Summary-8

Computer games
Developing the technology of computer, a part of games was changed many thing. Actually could be difficult to find someone who had played never computer game. It means a computer games are close to our human life. So, in this week, we learned about ‘games’.
computer games: how do they work?
- how do they work “behind the screen”? i.e., how do they work from the perspective of an engineer? =a simple example of pong
- how do they work “in front of the screen”? i.e., how do they work for the audience or participant? =Sherry Turkle on computer games and processes of identification
=Henry Jenkins on computer games, gender and space

What’s in a game engine?
graphics
physics
ai
...and a lot more

game “mods”
Mod (modification: fps, rpgs, real-time strategy games)
– by general public or developer
– can be entirely new games in themselves
– partial conversions (total conversions)
movies with game engines
example: tum raider (original: tomb raider). For myself, tomb raider is one of my favorite game.
programming: an example
pong in flash (original pong / mod 1 / mod 2)
– physics: what makes the ball bounce?
– AI: can an opponent be programmed to play against a human player?

what makes a good game?
play? Or story?
The game need both good play(or control) and good story. But in my opinion I like a game which a attractive story.

Ludology versus Narratology
One of the reasons I think Myst was successful was that people are used to being entertained with stories. There're lots of ways to entertain, but the two primary ones are story—which is television and movies and books and all that—and the other is game play —blackjack and football and Parcheesi. There’re other ones, but those are two we are very familiar with. I think the mass market audience is more familiar with story. The first campfire the guys on the hunt come back with a story to tell--that is something anybody can partake in.”

Two issues to consider from film theory
1. identification:
How do people relate to the characters and action on the screen?
e.g., what do women do/think when the hero is a man versus when the hero is a woman?
What does a designer or filmmaker do to facilitate the audience’s/players’ relations with characters and actions on the screen?
e.g., filmmaking techniques: POV, suture, the 180 degree rule, etc.
2. space:
What is the space of cinema/games? what can the audience/player see or do there?
What can the designer or filmmaker do to increase, decrease, or change the space?
e.g., montage and also think about the filming and editing techniques listed above concerning identification

video games as “metaphysical machines”
...as “perfect mirrors”
...as “drugs”
...as “contests”

identification
Identification is known to psycho-analysis as the earliest expression of an emotional tie with another person. It plays a part in the early history of the Oedipus complex. A little boy will exhibit a special interest in his father; he would like to grow like him and be like him, and take his place everywhere. We may say simply that he takes his father as his ideal.



Space: what’s a boy’s space?
•is it a place where boys can...
–enjoy lurid images?
–prove themselves with stunts?
–gain mastery?
–(re)produce hierarchies?
–vent aggressive feelings?
–engage in scatological humor?
–competitively role-play?
–and bond together

space: what’s a girl’s space?
-Brenda Laurel says: “Girl space is a space of secrets and romance, a space of one’s own in a world which offers you far too little room to explore.” (quoted in the Jenkins’ article)
-Is Laurel correct?

games and gender
-what’s a girl’s game? The Sims?
-what’s a boy’s game? Counter-Strike?

Hot and cool media
–Telephone is a cool medium, or one of low definition, because the ear is given a meager amount of information. And speech is a cool medium of low definition, because so little is given and so much has to be filled in by the listener. On the other hand, hot media do not leave so much to be filled in or completed by the audience. Hot media are, therefore, low in participation, and cool media are high in participation or completion by the audience. Naturally, therefore, a hot medium ... has very different effects on the user from a cool medium...

So, are video games hot or cool media?