投稿類別：英文寫作類
篇名： The Success of “Detention” and People was just a Pawn Under “The White Terror”
作者： 周韶奕。市立台中家商。應用外語科三年1班 曾奕菁。市立台中家商。應用外語科三年1班
指導老師： 李偉綾老師
The Success of “Detention” and People was just a Pawn Under “The White Terror”
I. Introduction
I.1 Motivation
Video games are an indispensable part of a lot of modern people’s lives. We can decrease the frown and beat fatigue that have been accumulated for a whole day by playing them, and they are even a kind of industry whose economic value is growing rapidly. There is a wide variety of gaming genres such as Kuso, Music, Strategy, Adventure, Role-playing, Horror, and so forth in this industry. Each game has its own exclusive charms and markets. Video games not only help players kill their boring time but provide gaming production teams an opportunity to be creative. Therefore, under the concern that the time that gaming industries are taking the lead is rather limited and have a high rate of being knocked down, how to make their game hold a small portion of the gaming industry is the most important issue that should be noticed by gaming production teams. We have had strong interests since we learned “Detention” was going to be launched by Red Candle Company. We immediately searched and watched videos that were about some gaming YouTubers playing it. Thus, we were attracted to Red Candle Company’s excellent work and wanted to probe into the details of the White Terror and the motivation why they decided to create the game which is a little sensitive after we knew the plot of this game and the information it provided. In this way, we can shed some light on how the Taiwanese gaming production industry can stand out in the keen market.
I.2 Research Questions 1. What are the characteristics of Detention? 2. What are the key factors in leading to its success? 3. What are the issues that Detention attempt to explore in the White Terror period?
I.3 Research Procedure
II. Body
II.1 Introduction
1 The Success of “Detention” and People was just a Pawn Under “The White Terror”
II.1.1 Red Candle Company
"Red candle" is a Company Limited that consists of six males who are passionate about playing games. So far they have made two games which have much to do with Taiwanese cultures, such as their first game 《Detention》, whose background focused on the histories of Taiwan. 《Devotion》, the second game of Red Candle Company, also creates the horror that is the closest to our life with a great deal of Taiwanese local cultures. RED CANDLE GAMES CO., LTD., whose original name is Overlooker studio, was founded in September, 2015. The company is composed of Shun Ting Yao, Guang Han Wang, Han Yu Wang, Dong Yu Jiang, Jing Heng Chen and Shi Wei Yang. Detention and Devotion were both released in 2017, and respectively on January thirteenth and February nineteenth. Both two games became a great sensation after being released. (Wikipedia,2020)
II.1.2 Detention
II.1.2.1 Origin
The literal meaning of Detention is "Returning to school", and it's a 2D atmospheric horror side-scroller puzzle game, which combines with various Taiwanese cultures about religion. This game was inspired by George Orwell, who is a British composer. Shun Ting Yao wanted to create "1984" in Taiwanese version in 2013 and he created the first edition "Devil" immediately. Soon after this, the other five founders became members of the Red Candle Company and together started to create "Detention". In contrast to the trend of global marketing strategy, the content of Detention is designed according to Taiwan local elements. Its historical setting is the Taiwan White Terror period under martial law and political oppression of 1960-1980s (Chen Ling-Hui, 2019). "We want to create a game like "1984" in Taiwanese version and about dystopia, but we also want to strengthen the game's connection with Taiwan. The basic element is that there are several victims, or there are some unfair events that occurred that lead to compilation.'' (Shun Ting Yao, 2017) The core of Detention is simple and clear, that is, freedom (CommonWealth Magazine, 2017).
II.1.2.2 Characters
Detention narrates some nobodies’ sadness at that time with limited angles of the game. The background was set in 1960, which Taiwan was under the White Terror Period. It used a great deal of Taiwanese local beliefs and cultures, such as Cheng Huang Temple, Black and White Variable, Mengpo’s soup, fortune poems, incense burners, dices, funeral offerings, Tatung Automatic Cooker, Bagua combination locks, Figure 1.
2 The Success of “Detention” and People was just a Pawn Under “The White Terror” puppetry, four Chinese ghosts called lingered, and so forth. The localized features are one of the reasons that attracts the attention of the public. They were also making good use of "Teng Yu-hsien's creative ballads, Longing for the Spring Breeze, Rainy Night Flower, Blushing the Year Round and Sorrow on a Moonlit Night"(Yi-Jie Haung, 2018), which were banned under the Post-Martial Law Period respectively reflected changes of female lead’s mood in different phases. Also, they created an awful and serious atmosphere by using suona horns and Si-So-Mi in Taiwanese traditional funeral musics, and used the slogan, “Reporting spies is everyone's responsibility, please inform government immediately if you find any suspect, “ as well as “Whistle-blower” make Detention truer. In this way, players can personally experience the situation and realize the implication behind the stories of detention.
II.1.2.3 Summary
Fang, whose academic performances were excellent and future was very bright, bored in a functionary family. After she underwent her parents’ disharmony, she made great regress in her studies and her emotion turned into extremely unstable. At the same time, Yin Tsui-han (the following will be abbreviated to Yin) who was a music teacher of Greenwood High School introduced Fang to Chang Ming-hui (the following will be abbreviated to Chang) who was an art teacher as well as Figure 2. teacher-counselor. After counseling again and again, Chang and Fang developed affection. However, Chang couldn’t help but break up with Fang because of Yin’s caution about their relationship and his position as one of the illegal study circle’s organizers. Unexpectedly, Fang thought that Yin also adored Chang so she wanted to break up with them. What's worse, Fang's father was sent to jail due to her mother's denouncement. Fang felt resentment at lots of frustrations. Therefore, she borrowed lists of banned books from a junior student, Wei, who also took part in the study circle and adored her, by cheating that she actually Figure 3. was interested in reading banned books as well. Afterwards, she headed over lists of banned books to a military instructor, who got along well with her father. In addition to saving her father, she hoped her romantic rival, Yin, would be fired by the school by her denouncement. To her unexpected, her behavior led to the death of all the numbers of the study circle. To her much more unexpected, Chang was one of the study circle organizers, and he must be executed as the study circle was denounced. Although making such a severe mistake, Fang received great praise from the authorities concerned owing to the current political situation. A sense of guilt appeared in Fang’s mind, and it was getting heavier and heavier. Hence, her spirit couldn’t reincarnate and just could be wrapped in the Greenwood High School again and again after she jumped out of the window. The one and only solution to escape from the
3 The Success of “Detention” and People was just a Pawn Under “The White Terror”
situation was to face her own mistake, save survivors, and remember everything that is difficult to gain.
II.2 Achievements of Detention
Table 1. Milestones from 2014 to 2020 ● March: Devil was released. 2014 ● July: Devil was changed into 2D and renamed Detention. 2015 ● January ○ eighth: Wang brothers’ first time saw the original version of Detention. ● May ○ nineteenth: The Overlooker Studio setted up Detention's fan page on Facebook. ● July ○ twenty-fifth: The Overlooker Studio took part in "Game On Weekend in Taipei" held by Bahamut. ● September ○ tenth: The Overlooker studio formerly named Red Candle Company and set background in the 1960s. 2016 ● January ○ twenty-eighth: The Red Candle Company displayed the PC version of Detention on Taipei Game Show. ● April ○ twenty-third: The Red Candle Company provided the demo of Detention for home and foreign streamers. ● May ○ thirtieth: The Red Candle Company released the demo of Detention on publication. ● June ○ first: The Red Candle Company gained the selling platform Greanlight of Steam. ● July ○ thirtieth: The Red Candle Company displayed Detention on IndiePlay in Shanghai, China, and was nominated by Best Limited Company and Best Music Effect. 2017 ● January ○ thirteenth: Detention was formally released on Steam. ○ seventeenth: Detention won the top three of the Steam Game Chart. ○ nineteenth: Detention was displayed on TGS and won Best Design of Indie Game Award. ● May ○ sixteenth: Detention was displayed on Casual Connect in Singapore. ○ twenty-fourth: Detention was nominated by Best Narrative by BIG Festival. ● June ○ thirteenth: Displayed on E3 in the USA and was nominated by Best Advantage Game of IGN.
4 The Success of “Detention” and People was just a Pawn Under “The White Terror”
● September ○ twenty-first: Detention was displayed on the Tokyo Game Show. ● October ○ third: Detention was displayed on IndieCade in the USA and won the Journey Award. ○ twenty-seventh: Japanese version of Detention was released. ○ thirtieth: Detention was displayed on Indie. 2018 ● March ○ first: Detention was released on Nintendo Switch. ○ eleventh: Detention won the award of Fami. ○ seventeenth: Detention won the top three of Nintendo and wrote an article with Bloober Team. ● July ○ nineteenth: Korean version of Detention was released. 2019 ● September ○ sixth: Detention was released on IOS and Google Play. ○ twentieth: Detention was adapted into the movie and earned 260 million at the box office. ● December ○ third: Detention won Best Indie Games of 2019 of Google Play. 2020 ● February ○ twelfth: Detention was put into Harvard–Yenching Library. ● July ○ sixth: The reality experience exhibition of Detention was held by udnFunLife. ● December ○ fifth: Detention was adapted into a series. (Data source: The introduction of Detention's experience exhibition)
II.3 SWOT of Detention
Table 2. Strengths(S) Weaknesses(W)
1. The painting style is quite vivid 1. The players are not used to 2D and detailed. side-scroller screens. 2. The theme is unique and full of 2. The plot is too illusory so that it creativity. can’t strike a chord with 3. The audio effects are realistic; modern people. it’s easy to know what amazing 3. As for the puzzle games, its efforts they made! puzzles are too easy to solve. 4. There is a wonderful and 4. As for the horrible games, its
5 The Success of “Detention” and People was just a Pawn Under “The White Terror”
vicarious atmosphere. atmosphere isn’t scary enough. 5. It is filled with a lot of 5. The plot is so complicated that Taiwanese local customs and players can’t understand it by characteristics. playing it one time.
Opportunities(O) Threats(T)
1. Indie games have been noticed 1. The theme is too sensitive, so because of the prosperity of the conservatives can't accept and gaming industry. like it. 2. It encountered current events 2. The visibility of the team is too about patriotism such as low. protests in Hong Kong. 3. Because it is a real issue, it’s 3. Its main group (youngsters) has a easy to perceive if there were sense of belonging. some mistakes about history. 4. The rise of issues about human 4. The players of horrible games rights make the White Terror are less than normal games. period noticed again. 5. It is easy to be eliminated due 5. The theme is special; it not only to the fast-paced changes of draws many players but makes games. foreign people realize more about Taiwanese history. By doing so, Taiwan’s visibility would be enhanced.
(Data source: Compiled by the group members)
II.4 Questionnaire Analysis
The survey of the questionnaire is based on 268 participants who replied to our questionnaire via Google form. All of the 268 valid questionnaires and 0 invalid questionnaires, which were collected from August, 12 to September, 9. The questionnaire is designed to collect participants’ viewpoints of Detention..
6 The Success of “Detention” and People was just a Pawn Under “The White Terror”
According to Figure 4, we can learn the percentage of the age under 18 is higher than other age groups and the second highest age group is 19-25. We inferred that Detention easily attracts youngsters.
Figure 5.
In figure 5, we can see that most of the participants knew Detention and were attracted to it and even 34% of the participants not only knew it but also understood its details. Just 6% of the participants totally didn't know what Detention was. Above the data, we can know that Detention is a household name and gains wide popularity.
Figure 6.
From the bar chart, we can know that 72.5% of the participants knew Detention through Internet media and this is the most common way. Other two ways are through gaming platforms and streamers, and they respectively account for 50% and 61.4%. Furthermore, 28.7% of participants noticed Detention via news media and Detention seized 25.1% of their attention.
7 The Success of “Detention” and People was just a Pawn Under “The White Terror”
Figure 7.
Based on the bar chart, it can be seen that most people thought Detention’s theme is unique and the local elements make players approachable. Additionally, its vicarious atmosphere makes players personally experience the situation.
Figure 8.
As this bar chart presented, most participants thought puzzles in Detention are too simple, and some of them considered its plot too complicated. However, a great number of them regarded Detention as an excellent game so it leaves nothing to be desired.
Figure 9.
8 The Success of “Detention” and People was just a Pawn Under “The White Terror”
The bar chart shows that most participants have fundamental recognition. There are just 6.3% of participants who don't know much about it. It indicates that young people are not only willing to face the previous sorrow but interested in the White Terror period.
The pie chart is about the viewpoints of participants for the cruel history. There were some participants who agreed with the blue part that even though there were actually some people who were too extreme, the government still cannot take this policy for granted, and it accounted for 57%. The red part is that the Figure 10. citizens were so pitiful and the government was very abominable, which accounted for 33.3%. The perspective of the orange part is that although citizens were pitiful, the government had no choice but to perform the policy, and it accounted for 7.7%. Moreover, 1.5% of people chose the green part which means that those who were punished asked for it. Judging from the above data, we can learn that most participants thought the government's behavior is unreasonable and vile. Some of them even protect against the government's cruelty. Therefore, they wanted to do their best to resist the government although they couldn’t be too obvious.
III. Conclusion As data mentioned previously, we can see that the reason why Detention gained such great success is that Red Candle Company has excellent expression in not only gaming creation but also marketing strategies. The team assembled experts from various fields to exert professional job assignments such as sound effects, graphic design, level design, and rising action. They also positively seized every opportunity that they could take part in the gaming exhibition. They even dealt with a great number of streamers. With the publicity of a variety of social Medias, Detention revealed it's talent in various games successfully. Furthermore, Detention added many representative elements of Taiwanese local cultures such as iron-sheet houses, school buildings, the hall, altar, and so forth. They not only made good use of the subject matter that few people used to create the buzz but drew a lot of domestic and foreign players’ attention. The domestic players’ hearts were filled with senses of affability and immersion; they can also know more histories about Taiwan, which is the place they grew up. The foreign players can easily solve puzzles by clear clues even though they are strange to Taiwanese histories and local customs. In this way, they can learn more about Taiwan. Undoubtedly, the success of Detention also radically improves Taiwan’s visibility in the international community.
9 The Success of “Detention” and People was just a Pawn Under “The White Terror”
In our questionnaire, we inferred that the main group of Detention is youngsters. The data also showed that nowadays young people have much more sense of belonging and recognize themselves as Taiwanese citizens. Thus, they are willing to understand the history of Taiwan, which is their home. What’s more, people recently are brave in having the courage to speak out loud for their rights because of the rise of anti-communism. Most people in questionnaires mentioned that they would do their best and leave no means untried to protect freedom and democracy even if they are born in the White Terror period. though they might not be too radical. Born in such a peaceful period, the horror and cruelty of the White Terror period is an extremely vague memory for most modern people and even several units of historic textbooks. However, this common and democratic life is in exchange for hundreds and thousands of ancestors’ blood and tears. In addition to the gratitude for them, we should not only forget the truth but also treat the pain of histories with an objective and rational angle. Last but not least, we should think of these events as former lessons, and remind ourselves to prevent histories from repeating themselves.
IV. Reference:
1. 維基百科。2020年9月17日 取自 https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B5%A4%E7%87%AD%E9%81%8A%E6% 88%B2 2. Chen Ling-Hui(2019)。Localization of Taiwanese Games and Their Perspectives: JComparing the Representative Works of Korean Dramas on Life Issues, (1)。2020年9月18日 取自 http://gmj.manipal.edu/issues/december2019/localization-taiwanese-games-p erspectives.pdf 3. 天下雜誌(2017)。《返校》受夠文化輸入 他們用電玩反攻全世界。2020年9 月18日 取自 https://www.cw.com.tw/article/5085429?template=fashion&from_id=5097065& from_index=4&rec=i2i 4. 黃伊婕（2018）。The research of arrangements in Teng Yu-hsien's creative ballads－Longing for the Spring Breeze, Rainy Night Flower, Blushing the Year Round and Sorrow on a Moonlit Night for example. 國立臺北藝術大學音 樂學研究所: 碩士論文。
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