Games are not only challenges, they are experiences I found the following article very illuminati... more Games are not only challenges, they are experiences I found the following article very illuminating: Looking for the heart of interactive media (2010, L. Roque, R. Craveirinha ). It sums up several thoughts about expressive power of video games; I addressed most of them in my articles here and here. Let me report the first part of the introduction.
Expressive and narrative features of Video Games (VG) are bread and butter of Video Games Art. In... more Expressive and narrative features of Video Games (VG) are bread and butter of Video Games Art. In my articles I often make implicit comparison between artistic evolution of Cinema and VG's. Here I want to clarify such comparison; the degree of detail cannot be high, so forgive the essentiality of certain passages that otherwise would require very articulated dissertations. I trust in readers to have a basic knowledge of the history of Cinema; usually followers of Video Games Art are quite educated! In the end you can find an unprecedented comparison with Comics, another important medium established in the 20th century, whose evolution has several common points with VG's. Even in this case I count on readers to have a basic knowledge of Comics history.
Challenges and storytelling are mutually exclusive because challenges are tasks with short breath... more Challenges and storytelling are mutually exclusive because challenges are tasks with short breath, perspective and horizons for easy entertainment, while storytelling comes with wide horizons, long breath, holistic vision, deep contents, complex relationships along the time dimension for expressing sublime art. Stories are interrupted by challenges. Challenges are the product of a ludic approach to games; but it can exist also a narrative approach, games without "ludum". If gameplay is aimed at challenges, there is no room for expression of stories and contents, which are therefore confined in cut scenes or documents; but that's not interactive narration, it's a coupling of electronic toys & digital cinema. Today narrative design has a wrong approach because story is build around challenges. First has to come story, then mechanics and algorithms for telling story. We need no challenges, but varied actions, mechanics, contexts and situations for moving stories forward through interactivity and processing, just as in Edith Finch. The key is: not to confine narration in cut scenes or documents, but make the flow of events interactive and playable! All actions useful for determining events and relationships should be executed in gameplay through varied mechanics; all situations and contexts necessary for storytelling should be experienced in real time.
We say "playing is learning"! Or "war is a cruel game"! No accident that war games are one of the... more We say "playing is learning"! Or "war is a cruel game"! No accident that war games are one of the most prolific strands. Maths has even a "game theory", which applies to complex phenomena, such as finance; more generally we could understand the whole social organization or the entire history or life itself as "games"! And not surprisingly, there are management Video Games like Civilization, Democracy, Sims,Tropico etc. where actually you manage complex organizations and relationships! We use the verb "to play" referring to actors performances, instead of "to take a role". The word "game" refers to an anthropological characteristic constitutive of our biological species. It is something that is intimately linked to human nature, a sort of projection or simulation practiced since an early age that has a certain importance in growing and learning; I think everyone played "doctor and patient" when he was child. We have never stopped to play, adults games have just become more sophisticated and serious, so that they sometime can also "degenerate": think of gambling and extreme sexual games. Obviously sports are games; we are wearing masks and playing roles also at work and in society. Etc. etc. Do you see? Gaming doesn't mean just playing with toys! Game is an experience in which the player immerse himself, usually different than his ordinary life. Playing means interpreting a role in a context other then the usual, with specific rules of its own.
The more time passes, the more videogames become object of accademic studies and researches. This... more The more time passes, the more videogames become object of accademic studies and researches. This is a continuously updated list of books, sites and resources
Games are not only challenges, they are experiences I found the following article very illuminati... more Games are not only challenges, they are experiences I found the following article very illuminating: Looking for the heart of interactive media (2010, L. Roque, R. Craveirinha ). It sums up several thoughts about expressive power of video games; I addressed most of them in my articles here and here. Let me report the first part of the introduction.
Expressive and narrative features of Video Games (VG) are bread and butter of Video Games Art. In... more Expressive and narrative features of Video Games (VG) are bread and butter of Video Games Art. In my articles I often make implicit comparison between artistic evolution of Cinema and VG's. Here I want to clarify such comparison; the degree of detail cannot be high, so forgive the essentiality of certain passages that otherwise would require very articulated dissertations. I trust in readers to have a basic knowledge of the history of Cinema; usually followers of Video Games Art are quite educated! In the end you can find an unprecedented comparison with Comics, another important medium established in the 20th century, whose evolution has several common points with VG's. Even in this case I count on readers to have a basic knowledge of Comics history.
Challenges and storytelling are mutually exclusive because challenges are tasks with short breath... more Challenges and storytelling are mutually exclusive because challenges are tasks with short breath, perspective and horizons for easy entertainment, while storytelling comes with wide horizons, long breath, holistic vision, deep contents, complex relationships along the time dimension for expressing sublime art. Stories are interrupted by challenges. Challenges are the product of a ludic approach to games; but it can exist also a narrative approach, games without "ludum". If gameplay is aimed at challenges, there is no room for expression of stories and contents, which are therefore confined in cut scenes or documents; but that's not interactive narration, it's a coupling of electronic toys & digital cinema. Today narrative design has a wrong approach because story is build around challenges. First has to come story, then mechanics and algorithms for telling story. We need no challenges, but varied actions, mechanics, contexts and situations for moving stories forward through interactivity and processing, just as in Edith Finch. The key is: not to confine narration in cut scenes or documents, but make the flow of events interactive and playable! All actions useful for determining events and relationships should be executed in gameplay through varied mechanics; all situations and contexts necessary for storytelling should be experienced in real time.
We say "playing is learning"! Or "war is a cruel game"! No accident that war games are one of the... more We say "playing is learning"! Or "war is a cruel game"! No accident that war games are one of the most prolific strands. Maths has even a "game theory", which applies to complex phenomena, such as finance; more generally we could understand the whole social organization or the entire history or life itself as "games"! And not surprisingly, there are management Video Games like Civilization, Democracy, Sims,Tropico etc. where actually you manage complex organizations and relationships! We use the verb "to play" referring to actors performances, instead of "to take a role". The word "game" refers to an anthropological characteristic constitutive of our biological species. It is something that is intimately linked to human nature, a sort of projection or simulation practiced since an early age that has a certain importance in growing and learning; I think everyone played "doctor and patient" when he was child. We have never stopped to play, adults games have just become more sophisticated and serious, so that they sometime can also "degenerate": think of gambling and extreme sexual games. Obviously sports are games; we are wearing masks and playing roles also at work and in society. Etc. etc. Do you see? Gaming doesn't mean just playing with toys! Game is an experience in which the player immerse himself, usually different than his ordinary life. Playing means interpreting a role in a context other then the usual, with specific rules of its own.
The more time passes, the more videogames become object of accademic studies and researches. This... more The more time passes, the more videogames become object of accademic studies and researches. This is a continuously updated list of books, sites and resources
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