Transcript Introduction to Game Studies: Games in Culture

Introduction to Game Studies:
Games in Culture
Chapter 7: The Real and the Game
- Game Culture Entering the New Millennium
© Frans Mäyrä & SAGE Publications
Games at the Turn of the Century
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Interest in digital games has continued quite
steadily, even during the ‘IT bubble crash’ years
(2000-2002).
 Yet, the average time spent with games remains
small when compared to television viewing (69
hours vs. 1,745 hours of tv in the US during
2003).
 Rather than being revolutionary, the development
of digital culture has taken place quietly, as
mobile phones and home Internet connections
have gradually become more common.
Social Play
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All play takes place within social contexts,
whether overtly social or as apparently more
solitary activity.
 As children’s access to public space is being
limited, ‘digital playgrounds’ appear as an
escape from adult regulation (Henry Jenkins,
1998).
 As social networks used to be constructed in
physical play, now social forms of digital play
have also become important.
Online Play
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Now ‘Internet games’ mostly mean casual games,
playable in a web browser.
Historically, online gaming became possible as
the early Internet was developed.
Multiple players could join the same game in
mainframe computers, or play turn-based games
by email.
As home computers got modems, dial-up
multiplayer services appeared (e.g. DWANGO).
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) replaced such
dedicated services during the late-1990s.
The Birth of Online
Game Worlds
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Early ‘multi-user dungeons’
(MUDs) were text-based
games where characters,
game worlds and actions
were handled by text and
typing.
The first MUD was developed by Roy Trubshaw and
Richard Bartle at Essex University in 1978.
Graphically more advanced AVATAR and other similar
games were available for the users of PLATO computer
system at the University of Illinois during the late-1970s.
AVATAR screen. Image credits: Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org.
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Social Issues of Virtual Worlds
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Much cultural, social and psychological
diversity exists within online game worlds.
 As design challenges, virtual worlds are
considerable: thousands of people need
interesting places and constantly new things to
do.
 Social conflicts may rise from different
perceptions of what online play means.
 Some consider online game characters as real
people, some as mere gameplay tokens.
Conflicts in Online Lives
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An early example of online controversy took place
in Habitat (LucasFilm, 1985).
 The role of guns and ‘player-killing’ was the focus of
debate: would Habitat be an exiting action game, or
an online society?
 Julian Dibbell made famous the ‘rape in cyberspace’
event that took place in LambdaMOO in 1993.
 Player-character Mr. Bungle used a ‘Voodoo Doll’
object to play out sadistic sexual fantasies on other
characters, creating controversy.
Online Psychology

Researchers of CMC (computer-mediated
communication) have noticed how the
anonymity and distance can lead to
uninhibited behaviour.
 Online communication can also be used to
develop trust and close relationships.
 Online social presence is related to various
contextual, game system, group and
participant-related factors.
Online Player Types and Motives
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Richard Bartle (1996) divided MUD players into four
basic types:
 achievers (motivated by achieving in the game)
 explorers (motivated by exploration in the game)
 socialisers (enjoying social interaction)
 killers (enjoy using their power over others).
 Bartle acknowledged types crossing over each other
– alternative models of player motivations have also
been developed.
 Sherry Turkle (1993) interpreted online play as
identity experimentation and escapism.
Graphical Virtual Worlds

As MUD-style games gained more realistic
graphical interfaces, it became easier to see the
game as an alternative ‘virtual world’
 Known as MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer
Online Role Playing Games), these games
typically focus on the progress of player
characters, collecting virtual items, and various
social interaction.
 Often time spent and achievements gained in
game translate to more experience points and
levels.
Evolution of Interfaces
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The evolution of game interfaces in online role-playing games: clockwise,
Meridian 59 (3DO, 1996), EverQuest (Verant Interactive, 1999) and a
beginner and advanced player’s screen from World of Warcraft (Blizzard,
2004).
Image credits: 3DO/NearDeathStudios, Verant/Sony, Blizzard, Frans Mäyrä,
Markus Montola; sources: www.drewslinks.com, Arstechnica.com.
MMORPG Features
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The sense of place in MMORPGs is heightened
by the persistence of the game world ( the game
world continues to develop even while logged
out).
 Continuous world and online social relations
make these games suitable for cultivation of
online persona and community.
 MMORPGs are mostly subscription-based, the
flat-fee further encouraging long play sessions.
 Player-run organisations such as guilds are a
common feature in them.
Product, Service or Public Space?
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The traditionally commercial digital game was
perceived as a product, available off the shelf.
 MMORPGs are principally conceptualised as
services, constantly maintained and updated for
the customers.
 As players continue to invest their time and
energy into these worlds, they also become public
spaces.
 Debates and conflicts have risen over the
ownership of virtual space and property.
Example: EverQuest (1999>)
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EverQuest (by Verant/Sony), at its peak of
450,000 players, was second most popular
MMORPG around 2000-2003 (after Lineage from
South Korea).
 The game is located in the fantasy world of
Norrath, its moon and alternate planes of
existence.
 The EverQuest universe is extensive, combining
geographical variety with multiple races and
character classes to choose from.
 Not particularly tailored for casual play,
EverQuest gained the nickname ‘EverCrack’ for
its supposedly addictive qualities.
Example: World of Warcraft
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World of Warcraft was developed by Blizzard
Entertainment and became the most popular
MMORPG soon after its release in 2004
(reaching 9 million players in 2007).
 Rooted in previous Warcraft mythology, the game
features several races, divided into two warring
factions, Horde and Alliance.
 WoW is known as the ‘more casual multiplayer
game’, as its gameplay has been designed to be
easily accessible and immediately rewarding.
Virtual Property Sales
Even if considered ‘cheating’, real money trading
on virtual game items has expanded.
 Calculating the value of such transactions,
economist Edward Castronova (2001) estimated
that the per capita ‘Gross National Product’ taking
place within a virtual world like Norrath easily
exceeds that of real countries like India or China.
 Real money trading challenges the ‘magic circle’
and threatens to ruin the game for some – but
there are virtual worlds like Second Life that
endorse it.
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Games Getting Physical
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Multimodal digital play is getting more
common.
 Multiple senses or modes or interaction are
being used in games, including dancing,
singing, drumming and playing the guitar.
 Early physical gaming devices met with only
moderate success in the1970s and 1980s.
 In the early 21st century, physical and rhythmbased play has got more into the mainstream.
The Physical Interface
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Clockwise: Foot Craz pad for Atari 2600 (Exus, 1987), Eye Toy camera
(Sony, 2002), Guitar Hero package by Harmonix Music Systems (2005),
dance game players.
Image credits: Atari Age, Sony, Harmonix, Honolulu Star-Bulletin;
sources: www.atariage.com, mag.awn.com, www.codinghorror.com, starbulletin.com
From Virtual to Pervasive Games
If ‘virtual reality’ involves replacing real
sensations with those from a simulation,
augmented and pervasive games try the
opposite.
 Augmented reality games aim to impose
virtual elements seamlessly in physical reality
(e.g. ARQuake).
 Pervasive games aim to blur the boundary
between the ‘real’ and the ‘game’ by
expanding the place, time and participation in
games in different ways.
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Pervasive and Alternate Reality
Games
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Alternate reality games are often designed as
parts of advertisement campaigns.
 Typically massively-scaled puzzle challenges
that require players to organise themselves
into teams and hunt for clues in multiple media
and places.
 Pervasive and alternate reality games have
been described to be superimposed to public,
shared reality and to have personally, socially
and culturally transformative power.
Examples
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Game accompanying A.I. movie, The Beast
was created by Microsoft in 2001.
 Successful player collectives such as
Cloudmakers had thousands of members.
 Momentum was a pervasive game produced
by the IPerG research project in 2006.
 Combining larp and embedded electronics,
Momentum experimented with game design,
technology, politics and alternate reality
experiences.
Momentum Photos
Image credits: Jaakko Stenros & the IPerG project: http://iperg.sics.se .
Assignments on Mixed Reality and
Multiplayer Games
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Reality as a game board:
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write a game concept document that makes use
of some aspect of reality that has not been used
as a mechanism in any game that you know
about.
Multiplayer means more fun?
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play a game both as a single and multiplayer
version, take notes, and write a comparison on
the strong and weak points of each.