Warning: This will probably be the most unintellectual blog post you will read today, may cause nausea.
I’m not sure that I agree that nothing good came out of the interactive cinema notion (I think Kevin should file that one under ‘personal issues’ (the not hassling other bloggers doesn’t extend to the lecturer does it? Guess I’ll find out.))
My friend in primary school - so mid-nineties - had a game that was basically video clips of about five minutes in duration through the eyes of the main character. It would stop and ask you to make a decision and then play the next video clip. It was the game version of one of those adventure books (or Goosebumbs books) where you would decide what to do next at the end of each page. It was awesome!
Also the game Myst - which was a whole lot of pictures with links which led you to the next picture when clicked – was like moving through a work of art, and had a great sound track and was the highest grossing game of the nineties. It is claimed that style of navigation was due to CD drive speed not being fast enough to cope with the 3D landscape they had built but I maintain that the unusual interface is most of the games charm.
That’s not to say that videogames needed to become more like cinema - I certainly disagree with the snobbery involved in that notion - but I really like things that exist on the boundaries of two media forms.
Addressing the ‘gamer’ issue: I wouldn’t claim to be a gamer. It’s not because of any sort of gamer stereotypes or negative associations but because it’s a title to be earned. I know my knowledge and skill level wouldn’t stand a chance if put to the test (although upon reflection I’m not sure who I thought was going to come and challenge my claims.)
Also has anyone else come across one of those little books associated with World of Warcraft that tell you the history of the nightelves and other backstory elements? That’s an amazing little piece of merchandising.
In Thursday tutorials we were talking about Farmville, interesting because it’s very popular and mostly played by females. I was thinking that Bejeweled was a precursor to this with some impressive statistics: 25 million copies sold and downloaded 150 million times (compare with Farmville: 62 million active users and over 24.6 million Facebook application fans.) Small disclaimer: I really have no evidence that Bejeweled is mostly played by females other than the way it appears visually.
Over and out.
The game was called Fork in the Tale apparently a major flop http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Fork_in_the_Tale
Hi Erin! Good post.
ReplyDeleteI think the whole issue of interactive cinema and whether it makes sense as a term of very interesting, and debate on the subject is something I'd welcome.
I think what makes the Goosebumps example interesting is the way that different clips can be chained together as a result of the decisions made by the player. That places it as being an example of ergodic literature, or potentially a cybertext, which is something we'll be unpacking in the coming weeks. For me, the ergodicity and cybertextuality is more relevant to what makes the game interesting than its cinematic components. However, I'm happy to be debated on the point!
Myst is a very good subject to raise, because it did more to my mind to include cinematic content in with the game, rather than having a binary back and forth between a game state and a cinematic state. From my perspective, it remediates elements of cinema but remains a game experience.
Of course, a lot of this depends on how we define 'interactive cinema,' so I should back up the truck. Some people have argued that interactive-cinema would be a kind of text which didn't qualify as a game, because it was something different. They frequently connotted that difference as being 'better.'
I think games can definitely use cinematic elements as part of the experience, I just question whether they transcend being a game. Certainly most attempts at directly hybridising the two have been... bad.
On the other hand, we have games like Fahrenheit, Heavy Rain, and browser games like the ones I've linked to in the course outline which go further.
I'll be curious to see where things develop in future, and what you think about the Games and Narrative lecture when we get to it.
- Kevin.
I think there have been good integrations of movies with games and there have been bad ones. For example, have you ever played Red Alert? It was a strategy game, but all the missions had video briefings and then usually a clip of a tank or plane in some sort of action sequence. It was great. The bad games were the ones from SEGA CD.
ReplyDeleteThere have also been many games over the years that contain cut scenes rendered by the game engine. I would not count these as interactive cinema. A modern example of this is a game I played recently called Metro 2033, a first person shooter. The cinematic sequences are flawlessly scripted into the game and you barely notice the transition.
Nothing analytic from me, just wanted to say how much I loved Myst! I still play the original, the style of navagation appeals to me from its complete difference to most gameplay today
ReplyDeleteThe video clip game I was talking about was called A fork in the Tale, I had to email my friend because I have a bad memory, apparently a major flop. Only just worked out how to post a comment: technologically challenged.
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