Contextual Studies

The Experience of Playing Your Favourite Game..

Following the contextual studies session on the 6th, we were given "homework" to do for the next session (13th) which would further conclude the previous session. This was to write a fully established paragraph continuing on from our diagram. This was essentially the same exercise but I didn't mind, I'm finding it all really fun and fascinating. It's intriguing to look at video games in this context! Here is my paragraph...

Uncharted 2 "The Multiplayer Experience"

I start the game and load up multiplayer, check my friends list to see who else is online and ready to play with me. I see my "regulars" are on and playing Uncharted 2 so I join their lobby. I start feeling really excited, we form a proper team having played together for ages, we understand each others playing styles. I know we are decent players and the excitement continues to grow as we decide to play plunder and join the matchmaking. As we wait for other players to join I begin to feel slightly nervous and then bang, another team has joined. I begin to skim read all their PSN ID's in anticipation whilst also taking their levels into account. It's a mix of lower 50's to max 80's. I know it will be an epic match. Now we are just all waiting for the match to begin hoping no one drops out, my nerves rising as I vote on my map of choice. Despite knowing I can hold my own in a gun fight on Uncharted, I can’t help but feel slightly intimidated by the level 80's. The mix of excitement and nerves is impossible to explain in words. But it's a fantastic feeling for a fantastic game. Suddenly we are dropped into the match. I see my team all run off and I feel overwhelmed if not for a millisecond. Then I snap into it, it's time to be awesome...

Game Definitions, An Introduction: Roger Caillois...

Roger Caillois (1923 - 1978) was an sociologist who, in 1955, published a book called "Man, Play and Games". His book was focused on finding the class and nature of games. Caillois goes on to talking about certain catagories of games, these are: agôn, alea, mimickery and ilinx. 

Agôn: a game that is based and centered upon conflict and competition especially ones between the main characters in a drama or other work of literature. One main feature of an agôn game is the rivalry it will cause and the need to appear superior to other players. Here are some examples of agôn games...

• Battlefield
• Call of Duty
• Team Fortress
• Portal 1&2
• Metal Gear Solid

Alea: a game that is down to chance where the player negates will, and surrenders to destiny. Callais mentions games such as dominoes, backgammon and most card games. However, here are some digital games that best fit the alea theory (bare in mind, some games cross over between alea and agôn which is why they are mentioned in both catergories)...

• Metal Gear Solid (stealth elements)
• Fable 3
• Digitalized board games such as UNO
• Pokemon (wild pokemon are down to chance)
• Animal Crossing 
• Harvest Moon

Mimicry: Games in this category feature incessant invention. They do not have the rule systems of
agôn or alea, instead they have one rule: that the player must ‘fascinate the spectator’,
and not fall into behaviour that will break the spell. Here are some games that follow the mimicry theory...

• The Sims
• RPG's generally
• Heavy Rain
• LA Noire

Ilinx: These are games in which the player deliberately brings on a sense of vertigo, they ‘consist of an attempt to momentarily destroy the stability of perception and inflict a kind of voluptuous panic upon an otherwise lucid mind.’ These are games such as...

• Red Faction
• Civilisation
• Kula World...I was really happy with my contribution becuase Kula World fits the the ilinx theory so well! (Please note that the YouTube video documenting Kula World is NOT mine, I found it to use purely as an example to back up my research & writing. The video belongs to refshal).

I found this session really fascitnating. It was so interesting to learn these theories from Roger Caillois and then adapt them to modern day digital games.