Yes, I too am a gaming virgin. I’m unsure of what is most socially acceptable – to be a self proclaimed ‘gamer’ or to be a technically retarded, digitally illiterate native. Now don’t get me wrong – I’ve got my social networking skills down pat, can do basic video and photo editing and use all the standard administrative tools but video games are somewhat of a forgotten relative to me.
Perhaps my status is evident by the fact that I own and have only ever owned a Mac. JUDGE ME. I wasn’t aware that it was such a big deal until talker to some gamer friends. In amongst their weird giggle/snorting “duhhh” I learnt that, apparently, your computer defines you. Well, in the gaming world anyway! There seems to be an unspoken tribalism between the two systems but PCs heavily outweighs the former!
In mockery of my ignorance I was linked this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiAgrrwL_mk
In any case, I’m doing my best to bring my knowledge to the table. I was thinking today about the parallel between video games and contemporary theatre (I know, that’s about the closest knowledge I have, but hear me out). Essentially, both try to suture the audience into a surreal or realistic world. Everyone is at a different seat thus having a different perspective. Unlike film, the audience is welcome to explore the world how they wish. There aren’t close ups to control your view on the world created. A lot of contemporary theatre is based on interaction with elements of improvisation so every contemporary play will take a different path, the audience defines it own narrative. The obvious difference I guess is that the audience will experience the world as a collective but the gamer as an individual.
All this is a stretched comparison; it made me think about Scott Mc Cloud’s “infinite canvas” concept. In theatre the audience is split in preference between realism and abstract modes of expression. What do gamers prefer and furthermore how do they explore this “infinite canvas”. I generalized preference of gamers as realism but looking at some of the browser games based on abstract artists work I am now unsure. Yes, the technology and selfdefining nature of games is incomparable and endless but what is the ultimate aesthetic of gaming?
I’m sure in the next week or so I will have a better understanding but in the mean time, this new age discourse is doing my head in. Perhaps urban dictionary will have more use in the next few weeks !
Pip Neels
Hi Pip,
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post. As a quick aside, that video was actually put together by the same people who later went on to form Red Vs Blue, and made the Halo machinima that we watched in the first lecture. In fact, the story actually goes that that vid was circulated with a magazine (on a CD) after it went slightly viral online, and that gave them the inspiration to create RvB.
Just a piece of geek trivia picked up over the years ;-)
-M