RAFA_Ch4_ZIMMERMAN_Q

IN THIS ESSAY, ZIMMERMAN TALKS ABOUT NARRATIVE, INTERACTIVITY, PLAY AND GAMES.
THE PRODUCT IS EASY TO READ. MR. ZIMMERMAN CUT MY ATTENTION (NOT AN EASY TASK
SINCE I'M ADD POSITIVE) IN THE WAY HE DESCRIBES NARRATIVE AND I TOTALLY AGREE
WITH HIS VIEW (PG 156)
2. A NARRATIVE IS NOT MERELY A SERIES OF EVENTS BUT A PERSONIFICATION OF EVENTS THOUGH A MEDIUM SUCH AS LANGUAGE. THIS COMPONENT OF THE DEFINITION REFERENCES THE REPRESENTATIONAL ASPECT OF NARRATIVE.
HE ALSO GOES ON TO DESCRIBE GAME AS FOLLOWS: (PG 160)
A GAME IS A VOLUNTARY INTERACTIVE ACTIVITY, IN WHICH ONE OR MORE PLAYERS FOLLOW RULES THAT CONSTRAIN THEIR BEHAVIOR, ENACTING AN ARTIFICIAL CONFLICT THAT ENDS IN A QUANTIFIABLE OUTCOME.
I TOTALLY DISAGREE HERE WITH MR. ZIMMERMAN, "GAME CAN BE VOLUNTARY UNTIL A GAME NO LONGER IS A GAME AND BECOMES A ADDICTION OR A WAY OF LIFE" DO YOU AGREE WITH ME? DO POKER PLAYERS ARE PLAYING A GAME? OR ARE POKER PLAYERS NO LONGER PLAYERS BUT WORKERS?

Nick_Ch4_Pearce_Q

Pearce states, "the largest controversy has to do with the use of 'cut-scenes' also known as 'cinematics'" (p. 148). This is where the game stops and there is a segment of high quality video or graphics, usually used as the major narrative section of the game. My problem is that it stops the game dead in its tracks. You could be completely immersed in the energy and action of the game, but then you get to the cut-scene and bang-o* all action stops. I think this is also a major problem in many of the ideas of interactive television or DVD's.

So, how can we tell a story and keep the action going? Is this a technical limitation in the gaming world or something else?

*ha

Betsy_Ch.4_Zimmerman_I

Zimmerman says, "It's important to note that the "story" of the Ms. Pac-Man game-story certainly does not provide the same pleasures of a novel or film. But why should we expect it to? The question is, what pleasures can it provide that books or films cannot?"

Here is my attempt to answer:

Playing a Ms. Pac-Man game is very simple, I would think many people know the story of Ms. Pac-Man and what you have to do to survive, eat the yellow things and stay away from the ghosts. It's not as deep or as rich in a plot line such as a novel or a film. However Ms. Pac-Man adds a dimension, sort of like Mystery Science Theater 3000, in which you can add your own comments. You can laugh, yell, make fun of, talk, or not talk. You can do all these other actions that you cannot do in a movie theater or with reading a novel.

If someone has not read the novel you are reading, then any reactions will fall on deaf ears. Yet with Ms. Pac-Man you can 'play' and exagurate dying by a ghost and really get emotional with the game. So in summary, I think they pleasures it provides that books and films cannot is the emotional exprience that can be shared quickly with many.

Flook_CH4_Pearce_Q

Of the four authors this week, I enjoyed reading Pearce’s. Pearce does an excellent job weaving game narrative into interactivity. I think the main point of this essay is to show that the narrative is live. Like going to a concert, a play, a wedding, and so forth - the participant actively takes part in the narrative.
Pearce separates play and story early on. I tend to think that play IS story in the gaming world. Pearce also indicates that many players find the mid-level cinematic annoying and that, “Games tend to favor abstracted personas over “developed” characters with clear personalities and motivations. More abstracted characters leave more room for the player, and are therefore better suited to support a play-centric model.” Maybe the developers have always made games as stories where the player decides the narrative – it’s a live narrative, never to be repeated (unlike watching BATMAN over and over on DVD).

If we view game players as an integral part to the story – as a character (the actual person sitting outside of the X-Box), what kinds of games can be developed? I think much of what has been examined in the past has focused on the players as agents (or their agents) and not the players themselves as a part of the story – interacting with the narrative. I guess my BIG QUESTION is: Is there a way to seperate our investigation of the agent and the player?

RAFAEL BRIONES RODRIGUEZ

RAFAEL BRIONES RODRIGUEZ