On Videogames: Representing Narrative in an Interactive Medium

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

On Videogames: Representing Narrative in an Interactive Medium September, 2015 On Videogames: Representing Narrative in an Interactive Medium. 'This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy' Dawn Catherine Hazel Stobbart, Ba (Hons) MA Dawn Stobbart 1 Plagiarism Statement This project was written by me and in my own words, except for quotations from published and unpublished sources which are clearly indicated and acknowledged as such. I am conscious that the incorporation of material from other works or a paraphrase of such material without acknowledgement will be treated as plagiarism, subject to the custom and usage of the subject, according to the University Regulations on Conduct of Examinations. (Name) Dawn Catherine Stobbart (Signature) Dawn Stobbart 2 This thesis is formatted using the Chicago referencing system. Where possible I have collected screenshots from videogames as part of my primary playing experience, and all images should be attributed to the game designers and publishers. Dawn Stobbart 3 Acknowledgements There are a number of people who have been instrumental in the production of this thesis, and without whom I would not have made it to the end. Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisor, Professor Kamilla Elliott, for her continuous and unwavering support of my Ph.D study and related research, for her patience, motivation, and commitment. Her guidance helped me throughout all the time I have been researching and writing of this thesis. When I have faltered, she has been steadfast in my ability. I could not have imagined a better advisor and mentor. I would not be working in English if it were not for the support of my Secondary school teacher Mrs Lishman, who gave me a love of the written word. This love was nurtured during my undergraduate degree by Dr. Stephen Longstaffe, who helped me turn it into something I can see myself doing for the rest of my life. Thank you both for showing me how wonderful literature really is! I would also like to thank my colleagues at Lancaster University, who accepted me as a peer, and widened my scope of academic study further than I thought was possible. Special thanks are given to my wife, Jane Peet. You gave me the confidence to begin, and have helped me believe, every time I began to think I could not do it. Without you, I would still be dreaming, not doing. I owe the genesis of this project to my father, James Stobbart, who shared his love of gaming, and did not mind that I hovered at his shoulder when he was playing. Special thanks are needed for my mother, who let me be me, no matter what I was doing. And finally, to my children Lyssa, Nevyn, and Anya. In you I see a tomorrow that shines brightly. The belief you have in me, and the support you have given me, is something I will treasure forever. Dawn Stobbart 4 Dawn Catherine Hazel Stobbart. Ba (Hons) MA On Videogames: Representing Narrative in an Interactive Medium 'This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy' September 2015 Abstract This thesis investigates the function of narrative in videogames, challenging views that games do not—and should not—have anything to do with narrative. It tests videogames against literary narrative theories and examines ways in which videogames have evolved beyond other narratives and narrative theories. The narrative vs. ludology debate among videogame scholars has, at its core, the question of whether narrative is possible in videogames. Ludologists, who prioritize videogames as games, argue that narrative is incompatible with play, both interrupting and interfering with it. My research suggests that videogames often render narrative and play symbiotic, even inseparable, as the act of playing reveals and produces videogame narrative. Other objections to videogame narrative include the argument that videogame narrative is less sophisticated than narrative forms in other media. My thesis demonstrates that some videogames contain narrative every bit as complex as those in literature and film, holding up to rigorous testing by complex narratological theories. It further shows that changes in videogame technology and design have brought about evolutions in narrative that are the result of playing rather than being at odds with it. As narrative has evolved in videogames beyond its manifestations in older media, narrative theories developed to account for older media prove to be inadequate to explicate videogame narratives. The introduction and first chapter of the thesis delineate these issues, theories, and debates. The remaining chapters probe how videogame narrative unfolds in specific areas, such as identity and identification, the navigation of narrative space, narrative agency and authority, consumer ethics, and concepts of death and genre. Finally, the thesis considers the endings of videogames and how death is presented and represented in this medium. My conclusion summarises my own work and suggests possibilities for future studies of videogame narratives. Dawn Stobbart 5 Contents Introduction10 Methodology, Materials, Limitations. ................................................................................. 17 Chapter Summaries .............................................................................................................. 22 Chapter 1: Definitions and Debates................................................................................................... 25 Definitions and Terminology ................................................................................................ 25 A Brief History of Videogames ............................................................................................ 32 A Brief History of Videogame Scholarship ......................................................................... 38 Play as Narrative Immersion ............................................................................................... 45 Ludonarrative Dissonance ................................................................................................... 50 Juul’s Rules: Videogames and Classic Game Theory ........................................................ 51 Aristotle’s Rules: Videogames and Classical Narrative Theory ....................................... 58 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................. 60 Chapter 2: Narratology in Videogames—Assassin’s Creed 2 ......................................................... 61 Genette’s Narratological Levels and Videogame Levels ................................................... 62 Beyond Classical Narratology: Ludology and Time in Videogames ................................ 70 Movement Across a Narrative: Temporality in Videogames ............................................ 74 Flash Back – Or Forward: Prolepsis and Analepsis in Videogame Narratives ............... 81 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................. 84 Chapter 3: Narratives of Space in Videogames ................................................................................ 85 Letters to Esther: Experimental Narrative Techniques in Dear Esther ........................... 97 Conclusion............................................................................................................................ 112 Chapter 4: Identification and Identity in Videogames .................................................................. 114 Focalisation .......................................................................................................................... 118 Perspective ........................................................................................................................... 124 Third-person Perspective ......................................................................................................... 125 Second-person Perspective ....................................................................................................... 131 First-person Perspective ........................................................................................................... 135 Decentred Point Of View .................................................................................................... 141 Evolution: The Decentred View in Lara Croft, the Novel, Film, and Videogame Franchise .............................................................................................................................. 143 Identification, Replay, Avatars, and Authorship ............................................................. 148 Part 2: .................................................................................................................................................. 157 Gaming and Narrative Ideology .......................................................................................................... 157 Dawn Stobbart 6 Chapter 5: Ideology, Identity Politics, and Identification ............................................................. 158 Gendered Identity and Identification ................................................................................ 163 Birth and Rebirth – Maternality in Tomb Raider............................................................. 169 Sexual Identity and Identification in Videogames ........................................................... 173 Identity Politics and Identification in Videogames
Recommended publications
  • Balance Sheet Also Improves the Company’S Already Strong Position When Negotiating Publishing Contracts
    Remedy Entertainment Extensive report 4/2021 Atte Riikola +358 44 593 4500 [email protected] Inderes Corporate customer This report is a summary translation of the report “Kasvupelissä on vielä monta tasoa pelattavana” published on 04/08/2021 at 07:42 Remedy Extensive report 04/08/2021 at 07:40 Recommendation Several playable levels in the growth game R isk Accumulate Buy We reiterate our Accumulate recommendation and EUR 50.0 target price for Remedy. In 2019-2020, Remedy’s (previous Accumulate) strategy moved to a growth stage thanks to a successful ramp-up of a multi-project model and the Control game Accumulate launch, and in the new 2021-2025 strategy period the company plans to accelerate. Thanks to a multi-project model EUR 50.00 Reduce that has been built with controlled risks and is well-managed, as well as a strong financial position, Remedy’s (previous EUR 50.00) Sell preconditions for developing successful games are good. In addition, favorable market trends help the company grow Share price: Recommendation into a clearly larger game studio than currently over this decade. Due to the strongly progressing growth story we play 43.75 the long game when it comes to share valuation. High Low Video game company for a long-term portfolio Today, Remedy is a purebred profitable growth company. In 2017-2018, the company built the basis for its strategy and the successful ramp-up of the multi-project model has been visible in numbers since 2019 as strong earnings growth. In Key indicators 2020, Remedy’s revenue grew by 30% to EUR 41.1 million and the EBIT margin was 32%.
    [Show full text]
  • Theescapist 055.Pdf
    in line and everything will be just fine. two articles I fired up Noctis to see the Which, frankly, is about how many of us insanity for myself. That is the loneliest think to this day. With the exception of a game I’ve ever played. For those of you who fell asleep during very brave few. the classical mythology portion of your In response to “Development in a - Danjo Olivaw higher education, the stories all go like In this issue of The Escapist, we take a Vacuum” from The Escapist Forum: this: Some guy decides he no longer look at the stories of a few, brave souls As for the fact that thier isolation has In response to “Footprints in needs the gods, sets off to prove as in the game industry who, for better or been a benefit to them rather than a Moondust” from The Escapist Forum: much and promptly gets smacked down. worse, decided that they, too, were hindrance, that’s what I discussed with I’d just like to say this was a fantastic destined to make their dreams a reality. Oveur (Nathan Richardsson) while in article. I think I’ll have to read Olaf Prometheus, Sisyphus, Icarus, Odysseus, Some actually succeeded, while others Vegas earlier this year at the EVE the stories are full of men who, for crashed and burned. We in the game Gathering. The fact that Iceland is such whatever reason, believed that they industry may not have jealous, angry small country, with a very unique culture were not bound by the normal gods against which to struggle, but and the fact that most of the early CCP constraints of mortality.
    [Show full text]
  • Redeye-Gaming-Guide-2020.Pdf
    REDEYE GAMING GUIDE 2020 GAMING GUIDE 2020 Senior REDEYE Redeye is the next generation equity research and investment banking company, specialized in life science and technology. We are the leading providers of corporate broking and corporate finance in these sectors. Our clients are innovative growth companies in the nordics and we use a unique rating model built on a value based investment philosophy. Redeye was founded 1999 in Stockholm and is regulated by the swedish financial authority (finansinspektionen). THE GAMING TEAM Johan Ekström Tomas Otterbeck Kristoffer Lindström Jonas Amnesten Head of Digital Senior Analyst Senior Analyst Analyst Entertainment Johan has a MSc in finance Tomas Otterbeck gained a Kristoffer Lindström has both Jonas Amnesten is an equity from Stockholm School of Master’s degree in Business a BSc and an MSc in Finance. analyst within Redeye’s tech- Economic and has studied and Economics at Stockholm He has previously worked as a nology team, with focus on e-commerce and marketing University. He also studied financial advisor, stockbroker the online gambling industry. at MBA Haas School of Busi- Computing and Systems and equity analyst at Swed- He holds a Master’s degree ness, University of California, Science at the KTH Royal bank. Kristoffer started to in Finance from Stockholm Berkeley. Johan has worked Institute of Technology. work for Redeye in early 2014, University, School of Business. as analyst and portfolio Tomas was previously respon- and today works as an equity He has more than 6 years’ manager at Swedbank Robur, sible for Redeye’s website for analyst covering companies experience from the online equity PM at Alfa Bank and six years, during which time in the tech sector with a focus gambling industry, working Gazprombank in Moscow he developed its blog and on the Gaming and Gambling in both Sweden and Malta as and as hedge fund PM at community and was editor industry.
    [Show full text]
  • Lighting the Way
    Remedy Entertainment Lighting the way. www.remedygames.com Autodesk® 3ds Max® Remedy Entertainment uses Autodesk® Autodesk® MotionBuilder® Autodesk® Mudbox™ software and workflow to help guide Alan Wake from darkness to light. We needed a faster way to process all our animations, so we built a one-click solution using MAXScript. It’s just so easy to write our own utilities in 3ds Max with MAXScript. You can more easily do things you simply cannot do in other software packages. —Henrik Enqvist Animation Programmer Remedy Entertainment Alan Wake. Image courtesy of Remedy Entertainment Ltd. Summary We made our lead character an everyday writer, and The poet John Milton once wrote that “long is the way, we tried to tap into basic human psychology about and hard, that out of darkness leads up to light.” Centuries darkness and light.” later, that sentiment seems equally appropriate when referring to Alan Wake, the latest video-game offering Overcoming Challenges from Finland-based Remedy Entertainment and “The biggest challenge we faced was creating a published by Microsoft Game Studios. Building on its compelling and believable story,” says Kai Auvinen, successful creation of both Max Payne and Max Payne 2: art team manager at Remedy. “Creating a fully realistic, The Fall of Max Payne, the Remedy team upped their dynamic environment was crucial to establishing the Autodesk ante on Alan Wake, using a combination of right mood, tone, and overall feel. While a typical Autodesk® 3ds Max®, Autodesk® MotionBuilder®, feature film might have a single story arc running and Autodesk® Mudbox™ software. through its couple of hours, a video game like Alan Wake needs to establish multiple storylines and Billed as a “psychological action thriller,” Alan Wake dramatic outcomes over what amounts to about 20 is definitely not your typical video game.
    [Show full text]
  • The Poetics of Reflection in Digital Games
    © Copyright 2019 Terrence E. Schenold The Poetics of Reflection in Digital Games Terrence E. Schenold A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Washington 2019 Reading Committee: Brian M. Reed, Chair Leroy F. Searle Phillip S. Thurtle Program Authorized to Offer Degree: English University of Washington Abstract The Poetics of Reflection in Digital Games Terrence E. Schenold Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Brian Reed, Professor English The Poetics of Reflection in Digital Games explores the complex relationship between digital games and the activity of reflection in the context of the contemporary media ecology. The general aim of the project is to create a critical perspective on digital games that recovers aesthetic concerns for game studies, thereby enabling new discussions of their significance as mediations of thought and perception. The arguments advanced about digital games draw on philosophical aesthetics, media theory, and game studies to develop a critical perspective on gameplay as an aesthetic experience, enabling analysis of how particular games strategically educe and organize reflective modes of thought and perception by design, and do so for the purposes of generating meaning and supporting expressive or artistic goals beyond amusement. The project also provides critical discussion of two important contexts relevant to understanding the significance of this poetic strategy in the field of digital games: the dynamics of the contemporary media ecology, and the technological and cultural forces informing game design thinking in the ludic century. The project begins with a critique of limiting conceptions of gameplay in game studies grounded in a close reading of Bethesda's Morrowind, arguing for a new a "phaneroscopical perspective" that accounts for the significance of a "noematic" layer in the gameplay experience that accounts for dynamics of player reflection on diegetic information and its integral relation to ergodic activity.
    [Show full text]
  • The Development and Validation of the Game User Experience Satisfaction Scale (Guess)
    THE DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF THE GAME USER EXPERIENCE SATISFACTION SCALE (GUESS) A Dissertation by Mikki Hoang Phan Master of Arts, Wichita State University, 2012 Bachelor of Arts, Wichita State University, 2008 Submitted to the Department of Psychology and the faculty of the Graduate School of Wichita State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2015 © Copyright 2015 by Mikki Phan All Rights Reserved THE DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF THE GAME USER EXPERIENCE SATISFACTION SCALE (GUESS) The following faculty members have examined the final copy of this dissertation for form and content, and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy with a major in Psychology. _____________________________________ Barbara S. Chaparro, Committee Chair _____________________________________ Joseph Keebler, Committee Member _____________________________________ Jibo He, Committee Member _____________________________________ Darwin Dorr, Committee Member _____________________________________ Jodie Hertzog, Committee Member Accepted for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences _____________________________________ Ronald Matson, Dean Accepted for the Graduate School _____________________________________ Abu S. Masud, Interim Dean iii DEDICATION To my parents for their love and support, and all that they have sacrificed so that my siblings and I can have a better future iv Video games open worlds. — Jon-Paul Dyson v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Althea Gibson once said, “No matter what accomplishments you make, somebody helped you.” Thus, completing this long and winding Ph.D. journey would not have been possible without a village of support and help. While words could not adequately sum up how thankful I am, I would like to start off by thanking my dissertation chair and advisor, Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Dying Light Two Release Date
    Dying Light Two Release Date Berke is decrescendo and bespread communally while justificatory Kareem enwreathes and swashes. Jumbo and elaborated Daryle superpraise: which Glynn is uneclipsed enough? Christian uncrates unchangingly as busy Kent damn her spindling antagonizes Socratically. The game relevant affiliate commission Shows the Silver Award. The value does not respect de correct syntax. Sondej wrote on Twitter that the game is still in the works and that any statements about a Microsoft acquisition are false. The Bozak Horde is the new DLC that opens up a new challenge arena in The Stadium. They just might save your hide. This theme park, once a bustling, lively district, now sits in ruins, the oversized Octopus attraction mirroring the famous Ferris wheel in Pripyat, near Chernobyl. This free community and resources that being one x enhanced edition was in dying light two release date has an account. Techland has announced that the launch of the sequel zombie survival video game has been delayed and no new release date has been set. You can see a list of supported browsers in our Help Center. The biggest subreddit for leaks and rumours in the gaming community, for all games across all systems. Techland assures that new info will be shared in the new year. Call of Duty League season. If there was no matching functions, do not try to downgrade. View the discussion thread. Electrified weaponry makes you the life of the party. This item can bet fans around you, if email or purchase them for dying light two release date checks out of our algorithm integrated with it has been.
    [Show full text]
  • Download As a PDF and Also Offered It for Sale As a Print-On-Demand Book (Daly 2015)
    humanities Editorial Further Reading Nick Montfort Comparative Media Studies/Writing, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; [email protected] Received: 7 March 2018; Accepted: 8 March 2018; Published: 9 March 2018 Keywords: interactive fiction; Twitter bots; computer-generated novels; performance It is clear that the contributions in this volume are not only insightful, but also wide-ranging, reaching into popular culture and across different media forms and practices. Rather than directly comment on this writing further, though, I offered to supplement the topics of these essays by pointing to a few additional categories of computational, poetic production that seem rich but relatively overlooked. Interactive Fiction Over the past 40 years, interactive fiction has occupied several different places in computing and in culture. When the first widely-released version of Adventure by Will Crowther and Don Woods became available to users of time-sharing systems in 1976, it hit them like a wrecking ball. Legends tell that productivity ceased for days, or weeks, while those who were supposed to be programming explored the simulated cave system. Then people in the US and UK went on to program their own Adventure-like games, or, simply, adventure games. Zork was a successful and memorable one, originally created at MIT by Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Dave Lebling and Bruce Daniels and then made into a trilogy of home-computer games by Blank and Lebling. Interactive fiction was a pillar of the emerging entertainment software industry—videogames, or to be more specific, computer games. In the 1980s “interactive fiction” (or “IF”) was more widely used a term for this type of production, or “text adventure” if one wanted to distinguish the graphical adventure.
    [Show full text]
  • THIS WEEK ...We Focus on Some More Titles That Have Made an Impression on Eurogamer Readers, and Reveal Why
    Brought to you by Every week: The UK games market in less than ten minutes Issue 6: 14th - 20th July WELCOME ...to GamesRetail.biz, your weekly look at the key analysis, news and data sources for the retail sector, brought to you by GamesIndustry.biz and Eurogamer.net. THIS WEEK ...we focus on some more titles that have made an impression on Eurogamer readers, and reveal why. Plus - the highlights of an interview with Tony Hawk developer Robomodo, the latest news, charts, Eurogamer reader data, price comparisons, release dates, jobs and more! Popularity of Age of Conan - Hyborian Adventures in 2009 B AGE OF CONAN VS WII SPORTS RESORT #1 A This week we look at the Eurogamer buzz performance around two key products since the beginning of 2009. First up is the MMO Age of #10 Conan - a game which launched to great fanfare this time last year, but subsequently suffered from a lack of polish and endgame content. #100 Eurogamer.net Popularity (Ranked) Recently the developer, Funcom, attempted to reignite interest in the game by marketing the changes made in the build-up to its first anniversary - point A notes a big feature and #1000 Jul free trial key launch, while point B shows the Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jan '09 Age of Conan - Hyborian Adventures re-review which put the game right at the top of the pile earlier this month - whether that interest can be converted into subs is a different question, but the team has given itself a good Popularity of Wii Sports Resort in 2009 chance at least.
    [Show full text]
  • UPC Platform Publisher Title Price Available 730865001347
    UPC Platform Publisher Title Price Available 730865001347 PlayStation 3 Atlus 3D Dot Game Heroes PS3 $16.00 52 722674110402 PlayStation 3 Namco Bandai Ace Combat: Assault Horizon PS3 $21.00 2 Other 853490002678 PlayStation 3 Air Conflicts: Secret Wars PS3 $14.00 37 Publishers 014633098587 PlayStation 3 Electronic Arts Alice: Madness Returns PS3 $16.50 60 Aliens Colonial Marines 010086690682 PlayStation 3 Sega $47.50 100+ (Portuguese) PS3 Aliens Colonial Marines (Spanish) 010086690675 PlayStation 3 Sega $47.50 100+ PS3 Aliens Colonial Marines Collector's 010086690637 PlayStation 3 Sega $76.00 9 Edition PS3 010086690170 PlayStation 3 Sega Aliens Colonial Marines PS3 $50.00 92 010086690194 PlayStation 3 Sega Alpha Protocol PS3 $14.00 14 047875843479 PlayStation 3 Activision Amazing Spider-Man PS3 $39.00 100+ 010086690545 PlayStation 3 Sega Anarchy Reigns PS3 $24.00 100+ 722674110525 PlayStation 3 Namco Bandai Armored Core V PS3 $23.00 100+ 014633157147 PlayStation 3 Electronic Arts Army of Two: The 40th Day PS3 $16.00 61 008888345343 PlayStation 3 Ubisoft Assassin's Creed II PS3 $15.00 100+ Assassin's Creed III Limited Edition 008888397717 PlayStation 3 Ubisoft $116.00 4 PS3 008888347231 PlayStation 3 Ubisoft Assassin's Creed III PS3 $47.50 100+ 008888343394 PlayStation 3 Ubisoft Assassin's Creed PS3 $14.00 100+ 008888346258 PlayStation 3 Ubisoft Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood PS3 $16.00 100+ 008888356844 PlayStation 3 Ubisoft Assassin's Creed: Revelations PS3 $22.50 100+ 013388340446 PlayStation 3 Capcom Asura's Wrath PS3 $16.00 55 008888345435
    [Show full text]
  • Bioshock 2 Game
    WARNING Before playing this game, read the Xbox 360 B I O S H O C K 2 accessory manuals for important safety and health information.® Keep console all manualsand for future reference. For replacement console and accessory manuals, go to CONTENTS www.xbox.com/support. Xbox LIVE 2 Main Menu 2 Important Health Warning About Playing Video Games Photosensitive seizures SINGLE PLAYER GAME A very small percentage of people may experience a seizure when exposed to certain visual images, including flashing lights or patterns that may appear in video games. Rapture’s Nightmare 3 Even people who have no history of seizures or epilepsy may have an undiagnosed Story 3 condition that can cause these “photosensitive epileptic seizures” while watching video games. Controls 4 Little Sisters 5 These seizures may have a variety of symptoms, including lightheadedness, altered vision, eye or face twitching, jerking or shaking of arms or legs, disorientation, HUD 6 confusion, or momentary loss of awareness. Seizures may also cause loss of Weapons & Plasmids 7 consciousness or convulsions that can lead to injury from falling down or striking nearby objects. Gene Tonics . 9 Immediately stop playing and consult a doctor if you experience any of these Finding Items . 9 symptoms. Parents should watch for or ask their children about the above symptoms— Threats 10 children and teenagers are more likely than adults to experience these seizures. The risk Devices & Machines . .12 of photosensitive epileptic seizures may be reduced by taking the following precautions: Sit farther from the screen; use a smaller screen; play in a well-lit room; do not play Hacking 14 when you are drowsy or fatigued.
    [Show full text]
  • WITH OUR DEMONS a Thesis Submitted By
    1 MONSTROSITIES MADE IN THE INTERFACE: THE IDEOLOGICAL RAMIFICATIONS OF ‘PLAYING’ WITH OUR DEMONS A Thesis submitted by Jesse J Warren, BLM Student ID: u1060927 For the award of Master of Arts (Humanities and Communication) 2020 Thesis Certification Page This thesis is entirely the work of Jesse Warren except where otherwise acknowledged. This work is original and has not previously been submitted for any other award, except where acknowledged. Signed by the candidate: __________________________________________________________________ Principal Supervisor: _________________________________________________________________ Abstract Using procedural rhetoric to critique the role of the monster in survival horror video games, this dissertation will discuss the potential for such monsters to embody ideological antagonism in the ‘game’ world which is symptomatic of the desire to simulate the ideological antagonism existing in the ‘real’ world. Survival video games explore ideology by offering a space in which to fantasise about society's fears and desires in which the sum of all fears and object of greatest desire (the monster) is so terrifying as it embodies everything 'other' than acceptable, enculturated social and political behaviour. Video games rely on ideology to create believable game worlds as well as simulate believable behaviours, and in the case of survival horror video games, to simulate fear. This dissertation will critique how the games Alien:Isolation, Until Dawn, and The Walking Dead Season 1 construct and themselves critique representations of the ‘real’ world, specifically the way these games position the player to see the monster as an embodiment of everything wrong and evil in life - everything 'other' than an ideal, peaceful existence, and challenge the player to recognise that the very actions required to combat or survive this force potentially serve as both extensions of existing cultural ideology and harbingers of ideological resistance across two worlds – the ‘real’ and the ‘game’.
    [Show full text]