This week’s articles provided an excellent intro into the main idea of our class, video games as literature. Each article brought their own insight into the matter, providing very different ways into seeing how games are literature as well.
I began my list of reading with IGN’s article The Influence of Literature and Myth through Videogames by Douglass C. Perry. My thoughts on Perry’s article was completely like-minded, considering my favorite games are all influenced or based on some sort of mythology (Age of Mythology, God of War, Okami, and Fatal Frame) or literature (Hotel Dusk, Phoenix Wright, and Alice McGee’s Alice) I wasn’t that surprised from the article since I already knew of all the backgrounds of all the games I was interested in (because I like to play things I already know the background of such as old folktales, myths, cultures, symbolisms, etc ) . I also completely agreed with their opinion on the need of revolutionary games that leads more towards original narrative play than short thrills on game technology alone. Since we are running out of more and more original content to base games off of it is becoming increasingly obvious we need more revolutionary games willing to go out of the box and depict things we’ve either never seen before depicted in games or depict recycled ideas and stories in a more refreshing way.
Next I read Once Upon a Time by William Vitka, another article arguing how videogames were literature. Vitka’s take on the argument was by comparing other different forms of entertainment such as film and literature. Film and literature both have storylines/narrative and so do games (as well as many of forms of entertainment like music, art). The only difference was how they told that story. Each separate art-form has its own way of telling the same story with each one having pros and cons on getting that story’s message across. A very good example would be the Lord of the Rings franchise, which originally stemmed from the written series by J.R.R Tolkien, then was made into a highly successful movie and then a successful game series. All were different views into the world Tolkien originally wrote. Vitka also goes on to explain the lack of narrative in games now a days, leading to a overflow of nice looks games with supped up game play with no emotional connection to the player. That’s like reading a horribly written book on a fancy new Kindle 2 with amazingly colored font. It might look nice but the connection is just not there, and it’s still a horrible book.
I began my list of reading with IGN’s article The Influence of Literature and Myth through Videogames by Douglass C. Perry. My thoughts on Perry’s article was completely like-minded, considering my favorite games are all influenced or based on some sort of mythology (Age of Mythology, God of War, Okami, and Fatal Frame) or literature (Hotel Dusk, Phoenix Wright, and Alice McGee’s Alice) I wasn’t that surprised from the article since I already knew of all the backgrounds of all the games I was interested in (because I like to play things I already know the background of such as old folktales, myths, cultures, symbolisms, etc ) . I also completely agreed with their opinion on the need of revolutionary games that leads more towards original narrative play than short thrills on game technology alone. Since we are running out of more and more original content to base games off of it is becoming increasingly obvious we need more revolutionary games willing to go out of the box and depict things we’ve either never seen before depicted in games or depict recycled ideas and stories in a more refreshing way.
Next I read Once Upon a Time by William Vitka, another article arguing how videogames were literature. Vitka’s take on the argument was by comparing other different forms of entertainment such as film and literature. Film and literature both have storylines/narrative and so do games (as well as many of forms of entertainment like music, art). The only difference was how they told that story. Each separate art-form has its own way of telling the same story with each one having pros and cons on getting that story’s message across. A very good example would be the Lord of the Rings franchise, which originally stemmed from the written series by J.R.R Tolkien, then was made into a highly successful movie and then a successful game series. All were different views into the world Tolkien originally wrote. Vitka also goes on to explain the lack of narrative in games now a days, leading to a overflow of nice looks games with supped up game play with no emotional connection to the player. That’s like reading a horribly written book on a fancy new Kindle 2 with amazingly colored font. It might look nice but the connection is just not there, and it’s still a horrible book.
The only difference of the medium of video games compared to the rest of the entertainment mediums would be the game/story is different each time for the interactor instead of being the same thing each and every time. The interactor has full control to lose or win or die and how he goes about doing it. No other medium has this ability games do. Though on the other hand games have it harder on them to be successul in getting their story told since they must immerse the interactor will every medium used in the game successfully or they will fail in getting the message across (typically that means all mediums in usage; music, art, movie, etc.).
Out of all the articles I agreed the most with Vitka’s opinion, since I deem the best games that have actual content to them that I can ponder over time just like the better number of movies and books I enjoy as well.
I admit the most difficult articles to read through were the last two essays written by Zimmerman and Montfort due to the way they were written. Their written styles left me feeling cold on the inside, since they were written in a more essay like form where they argued their case in a more factual manner than conceptual manner. But I can see how their essay would be more revealing to people who believe video games are truly not literature. Since they both went about their essays speaking about the definition of narrative and how we can weave our own narrative into everything in our lives to create some sort of literature since we do physically interact with them.
Reading though all the articles I think the message that resounded within me the most was the idea that games are most arguably literature due to our own interaction with them in creation, which in causation makes a narrative which is in itself literature. This idea really connected with me because I have already believed it is truly nearly impossible to find any game that hasn’t had any real influence from outside sources may it be books, fashion, culture, television, music, other movies or games, etc. Even under an unconscious level we as people (humans) continuously are mirror reflections of the societies we live in. Nothing is ever truly new, but this is quite a conundrum since if that is true, then where did the idea for narration come from originally if nothing is ever new? I guess to answer that question would be that, human consistently need to be recognized as individuals (this is because it’s a strategy of survival and mating) so we strive for things that are what we deem “new”.
For example in the fashion world, people are always clamoring over the “newest looks”, but are they truly new, or just reused styles and marketed as the “newest hype” made popular by so-and-so’s newest fall collection?
Some examples of games off the top of my head would be The Sims created by Will Wright created off the idea of simulated life and based off of true life. There is also Neverwinter Nights from Atari that was highly influenced by Dungeons & Dragons for their storyline and game-play. In Neverwinter Nights they are even using the same damage calculation method (dice rolling) as D&D. In turn D&D was influenced if not based on all the fantasy novels in the same genre.
If you were to investigate into each game or book or movie or piece of artwork, there was some kind of influence from the creator's lives melded into their creation. Just like our emotions, what we create all tell in a way a story of ourselves and what we have experienced and wish to experience.
I admit the most difficult articles to read through were the last two essays written by Zimmerman and Montfort due to the way they were written. Their written styles left me feeling cold on the inside, since they were written in a more essay like form where they argued their case in a more factual manner than conceptual manner. But I can see how their essay would be more revealing to people who believe video games are truly not literature. Since they both went about their essays speaking about the definition of narrative and how we can weave our own narrative into everything in our lives to create some sort of literature since we do physically interact with them.
Reading though all the articles I think the message that resounded within me the most was the idea that games are most arguably literature due to our own interaction with them in creation, which in causation makes a narrative which is in itself literature. This idea really connected with me because I have already believed it is truly nearly impossible to find any game that hasn’t had any real influence from outside sources may it be books, fashion, culture, television, music, other movies or games, etc. Even under an unconscious level we as people (humans) continuously are mirror reflections of the societies we live in. Nothing is ever truly new, but this is quite a conundrum since if that is true, then where did the idea for narration come from originally if nothing is ever new? I guess to answer that question would be that, human consistently need to be recognized as individuals (this is because it’s a strategy of survival and mating) so we strive for things that are what we deem “new”.
For example in the fashion world, people are always clamoring over the “newest looks”, but are they truly new, or just reused styles and marketed as the “newest hype” made popular by so-and-so’s newest fall collection?
Some examples of games off the top of my head would be The Sims created by Will Wright created off the idea of simulated life and based off of true life. There is also Neverwinter Nights from Atari that was highly influenced by Dungeons & Dragons for their storyline and game-play. In Neverwinter Nights they are even using the same damage calculation method (dice rolling) as D&D. In turn D&D was influenced if not based on all the fantasy novels in the same genre.
If you were to investigate into each game or book or movie or piece of artwork, there was some kind of influence from the creator's lives melded into their creation. Just like our emotions, what we create all tell in a way a story of ourselves and what we have experienced and wish to experience.
What would one of those revolutionary games look like that would push VGs to the next level? This is an intriguing concept...
ReplyDeleteI like how you are referencing each artice, going through and working with the concepts. I also like how you began with a summary of the general idea of the week's readings. This will serve to help keep your focus in the post.
Great use of graphics...it helps to personalize. As well, you make those connections to games that you are playing and that helps us get a sense of a) authority and b) connection with your thoughts.
"The only difference of the medium of video games compared to the rest of the entertainment mediums would be the game/story is different each time for the interactor instead of being the same thing each and every time." You make an important point here, and that is the sense in which the story in VGs becomes personalized based on game play. Other than fanfic, we don't have a literary equivelant. This is why I call VGs "lit+," as they go beyond what lit can actually do with the reader.
I am fascinated by the distinction between factual and conceptual writing. We will be looking at both, but I would argue that Zimmermena and Montfort are more in the conceptual camp, as they are considering theoretical concepts of gaming. More factual pieces are like the IGN article, as they are really dealing with "X happens in Fatal Frame" as an example.
The Sims is a great example of how the user impacts the "story." I love the Sims, so I gave a copy to my brother. He couldn't bring a narrative to his characters, and he kept asking "What am I supposed to be getting out of this?" In some way, then, the "VG as bank" analogy -- put something in and get something out -- is relevant. We can't simply expect to have info given to us...we have to work for it in VGs.
Very thoughtful post...!