Using Literary Theory to Read Games: Power, Ideology, and Repression in Atlus’ Growlanser: Heritage of War

This article argues that although many people state that literary theorists are attempting to take over the field of game studies, there has yet to be a real attempt to apply literary theory to a close reading of specific games. The article then proceeds to apply Althusser's and Foucault's ideas of power and state aparatuses to Growlanser: Heritage of War in an attempt to demonstrate that to find out the messages that games are proposing literary theory could be applied

Online Games and Genre

Genre is used by game developers as a means of targeting certain markets providing easily-identified product differentiation. This entry provides an overview of the development and diversity of genre in online games and maps out the major factors that drive genre formations. In addition, academic approaches to the study of genre are addressed in conjunction with the commercial and cultural contexts that shape online game genres

What Defines Video Game Genre? Thinking about Genre Study after the Great Divide

This essay explores questions concerning genre theory as they can be applied to videogames and interactive entertainment. The essay begins by discussing some of the limitations of current videogame genre theory by looking at the ‘narrative vs. ludology’ debate and considering its effect on videogame studies. Against this backdrop, the current state of videogame genre theory is discussed in more detail. Next, the state of genre theory and practice in other fields of inquiry is explored, especially those aspects which are applicable to a modern audio-visual medium such as videogames. Finally, the essay concludes with a series of recommendations about the future path of videogame genre study

Video Game Genre, Evolution and Innovation

This paper provides a critical overview of the notion of genre in game studies and in the video game industry. Using the concept of genre requires one to acknowledge the recent developments of genre theory in other fields of research; one such development is the contestation of the idea of generic evolution. After a comparative analysis, video game genres are found to differ from literary and film genres precisely on the basis of evolution. The technological imperatives that characterize video game production are also pinpointed as relevant to the establishment and development of video game genres. Evolution is linked to the processes of innovation, and so a model of innovation is laid out from a compare-and-contrast approach to literary and film genre innovation. This model is tested through the history and analysis of the First-Person Shooter genre. This results in new insights for the question of genre in video games, as it is established that genre is rooted not in game mechanics, but in game aesthetics; that is, play-experiences that share a phenomenological and pragmatic quality, regardless of their technical implementation.   

Analyzing compositional strategies in video game music

Composers of music for video games face a unique set of challenges, including issues of interactivity, non-linearity, diegesis, and versatility. This study explores several possible correlations among these challenges and the compositional strategies used to address them (i.e., thematic attachment, adaptive seaming, and deliberate silence). These approaches are analyzed across several popular gaming genres to determine how composers devise and implement a combination of compositional methods that most appropriately amplify the player's sense of immersion. With thematic attachment, for instance, the composer draws upon the player's feelings of nostalgia that are developed through their exposure to previous games within a franchise. To develop a greater understanding of the representation of musical genre, one-on-one interviews and written correspondence with selected game composers (Joshua Mancell, Martin O'Donnell, and Trevor Gureckis) working in targeted types of games provided evidence to suggest and explore specific techniques they used to develop greater diegesis and immersion. Current scholarship focuses primarily on the cultural and psychological implications and influences associated with video game music. Developing a greater understanding of these three strategies and their various forms of implementation expands and helps to standardize the field of ludomusicology within the broader discipline of musicology.Includes bibliographical references

Zur Theorie der Computerspiel-Genres

Diese Arbeit widmet sich Computerspielen und deren Genres. Zu diesem Thema gibt es bislang kaum Literatur, es wurde wissenschaftlich nur spärlich aufgearbeitet. Wenn sich Autoren mit Genre auseinandersetzen, passiert dies meist beiläufig, innerhalb eines Kapitels. Arbeiten, die sich im Detail mit der Thematik befassen, fehlen. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist, diese Lücke zu füllen. Und: Einige Wissenschaftler behaupten, dass sich Spiele grundsätzlich nicht klassifizieren lassen, da diese sich ob des technischen Fortschritts ständig verändern. Dies wird widerlegt. Der Text ist in vier große Bereiche gegliedert, die aufeinander aufbauen. Zuerst wird auf die historische Entwicklung von Computerspielen eingegangen, da sich zeitgleich zum Erscheinen von wegweisenden Werken auch entsprechende Genre-Bezeichnungen etabliert haben. Es wird gezeigt, dass sich jedes Genre auf einen bestimmten Archetyp zurückführen lässt. Die Entwicklung von Computerspielen ist zudem eng mit dem technischen Fortschritt verknüpft. Leistungsstärke Prozessoren oder größere Speichermedien resultierten oft in neuen Spielkonzepten. Dies wird anhand der historischen Entwicklung erläutert. In den folgenden Kapiteln wird der Genre-Begriff in drei unterschiedlichen Gebieten erklärt und analysiert. Zuerst wird der Einsatz von Genre in Massenmedien sowie in Sachbüchern und Ratgeber-Literatur erläutert. Einerseits soll dies zeigen, wie im Alltag mit Genre umgangen wird, andererseits sind es eben diese Publikationen, die Genre-Begriffe prägen. So sind etliche Genres, die heute immer noch Verwendung finden, auf journalistische Texte zurückzuführen. Zudem sind Ratgeber-Literatur oder Lexika oftmals jene Texte, in denen Laien erstmals mit Computerspiel-Genres näher in Berührung kommen. Nachdem der Genre-Begriff in populären Medien analysiert wurde, zeigt die Arbeit, wie Spiel-Entwickler, also Praktiker, damit umgehen. Ihre Auffassung deckt sich meist mit den Erkenntnissen aus den populären Quellen, wird aber durch ihre Erfahrung am Objekt um wichtige Details ergänzt. Die Entwickler unterscheiden grob zwischen Spielen, in denen schnelle Reaktion verlangt ist, und Spielen, in denen mentale Herausforderungen dominieren. Im letzten Kapitel wird schließlich der Umgang mit Genres in der Wissenschaft analysiert. Es werden alle relevanten Klassifikationsmodelle beschrieben. Anhand dieser können Aspekte für eine Einteilung ausgemacht werden: Die Hülle, also unter anderem die audiovisuelle 122 Präsentation, sowie der Kern. Letzterer ist in die zwei zentralen Punkte Interaktivität sowie Narrativität, anhand deren sich Spiele untersuchen lassen, unterteilt. Basierend auf diesen drei Kapiteln und den daraus gewonnenen Erkenntnissen lässt sich eine mögliche Ordnung ableiten, die für den Diskurs über Genres hilfreich sein kann. Um Gruppen von Spielen mit ähnlicher Ausrichtung und somit Genres auszumachen, bietet sich eine aufbauende Analyse von der Mikro- auf die Makro-Ebene an. Zu allererst wird der Grad der Interaktivität und der Narrativität festgelegt. Bei der Analyse ist zu fragen, wie oft das Spiel nach einer Eingabe verlangt und ob dies unter Zeitdruck passiert. Ebenso ist zu berücksichtigen, wie viel Freiraum, in Form von Wahlmöglichkeiten und der Beeinflussbarkeit des Geschehens, das Spiel gewährt. Schließlich gilt zu klären, wie stark die Narrativität des Spiels ausgeprägt ist. Sind diese Kernelemente geklärt, kann darauf aufbauend die Hülle dekliniert werden. Für die Analyse der Repräsentationsebene sollten die Aspekte Perspektive, Grafik, Dimension, Setting, Steuerung, Ort, Ton sowie Mit- und Gegenspieler berücksichtigt werden. Wobei die Gewichtung einzelner Faktoren deutlich flexibler vorzunehmen ist

A proposal for a framework for serious game development based on entertainment game design

Os videojogos tornaram-se uma grande parte da sociedade moderna. Altamente valorizada para propósitos de entretenimento esta indústria expandiu rapidamente. Jogos sérios, um tipo de jogos com um propósito mais focado no ensino do que em mero entretenimento, foram criados e publicitados como ferramentas de ensino. No entanto estes últimos não partilham do mesmo sucesso dos primeiros. Nesta dissertação gostaríamos de propor uma framework para o desenvolvimento de jogos sérios assim como de jogos em geral. Construída através da análise de técnicas de design de jogos de entretenimento e de jogos sérios, a nossa meta é contruir uma ponte entre as filosofias de desenvolvimento de cada género. Com isto o objetivo principal será ajudar desenvolvedores a produzir jogos sérios que tenham o mesmo sucesso que jogos focados em entretenimento.Video games have become a big part of modern society. Highly valued for entertainment purposes this industry has expanded very fast. Serious games, a type of game with a purpose more focused on teaching rather than mere entertainment, have been created and marketed as tools for teaching. However the latter hasn’t enjoyed the success of the former. In this dissertation we would like to propose a framework for the development of serious games and games in general. Built through the analysis of entertainment game design and serious game design we aim to bridge the gap between the development philosophies of each genre. With this the main goal will be to help developers produce serious games which will enjoy the same success as entertainment centric game

Techno-historical limits of the interface: the performance of interactive narrative experiences

This thesis takes the position that current analyses of digitally mediated interactive experiences that include narrative elements often lack adequate consideration of the technical and historical contexts of their production.From this position, this thesis asks the question: how is the reader/player/user's participation in interactive narrative experiences (such as hypertext fiction, interactive fiction, computer games, and electronic art) influenced by the technical and historical limitations of the interface?In order to investigate this question, this thesis develops a single methodology from relevant media and narrative theory, in order to facilitate a comparative analysis of well known exemplars from distinct categories of digitally mediated experiences. These exemplars are the interactive fiction Adventure, the interactive art work Osmose, the hypertext fiction Afternoon, a story, and the computer/video games Myst, Doom, Half Life and Everquest.The main argument of this thesis is that the technical limits of new media experiences cause significant ‘gaps’ in the reader’s experience of them, and that the cause of these gaps is the lack of a dedicated technology for new media, which instead ‘borrows’ technology from other fields. These gaps are overcome by a greater dependence upon the reader’s cognitive abilities than other media forms. This greater dependence can be described as a ‘performance’ by the reader/player/user, utilising Eco’s definition of an ‘open’ work (Eco 21).This thesis further argues that the ‘mimetic’ and ‘immersive’ ambitions of current new media practice can increases these gaps, rather than overcoming them. The thesis also presents the case that these ‘gaps’ are often not caused by technical limits in the present, but are oversights by the author/designers that have arisen as the product of a craft culture that has been subject to significant technical limitations in the past. Compromises that originally existed to overcome technical limits have become conventions of the reader/player/user’s interactive literacy, even though these conventions impinge on the experience, and are no longer necessary because of subsequent technical advances. As a result, current new media users and designers now think of these limitations as natural.This thesis concludes the argument by redefining ‘immersion’ as the investment the reader makes to overcome the gaps in an experience, and suggests that this investment is an important aspect of their performance of the work