The program of the conference was based on the inclusion of ex- istent, yet scattered approaches to develop a unique curriculum of game studies. In line with the concepts of ‘mediality’, ‘logic’, and ‘structure’ of the computer game, the notions of aesthetics, interactivity, software architecture, interface design, iconicity, spatiality, and rules are of special interest. Presentations were given by invited German scholars and were commented on by international respon- dents in a dialogical structure. The conference topic corresponded with the goals of the research project “The Mediality of the Computer Game”, funded by the German Research Foundation. In their paper on the “Logic and Structure of the Computer Game”, the members of the research project Stephan Günzel, Michael Liebe and Dieter Mersch (University of Potsdam) give an overview of the mathematics of decision logic in relation to games as well as on the construction of narration and characters. This includes specific limits of the use of decision logic pertaining to games in general and pertaining to storytelling in specific. Furthermore, the rule system as the medial unconsciousness is put into focus and remarks are made on the debate between ludology and narratology, which had to fail as it missed the crucial point: the computer game as a medium. As Julian Kücklich (Mediadesign University of Applied Science Berlin) demonstrates, game space can be conceived of as being structured by varying levels of ruledness, i.e. it oscillates between openness and closure, between playability and gameness. In “Seki – 009 Günzel et. al Ruledness and the Logical Structure of Game Space”, he analyzes how the movement through game space can be described as a vector defined by possibility spaces, which are generated organically out of the interplay between ruled and unruled space. The possibility of breaking the rules is always already inscribed in this vector of movement. Kücklich arrives at a formal description of game space which allows for analyzing the game space as a semiotic chain of unit op- erations. The ambiguity of play is understood as a result not of its unpredictability of exuberance, but of its inherent contextual logic. In his contribution “Logic as a Medium”, Martin Warnke (Leu- phana Universität Lüneburg) argues that computer games are ri gid in a peculiar way: the logic of computation was the first to shape the early games. The logic of interactivity then marked the action genre of games, while in massively multiplayer online gaming, all the contexts of the net confront us with just another type of logic. These logics are the media in which the specific forms of computer games evolve. The contribution of Daniel Cermak-Sassenrath (University of Bremen) proposes play as another possible perspective on commu- nication, simulation, interactive narrative and ubiquitous computing in human-computer interaction. In “The Logic of Play in Everyday Human-Computer Interaction”, he analyzes how everyday use of the computer increasingly show signs of similarity to play. This is discussed in respect to the playful character of interaction with the computer that has always been part of the exploratory learning process involved with new software and the often creative tasks that are undertaken when using the computer. These observations point to a sense of security, autonomy and freedom for the user which produce play and are, in turn, produced by play. This notion of play refers not to the playing of computer games, but to an implicit, abstract (or symbolic) process that is based on a certain attitude, the play spirit. 010 Introduction Michael Nitsche (Georgia Institute of Technology) understands “Games as Structures for Mediated Performances”. Games are per- formative and transform players into actors, game levels into virtual sets, and living rooms into cross-media stages. Applying concepts from Performance Study to video games opens up new perspectives on questions of game space, play, and game interfaces, among others. It also offers a useful theoretical background for Game Studies and game criticism. Drawing from early consoles as well as the most recent Augmented Reality examples, we can identify a shifting bor- der as games expand further into the physical space and re-stage the players in new ways. Accordingly, Nitsche traces some of these developments and draws Performance closer to Game Studies. Seen through the perspective of critical discourse theory, there is no specific knowledge of a specific game.

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