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Module 3 Media Perspectives through Computer Games

Staffan Björk Module 3 Learning Objectives

■ Describe digital and using academic game terms ■ Analyze how games are defined by technological affordances and constraints ■ Make use of and combine theoretical concepts of time, space, genre, aesthetics, fiction and gender Focuses for Module 3

■ Computer Games ■ Affect on gameplay and experience due to the medium used to mediate the game

■ Noticeable things not focused upon ■ Boundaries of games ■ Other uses of games and gameplay ■ Experimental game genres First: schedule change

■ Lecture moved from Monday to Friday ■ Since literature is presented in it Literature

■ Arsenault, Dominic and Audrey Larochelle. From Euclidian Space to Albertian Gaze: Traditions of Visual Representation in Games Beyond the Surface. Proceedings of DiGRA 2013: DeFragging Game Studies. 2014. http://www.digra.org/digital- library/publications/from-euclidean-space-to-albertian-gaze-traditions-of-visual- representation-in-games-beyond-the-surface/ ■ Gazzard, Alison. Unlocking the Gameworld: The Rewards of Space and Time in Videogames. Game Studies, Volume 11 Issue 1 2011. http://gamestudies.org/1101/articles/gazzard_alison ■ Linderoth, J. (2012). The Effort of Being in a Fictional World: Upkeyings and Laminated Frames in MMORPGs. Symbolic Interaction, 35(4), 474-492. ■ MacCallum-Stewart, Esther. “Take That, Bitches!” Refiguring Lara Croft in Feminist Game Narratives. Game Studies, Volume 14 Issue 2 2014. http://gamestudies.org/1402/articles/maccallumstewart ■ Nitsche, M. (2008). Combining Interaction and Narrative, chapter 5 in Spaces : Image, Play, and Structure in 3D Worlds, MIT Press, 2008. ProQuest Ebook Central. https://chalmers.instructure.com/files/738674 ■ Vella, Daniel. Modelling the Semiotic Structure of Game Characters. Proceedings of DiGRA 2014: the of Game . 2014. http://www.digra.org/digital-library/publications/modeling-the-semiotic-structure-of- game-characters/ Literature, optional extra material

■ Therrien, Carl. Inspecting Video Game Historiography Through Critical Lens: Etymology of the First Person Shooter Genre. Game Studies, Volume 15 Issue 2 2015. http://gamestudies.org/1502/articles/therrien

■ Netflix documentary series High Score about the history of digital games. https://www.netflix.com/title/81019087

■ SVT (Swedish National TV) documentary about Swedish tabletop roleplaying games (in Swedish, focus on influence on artists). https://www.svtplay.se/video/27863627/mot-andra-varldar

■ Atari Game Over (2014) Full Movie Documentary. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8XrM58qO0M Computer Games

History, features, and genres First Computer Game? Spacewar! - 1962

■ Stephen "Slug" Russell, MIT ■ DEC PDP-1 assembler in 1962 ■ Demonstrate the Type 30 Precision CRT Display ■ “It should demonstrate as many of the computer's resources as possible, and tax those resources to the limit; ■ Within a consistent framework, it should be interesting, which means every run should be different; ■ It should involve the onlooker in a pleasurable and active way -- in short, it should be a game.” Tennis for Two - 1958

■ William Higinbotham ■ Demonstrate system ■ Analog computer ■ Real-time game A.S. Douglas - 1952

■ Part of Ph.D. thesis in Human-Computer Interaction ■ Tic-Tac-Toe ■ Play by dialing numbers ■ Computer opponent

■ Emulator ■ http://www.dcs.warwick .ac.uk/~edsac/ Ralph Baer - 1951

■ Asked to the best television set in the world. ■ Built in several prototypes between 1966-1968 ■ Hand controller and light gun ■ Use of sensors ■ Magnavox signed an agreement in 1971 and the first video game system got released in May 1972: Odyssey Claude Shannon (1916-2001) Condon et al, 1940 Babbage’s Tic-Tac-Toe machine A slide about digital and analog

■ The first computer games were “analog” games ■ On digital computers, not analog computers ■ Except Shannon’s Hex playing computer ■ The early computer pioneers seem to have been quite interesting in games also ■ Underlying common features? ■ Separating “analog” and “digital” games is problematic ■ Enforces a media perspective ■ Belittles the early research on games ■ Von Neumann, Nash, etc. ■ Risks missing important threads in the history of game research ■ And other research fields as well Computer Space – 1970 Back to Spacewar

■ Nolan Bushnell decided to commercialize Spacewar ■ Stand-alone machine ■ Circuit board for Single- player version (Breakout) was developed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak… Nolan Bushell - 1972

■ Atari ■ syzygy ■ Pong ■ Arcade version, 1972 ■ TV-console, 1975 ■ Breakout ■ Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, 1974 ■ Difficulties getting bank loans due to them associating games with pinball machines and the mafia Pong vs. Pong?

■ In 1972, Magnavox sued Atari ■ Patents on electronic games & electronic ping- pong ■ Settled out of court ■ $700,000 paid-up license ■ Later, other companies had to pay royalties Coin-eaters

■ 1974 to 1975 ■ 57 games are released. ■ 1976 ■ 53 videogames by 15 companies ■ “First” controversy ■ Death Race 2000 Vector Graphics

■ Space Wars, 1977 ■ Cinematronics ■ pong clone maker ■ Speed Freak, 1977 ■ 3D Graphics Coin shortage

■ Taito, known for pachinko games ■ , 1978 ■ Levels? ■ Access Reward? Improvements & Variants

■ Atari Football, Atari, 1978 ■ Screen down ■ Asteroids, Atari, 1978 ■ Initials and High Score ■ Social Rewards ■ Galaxian, Namco, 1979 ■ 8-bit color ■ Stratovox, Taito, 1980 ■ Speech sound Platform Games

■ Pac-Man, Namco, 1981 ■ Moru Iwatani ■ Donkey Kong, , 1981 ■ ■ Introduced & Donkey Kong ■ Mario’s nose is 1 pixel large… Game Brains & Cartridges

■ Fairchild ■ Fairchild VES, 1976 ■ Atari VCS ■ Simple Hardware ■ No screen buffer

■ Third Party Developers ■ , 1979 ■ Sued by Atari Home Computers

■ Commodore ■ Commodore PET, 1977 ■ VIC 20, 1980 ■ , 1982 ■ Commodore , 1985 ■ Amiga 500, 1987 ■ Amiga 2000, 1987 ■ Sinclair ■ ZX80, 1980 ■ ZX81, 1981 ■ ZX Spectrum, 1982 ■ Etc., etc., etc. Crash of Arcade Games

■ Transition Cycles ■ 6-8 years ■ Atari Hubris ■ Oversupply ■ 50+ companies ■ Home Consoles ■ Lack of Faith ■ Video games fad ■ Exception exist ■ Paperboy, Atari, 1984 ■ Gauntlet, 1985 ■ First Co-Op Console Game? Online home consoles

■ , 2001 (Xbox Live 2002) ■ PlayStation, 1994 (Online functionality for PS2 in 2001)

■ Media centers ■ Achievements ■ Illusionary Rewards (Social Rewards) Contemporary computer and video game genres

(Apologies for lack of content re. RTS) Sport Games

■ Annual version ■ FIFA 200X, , 200X-1 ■ Madden NFL 200X, EA Sports, 200X- 1 ■ Tiger Woods PGA Tour, 200X-1

■ Tightly tied to real-world statistics ■ Volunteers collect

■ Knowledge of real world domain important aspect of game Racing

■ Grand Theft Auto 3, Rockstar Games, 2001

■ 3, Digital Illusions, 2003

■ Navigation essential gameplay part ■ Sustenance Rewards used to be important Platform Games

■ Bandicoot series ■ Sonic series ■ Mario series ■ (Metroid series)

■ Usually given as examples of good learnability (through Levels) ■ Navigation essential gameplay part Shigeru Miyamoto

■ Donkey Kong, 1981 ■ Super Mario Bros., 1985 ■ Super Mario 64, 1996 ■ : Ocarina of Time, 1998 ■ The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, 2000 ■ Pikmin, 2001 ■ Super Mario Sunshine, 2002

33/58 Strategy Games

■ Sprung from board games ■ Traditional Strategy ■ Civilization, 1990 ■ Civilization IV, 2006 ■ Grand Strategy Games ■ Europa Universalis ■ Heart of Irons ■ Real-time Strategy ■ Dune 2, 1992 ■ Age of Empires, 1997

■ Resource management essential gameplay part Sid Meier

■ Solo Fight, 1984 ■ Sid Meier’s Pirates!, 1987 ■ Railroad Tycoon, 1990 ■ Civilization, 1991 ■ Colonization, 1994 ■ Sid Meier’s Gettyburg!, 1997 ■ Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri, 1999 ■ Civilization IV, 2005

35/58 Computer RPGs

■ Grew out of RPGs

■ Dungeon, 1975 ■ series, 1981- ■ Elder Scrolls series, 1994- ■ series, 1997- ■ Baldur’s Gate series, 1998- ■ Dragon Age series, 2009-

■ Roguelikes… ■ Narratives, Controlling Groups Game Designer:

■ Akalabeth, 1979 ■ Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness, 1981 ■ Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress, 1982 ■ Ultima IV: of the , 1985 ■ , 1985 ■ Ogre, 1986 ■ Ultima VIII: Pagan, 1994 ■ , 1997 ■ City of Heroes, 2004 ■ City of Villians, 2005 ■ Tabula Rasa, 2007 ■ Suggested Reading ■ King, B. & Borland, J. Dungeons and Dreamers: The Rise of Computer Game Culture from Geek to Chic

37/58 Game Designer:

■ Toon, 1984 ■ , Ogre, Illuminati ■ AD&D, DM’s guide, 2nd ed., 1989 ■ GURPs, 3rd ed. 1992 ■ Send in the Clones (Paranoia), 1985 ■ Underworld: The Stygian Abyss, 1991 ■ Ultima VII, Part 2, Serpent Isle, 1993 ■ , 1994 ■ : The Dark Project, 1999 ■ , 2000 ■ , 2010

38/58 Game Designer: Ken Rolston

■ Paranoia, 1984 ■ The Lost Island of Castanamir (D&D), 1984 ■ River of Cradles (Runequest), 1992 ■ Paranoia, 5th ed., 1995 ■ Something Rotten in Kislev (WFRP), 1999 ■ Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, 2002 ■ Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, 2006

39/58 Adventure Games

■ Can be seen as simplified RPGs ■ Single-player games with one PCs ■ Emphasis on Puzzle Solving ■ Emphasis on Storytelling ■ Using and combining Items in Inventories ■ First examples text-based ■ Zork series, The hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, etc. – all developed by Infocom ■ Illocutionary Interfaces Roberta Williams

■ Graphical adventure genre ■ King’s Quest series ■ Phantasmagoria Jane Jensen

■ Worked on Police Quest games ■ Worked on Kings Quest games ■ Created the Gabriel Knight series First-Person Shooters

■ First person perspective in 3D environments ■ Fake 3D? ■ 2½ D ■ True 3D? ■ ■ 3D, 1992 ■ , 1993 ■ , 1996 ■ Themes sprung from role-playing games… ■ Valve Software ■ Half-,1998 (+ Counter-Strike) ■ ■ Halo, 2001 ■ Often most criticized ■ Graphical violence (Columbine) ■ Navigation and shooting essential gameplay part Game Designer:

■ , 1990 ■ , 1992 ■ Doom, 1993 ■ Quake, 1996 ■ Doom 3, 2005 ■ Suggested Reading ■ Kushner, D. Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture, Random House

44/58 Game Designer:

■ Scout Search, 1984 ■ Commander Keen, 1990 ■ Wolfenstein 3D, 1992 ■ Doom, 1993 ■ Heretic, 1994 ■ HeXen, 1995 ■ Quake, 1996 ■ , 2000 ■ Hyperspace Delivery Boy, 2001 ■ Area 51, 2005 ■ Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows, 2005

45/58 Game Designer: Sandy Petersen

■ Call of Cthulhu, 1981 ■ Runequest, 3rd ed., 1985 ■ Ghostbusters: A Frightfully Cheerful Roleplaying Game, 1986 ■ DOOM, 1993 ■ Hired 10 weeks before shipping, created 20 levels… ■ Quake, 1996 ■ Age of Empires: The Age of Kings, 1999 ■ Call of Cthulhu, 2004 ■ Cthulhu Wars, 2013 ■ Worked on ■ Civilization & Sid Meier’s Pirates!

46/58 Game Designer: Marc LeBlanc

■ Ultima Underworld II, 1993 ■ System Shock, 1994 ■ Thief, 1998

■ Suggested(?) Reading ■ Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics

47/58 FPS online

■ FPS usually support deathmatch modes

■ Examples of games dedicated to online play ■ Team Fortress Classic, 1999 ■ Counter-Strike, 1999 ■ , 2002

■ Gameplay as for FPS, plus team work and sometimes specialized roles Literature: From Euclidean Space to Albertian Gaze : Traditions of Visual Representation in Games Beyond the Surface

■ Connect ways space and gaze can be simulated with 2D games ■ Parallel projection, perspective, “isometric” ■ First-Person Views, Third-Person Views ■ Can be seen as problematizing what is a 2D games compared to a 3D game Literature: “Take That, Bitches!” Refiguring Lara Croft in Feminist Game Narratives

■ Representation of bodies and gender ■ How well covered by gameplay design patterns? ■ New ways of consuming games ■ Let’s plays, etc. ■ Extra-Game Activities Optional Literature: Inspecting Video Game Historiography Through Critical Lens: Etymology of the First-Person Shooter Genre

■ An etymology of the FPS genre ■ Can be seen as a description of how genre names emerges ■ Can also be seen how same games serve as exemplars of a feature (Wolfenstein 3D) ■ And once a name has been introduced older examples can typically be found Massively Multiplayer Online Games

■ Typically based upon role-playing games ■ Ultima Online, , 1997 ■ Everquest, Sony, 2000 ■ Puzzle Pirates, Three Rings, 2001 ■ Sims Online, Maxis, 2003 ■ , Blizzard Entertainment, 2004 ■

■ Gameplay typical team work and character development but extra-game aspects as socializing also important ■ Functional Roles – , DPS, buff, debuff Literature: The Effort of Being in a Fictional World: Upkeyings and Laminated Frames in MMORPGs

■ Example of ethnographical study ■ Social contracts in games ■ Roleplaying ■ Diegetic Communication ■ Storytelling ■ Player Constructed Worlds ■ Social Roles ■ Social Rewards Game Designer:

■ LegendMUD ■ Ultima Online, 1997 ■ Galaxies, 2003 ■ EverQuest II, 2004

■ Suggested Reading ■ Koster, R. A Theory of Fun for , 2004.

54/58 Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas (MOBAs)

■ Defense of the Ancients (), 2003 ■ League of Legends (LoL) ,2009 ■ , 2013 ■ Battlerite, 2017

■ Based on RTS ■ DotA <- Warcraft III

■ Team work, Combat ■ Functional Roles (?) – carry, support and ganker ■ XP and Leveling – RPGs? Mobile and tablet games

■ Platforms ■ Game’n’Watch, 1980 ■ Gameboy, 1989 ■ Gameboy Advance, 2001 ■ Nintendo DS, 2004 ■ PSP, late 2004 ■ PlayStation Vita, 2011 ■ SmartPhones ■ Iphone, 2007 (app store 2008) ■ Android, 2008 ■ Tablets ■ Android-based tablets, 2009 ■ iPad, 2010 ■ What’s the difference? Literature: Unlocking the Gameworld: The Rewards of Space and Time in Videogames

■ Connected rewards to time and space aspects of games ■ Illusionary Rewards, Social Rewards, Sustenance Rewards ■ Possible areas for consideration ■ Time – progression, continued playing ■ (narration) ■ Space – Exploration, Navigation Module 3: The Assignment

■ Deadline Friday 20201009 21:59 (Hand in through Canvas) ■ Not more than 3000 words ■ Pick two of the game you’ve had during this module – one console game and one PC-based game – and answer the following questions: ■ How does the technological affordances and constraints of the platform define the games? ■ What features of the games identify them as examples of specific genres? Are these features inherent to the games or external? ■ How is space and time constructed in the games? ■ How does the audiovisual design provide cues for interaction or help understand what is going on in the games? (Make use of concepts, give brief descriptions of the games, compare them) Places to find old games

■ PC & C64 Games ■ https://classicreload.com/ ■ https://classicreload.com/top ■ Arcade Games ■ https://archive.org/details/internetarcade A note on the literature

■ May not be focus on similar games as you have chosen ■ You are encouraged to find additional external sources ■ This will become more necessary for assignment 4 ■ Use supervision to discuss if the literature is an issue (and potentially get advice for other literature) Questions?