Narrative and Video Games, Part 1

Module 7

 

By Kristin Powers and Deborah Whiting

Module Outline

• Associated Readings
• Background
• Analysis
• Additional Resources
• References

• Wardrip-Fruin, Noah & Harrigan, Pat. “Part II- Ludology,” First Person: New Media As Story, Performance, and Game, MIT Press, 2004.

• Bates, Bob."Storytelling," Game Design, 2^nd edition, Course Technology PTR, 2004.

The readings from the First Person text for this week discuss “ludology,” the relatively new discipline focusing on the academic study of games simply as games without regard to the ‘narrative’ (wiki http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Ludology).  The word “ludology” is derived from ‘ludus,’ the Latin word for game; its popular usage is attributed in large part to Gonzalo Frasca. 

The articles in the First Person text seem to be written for an audience that is already familiar with all the terminology and concepts involved; these authors do little to explain the ‘background story.’  These terminologies/concepts include:

Ludology, the study of games.  The precise definition and boundaries of which appear to be in flux and, therefore, not yet agreed upon.  One of the most vital components to the concept of ludology seems to be that games should be studied on the basis of “the game” and not to put them into the same category or subjected to the same criteria as stories and other drama(35).  Indeed, it would seem that projecting these older disciplines of study onto computer games would lead to an inadequate expression of the true nature of games.  It is proposed that this form of study be developed more fully as it seems that games and gaming will only increase in both complexity and in the variety of entertainment and commercial uses (Arnseth). Most of these researchers proceed with the understanding that computer games will only increase, not only in importance of the aforementioned, but also in their social and cultural value. 

Narratology is the critical study of narrative and storytelling. There are many different approaches and models, but the central idea is to approach a narrative as a systematically constructed architecture (Narratology http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narratology ).   

In the chapter “Storytelling,” Bob Bates presents a guide for game designers in the industry to incorporate narrative in their games. Bates, states that if you want to tell a story within your game that you must understand the basics of storytelling.  All stories are structured by basic principles, no matter what media they are presented in. He proposes the following as a basic structure for storytelling:

• The plot using a three act structure, derived from Aristotle’s Poetics
  • The beginning – goal of getting attention, start with a problem, fill in the blanks later, designer must establish setting with threats and obstacles
    • Example: In Dead Rising, you are a photojournalist hot on a breaking story that must capture images, when you come across violent zombie attacks from your helicopter.
  • The middle – overcoming obstacles to attain long term goal, visualized as a series of increasing arcs, designers should create obstacles that show character’s flaws to simulate internal character growth
  • The end – goal attained/problem solved
• Setting – the entire world in which the action occurs, not just location.  In fantasy, you can create your own basic rules of the universe … just make sure you remain consistent throughout. Also, setting establishes mood for story. (see Figure 1)
• Characters – it’s the characters that make the story interesting.  The hero needs to grow even if it is only to increase in the ability to perform actions from one level to the next. Growth is generally accomplished in digital media through interactivity.
• Interactivity – throughout the general storyline, some sections allow the player the freedom to make choices; each challenge will help the central character attain his/her goal and, further, help that central character to develop his/her character. Created through direct conflict between freedom of choice and linearity of story experience.
• ‘Tricks of the trade’: games design ideas based on screenwriting
  • Cutscenes - mini-movies, each with a specific goal
  • Scripted events – brief scenes triggered by a specific action of the player
  • Dialogue – Don’t use dialogue to repeat information, it should help describe characters and the story … keep in mind that  the bottom line is “keep it short”

Genre can be restrictive, but there is room for creativity. Here are some key points regarding the creation of a “Hero’s Journey”:

• Structural elements of Myth and Legend based on Joseph Campbell and Christopher Vogler.
  • Act 1
    • “The Ordinary World”- hero is introduced in his environment.
    • “Call to Adventure”- hero’s life or world is threatened.
    • “Refusal of the Call”- a reluctant hero may try to ignore the disturbance.
    • “The Mentor”- a wise person offers perspective to proceed on adventure.
  • Act 2
    • “Crossing the Threshold”- hero realizes he must proceed to remediate the disturbance.
    • “Tests, Allies, and Enemies”- multiple obstacles are placed in the hero’s path that he must overcome.
    • “Inmost Cave”- hero enters environment of final battle
    • “The Supreme Ordeal”- hero fights and triumphs.
    • “The Hero’s Prize”- hero gains the item he will need to fix the disturbance.
  • Act 3
    •  “The Road Back”- hero escapes the danger and heads home.
    • “Return with the Elixir”- resolution, all the world is well again.

As we begin the creation of our own transmedia story creations, it is important seek an understanding of the concept of ludology.  We are presented with multiple perspectives as seen in three articles written by Markku Eskelinen, Espen Aarseth, and Stuart Moulthrop and the short ‘response’ articles presented in conjunction with the more significant articles.  All three of these articles are attempting to help refine and define the boundaries and salient points of ludology. These authors discuss how the approaches from such disciplines as English and drama can be seen as limiting factors in the study of games and that this helps demonstrate how important the understanding of games is.  Each author describes what they see as the focus and/or limits of ludology. Eskelinen’s tactic is to use theories of print narrative/ludology against scholars of those fields to prove that video games are not narrative. He wants to focus on the gaming situation—what happens between the player and the video game. One important point that the responder, Jane Yellowlees Douglas, points out is that not all games can be classified in the same theoretical context; any heroic attempt to do so would damage the integrity of the theory and the games. One things that seems poignant for most of these writers is that video games is a huge and vastly growing industry; we should be thinking critically about anything that consumers spend that much money and time on.

 We can conclude that narrative does have a role in video games. In our own projects, we must determine what we believe to be the appropriate use of narrative so that we may be more directed in our game/story creation. By understanding the potential realms and connections of ludology and narratology, we can work towards creating an interactive and entertaining media centered experience. Most of print media is created without the interest of the end reader in mind. We are making digital interactive stories; our attention must shift to include how the story will be received and interacted upon with the end user. Video games and the gaming situation will guide the creation of our interactive projects.

Jesper Juul (2001), in an online article, discusses what he sees to be the most common arguments for games being narrative:  most games have at least introductions and/or back stories in narrative form and games and narratives do share some traits.  He then discusses why games may be considered non-narrative including the difference between the reader/viewer and the player.  He emphasizes, much like the work of semioticians, that we should consider not what the narrative is but how the narrative is. In some games the narrative is crucial to understanding the game play (Gears of War), while in other games narrative is peripheral (Tetris) (See Figure 2). These are also factors that we must consider as we approach our transitioning transmedia story.

How much emphasis do we want to place on the power of the viewer/reader? Do we want to give them control of how the narrative is told? Will the story change if we do that? We must analyze our own stories in response to these ideas and decide what role the reader has in our work. We can empower the reader with complete control of the story, which has the potential to be confusing and overwhelming. We may chose to restrict the reader to a passive position of simply narrative reception, but then the question arises; why make it digital at all if you don’t take advantage of the media?

The general consensus of ludologists seems to be that narrative is not the be all and end all to understand or design computer games.  The viewpoints we are presented with in First Person seem to disagree mainly as to the degree to which narrative is necessary to the game, not that there is some degree of narrative.  Depending of the field of study from which the writer writes, their perception of narratives importance. All of Bates book is written for the game designer, who cares little for theories or academic controversies. Bates’ “Storytelling” chapter asks us to consider the following: What tree have I got my hero up?  What are those rocks being thrown at him/her?  How can I can my hero out of said tree?  How can I develop the characters so that they are believable and relatable?   What world is my story based in?   

Eskelinen expresses the opinion that the print narratology or its derivatives cannot be applied directly to computer games.  He sites Prince and Genette who state that the two necessary components which must be present in any narrative are a sequence of events and a ‘narrative situation’.   He points to Tetris and Pong as games which have no narrative whatsoever, even these games however, have rules (37).

He also discusses six ways in which games can be differentiated from each other …

• Order – the relationships of events within the game and the interactivity of the player with those events
• Frequency – specific events which may or may not be repeated and how many times the repetition may occur.
• Speed - the pace of the game; games like Tetris are computer paced games, where as player paced games have a more involved player.
• Duration – include concepts like how long the event actually takes, how long it takes to tell it, and any time-related limitations which are set up within the game.
• Express – combinations of the time issues
• Simultaneity – the player must deal with multiple events at the same time.

Espen Aarseth states that computer games are just games in a new medium and that they are not textual … the text in computer games consisting of the rules … the rest of the game, the world and the actual play, are not text.  Aarseth, also outlines a ‘story-game idealology’ and discusses ‘story-game hybrids’ which should be reviewed in preparation for our final pass (47).

Figure 1: Gears of War, Microsoft, 2006. Image from GameSpy.com

Gears of War takes advantage of highly detailed settings to create a definitive mood in the game.

Figure 2: Tetris, Nintendo, 1987. Video from Youtube.com. Game play of Tetris showing no narrative interaction, but wait till the end. Is this end cutscene an indication of a narrative story in Tetris?

    Figure 3: Resident Evil, Capcom, 2005. Video from YouTube.com. This video illustrates the heavy emphasis on narrative in this game. The characters all have back stories, the game is from a larger series, and it play like an interactive movie.

Other Websites of Interest

1.  A power point with the aim of answering the questions … What is ludology?  What is a game?  What is gameplay?  What are the basic components of a game?http://www.imada.sdu.dk/~rolf/Edu/DM80/E05/Slides/ludology-bkw.pdf

           This powerpoint gives a nice, easy to understand, fairly generic overview.

2. This web site is an online journal, Game Studies: the international journal of computer game research, http://gamestudies.org/0601.  I found more articles than I had time to read.

3. Here are just a few of the many sites offering free game play and/or download free trials … http://www.games.com/, http://www.shockwave.com/home.jsp, http://games.yahoo.com/games/front.  I don’t spend a lot of time playing games these days but was not stunned to see the amazing number of game sites.  It was certainly fun to play a few in the name of research! 

4. This blog, operated by Gonzalo Frasca, has some great information, articles, and links, http://ludology.org/.   There haven’t been any new entries since December of last year, but he promises to return when he is done with his dissertation.

Arnseth, Hans Christian A (2006). Learning to Play or Playing to Learn - A Critical Account of the Models of Communication Informing Educational Research on Computer Gameplay.  Game Studies: the international journal of computer game research,  volume 6 issue 1 December 2006.

Bates, Bob (2004)."Storytelling," Game Design, 2^nd edition, Course Technology PTR, 2004.

Frasca, Gonzalo (1999), “Ludology Meets Narratology:  Similitude and differences between (video)games and narrative.”  Finnish version originally published in Parnasso#3, Helsinki, 1999.  http://www.ludology.org/articles/ludology.htm\

Direct link:  http://web.cfa.arizona.edu/art435a/readings/frasca_ludology.pdf (pdf article)

Juul, Jesper (2001).  "Games Telling stories?"  -A brief note on games and narratives.  Game Studies: the international journal of computer game research volume 1, issue 1 July 2001

Ludology. Retrieved June 19, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludology.

Wardrip-Fruin, Noah & Harrigan, Pat. Ed.(2004) “Part II- Ludology,” First Person: New Media As Story, Performance, and Game, MIT Press, 2004.

Whalen, Zach (2004), Ludology, Who Gets to Play.  M/C Journal:  A Journal of Media and Culture Volume 7 Issue 2 March 2004.

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