Hi, I'm Allan, there's introductions out of the way! :P
After doing the readings for this week and drawing on some material from what was discussed in tutorials. Some of their ideas are really good such as Konzack's seven "layers" of a game - hardware, program code, functionality, gameplay, meaning, referentiality, socio-culture are a good base but Consalvo & Dutton don't go into much depth about it. Additionally because games are far more complex than film or theater, I think there is definitely room for expansion.
I also believe that like other forms of media, different methods must be used to analyze different games. Just as in film, different elements and styles are incorporated to create a particular genre. For example, to make a horror film, some conventions would include a masked killer, a scary/haunted house, a group of friends doing something innocent in the plot. You get the idea. There are times when elements aren't even included in the mix and therefore not required to properly analyze the film.
Let's take a MMORPG for example. The object inventory idea will be applicable in this instance as players will need to collect items and revisit what they have in order to complete certain tasks within the game. But take a puzzle game like Bejeweled, there is no need for the object inventory as players do not actually collect anything except points to pass a level.
Additional points could include the social context of the game, as some games can ONLY be played in the presence of others (both physically and online) as well as alone. Some examples could be WoW for physically distant gaming and Super Smash Bros for games which require a physical presence.
Even then, different players have different skill levels within a game and we can go even more in depth from there. For example, someone could be really good at fighting games, (we'll use Street Fighter as an example) they might be really good with Ryu, but hopeless with other characters. The person doing the analysis here may not explore all the other facets of the game. It's like this in real life, if you play soccer and are only good at being goalie, then you'll still be playing soccer, but you won't have enjoyed all the facets of soccer necessarily.
</Allan>
I like your street fighter/soccer analogy! That's exactly why it's so hard to define what a gamer is or isn't. Is there a minimum number of games, or genres, or 'clocking' of games that needs to be achieved? This is why, as Bryan quoted earlier in the blog, self-identification as a gamer is the way to go.
ReplyDelete