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AGENDA, 2-13-12

AGENDA, 2-13-12. Presentations Discuss Narrative (UVG, Ch. 8) Discuss Resident Evil and Left 4 Dead REMINDERS Quiz on Wednesday on UVG Ch. 8 Blog posts and comments due by Wednesday (2/15 at 11:59 pm)

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AGENDA, 2-13-12

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  1. AGENDA, 2-13-12 • Presentations • Discuss Narrative (UVG, Ch. 8) • Discuss Resident Evil and Left 4 Dead REMINDERS • Quiz on Wednesday on UVG Ch. 8 • Blog posts and comments due by Wednesday (2/15 at 11:59 pm) • To count, comments must be at least 100 words and intellectual engagements with concepts from the class • Homework: MMORPG and text adventure • Play Colossal Cave Adventure by Monday 2/20 (link will be on blog)

  2. Narrative Theory • Narrative: a succession of events • “Literary repertoire”—knowledge you bring to the text (of genre, culture, expectations) • Plot vs. story (film studies) • Plot: explicitly represented events • Story: these events plus implicitly presented events (backstory, etc.) • Narrative vs. ludonarrative (Bissell) • Narrative = story (authored) • Ludonarrative = plot (gamer-determined, getting from A to B, trial and error)

  3. Of what does a video game narrative consist? 1. Diegesis • Diegesis = fictional world = gameworld • Frame for meaning • Spatial • Navigable • Actionable • Open (sandbox) vs. closed (linear) • Reductive, to facilitate gameplay, guided by rules • May be ontologically unstable, but rules are very stable (JesperJuuls) • Can engage with a game while refusing to imagine the world that the game projects (rules/gameplay are enough)

  4. 2. Cut-scenes • AKA cinematics: non-interactive sequences used to relay information • Introduce narrative tension • Shape narrative in a certain direction • Compensate for missing time/narrative • Associate video games with cinema • Provide player with information • Cinema envy? Designer incompetence? • Author’s voice

  5. 3. Characters • Difference from literary/film characters • 4 types of characters • Stage characters: non-interactive • Functional characters • Cast characters • Player characters • Player characters: avatar, actor, roleplaying, iconic • Characters defined: through description, their actions, their relationship to space, other characters’ views, their name

  6. 4. Narrative Action/Mechanics • Aristotelian structure • Exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, denouement • Joseph Campbell’s “hero’s journey”: call to adventure, meeting with the mentor, crossing the first threshold, tests and enemies, approach of the innermost cave, ordeal, reward • “Interactive narrative” • Branching: multiple paths • Multiple endings • Quests (mini-narratives)

  7. Narrative Types in Video Games (Henry Jenkins) • Evoked narratives (known through other works of fiction) • Enacted narratives (spatial exploration) • Embedded narratives (world of clues) • Emergent narratives (players construct story)

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