What are games? Pt . II

What are games? Pt. II COM 427 August 29 2013

Quiz!

1. Aarseth: “the ideology called _____________” is the notion that “everything is a story, and that story-telling is our primary, perhaps only, mode of understanding.” a) relativism b) mysticism c) narrativism d) socialism

2. Aarseth: “If you want to understand a phenomenon, it is not enough to be a good storyteller, you need to understand how the parts work together, and the best way to do that is to build a __________.” a) robot b) simulation c) narrative arc d) graphics engine

3. Fill in the missing word in this sentence from Bogost: “But in fact, _________ in this sense of the word structure behavior of all types. __________ are sets of constraints that create possibility spaces, which can be explored through play.” a) procedures b) stories c) rules d) games

4. As Bogostrelates, rhetoric was coined 2500 years ago, by Plato in his Gorgias. In that dialogue, rhetoric is referred to as the art of…. a) simulation b) persuasion c) enunciation d) twerking

BONUS! 5. According to Bogost, Bully is best understood as: a) a training module for future bullies b) both a simulation, and satire, of sociality in schools c) a poorly-designed game d) a way of confronting his own troubled past

Background: • Contextualizing “Game Studies” & the question “What are games?” • Definitions • ‘Procedural’ Rhetoric in action

Some background - “Game studies” is not organized around a specific set of questions (e.g. Communication & Media Studies), or a specific set of methods (e.g. Psychology, Economics) but around a set of artifacts.

This means that: There is no one academic field or discipline that ‘owns’ game studies Studies of games and gaming are found across almost every academic discipline Aarseth: “Here we find the political question of genre at play: the fight over the games' generic categorization is a fight for academic influence over what is perhaps the dominant contemporary form of cultural expression.”

Communication - How do games change the ways we communicate? How do we communicate in games? Education - How & what do we learn from games? How can games be used in educational settings? Psychology - What are the effects of playing certain games? Sociology & Anthropology - How do people coalesce and interact around, and through, games? Literature - How is meaning represented and conveyed through games? (How) do games tell stories? Cultural Studies - What kinds of ideologies are present in games? How are gender, sexuality & race depicted? Film Studies - What kinds of cinematic conventions do games draw on? How do games influence film? Economics - How can games be used to model & predict RL economic behaviors? Computer Science & Design - How can we make different / better games?

What are games? • How is meaning conveyed through games? • Do games tell stories? How? • What is the relationship of games to other kinds of texts? (Are games ‘texts’?) • What features of games are unique; what makes a game a game? BlerBler SIMULATION blerbler Blah blah STORY!! blah blah

“games are meta-chronotopes”

Definitions! • Narrative (Aarseth) • Procedure (Bogost) • Rhetoric (Bogost) • Procedural Rhetoric (Bogost) • Simulation (Aarseth) • Text (Aarseth) Groups of 3 – we will assign the concepts! Define it in your own words (in relation to video games) List similar concepts & words Find an illustrative quotation

Procedural Rhetoric Let’s play… Freedom Bridge!

What’s the argument?

Adeline’s Elopement http://cecilycarver.tumblr.com/adeline Oiligarchy http://www.molleindustria.org/en/oiligarchy/ Loneliness http://www.necessarygames.com/my-games/loneliness/flash September 12 http://www.newsgaming.com/games/index12.htm The End of Us http://the-end-of-us.com/ Spent http://playspent.org/ Pacman http://www.freepacman.org/ What argument(s) is this game mounting? Characterize the experience. List the discrete means (sound effects, rules, mechanics, etc) through which it’s doing that.

What are games? Pt . II