Let’s Dive Back into Contextual Studies!
Yesterday we were briefed on our new contextual studies
project which at the moment appears to be slightly on the confusing/cryptic
side however, our tutors have assured us
they have a plan to walk us through the learning material week by week
eventually building up our confidence and understanding of the brief so that we
can produce a quality, well rounded essay along side an 10 minute presentation.
Oh, did I mention this presentation is likely to be a solo mission? (Yikes!).
As I'm still not 100% on our task at hand regarding the
project as a whole, I will simply post the brief in the words that it was
presented to us in the hope that all will become clearer as the weeks go on. I
have highlighted key areas of the brief introduction which I feel are of
importance.
“This unit considers storytelling in
digital games and poses questions about the role of the story
world in
the construction of different kinds of digital games.
It will look at the development of digital games from
narrative-based games to Alternate Reality Games (ARG’s) and MMORG’s (Massively
Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games).
You will gain further understanding of story worlds, genre and
narrative theory introduced in earlier studies, and learn more about creating narrative and dramatic elements for digital games.
You will investigate the differences between ‘traditional’ digital
games and transmedia storytelling, where digital games are only one
element of the story world, researching the characteristics of franchises and
ARG’s. You will also look at worlds that contain
little narrative structure but provide coherent worlds of
possibility for players.”
The session was fairly introductory
and broad. We mainly focused on genres and presentation elements which we can
formulate into our own work at a later date.
Here are the notes that I took during the session…
Contextual Studies: Creating Coherent Worlds
When you play a game you want to feel fully immersed
within its world. We will be looking at how game worlds underline their genres
and how their fundamentals work together to create coherent worlds.
Project requirements
- Group research
- Digital Blog documenting research and analysation texts
- 1000 word essay
- Individual 10 minute presentation
Briefing notes
Will be looking at a variety of different games and
genres such as ARVG's & MMORPG's (alternate reality video games/massively
multiplayer online role playing game).
The idea is to get a further understanding of narrative
theory, genre and story worlds.
Narrative theory is structured. It focused around
theorists ideals.
Investigating between traditional games (e.g. Pokemon, Star Wars, Digimon... it covers
different media like TV & toys) and digital games which are brought of the
shelf.
Research and presentation needs to cover narrative
structure, genre & story world.
Notes on TED presentation:
"JJ Abrams: The Mystery Box‘
- Talks fairly fast which can often be a bad thing when giving a presentation however he talks confidently with a comical undertone, you can always understand what he is saying.
- He shares personal experience which probably comforts him when giving a presentation. Constantly describing to give a fully rounded experience to his audience regarding his stories.
- Uses hand gestures to not appear boring and scared. The box is a physical aspect to his presentation, it keeps the presentation fresh and also ensures the audience doesn't become bored watching a screen constantly.
- Keeps the entertainments fresh whilst also getting his information across. Using the video didn't necessarily connect with his core idea/fundamental of the presentation but it links his talk together nicely, keeping the presentation fresh and ensuring the audience don't become bored.
- He links it back to his 'mystery box' theme with clever jokes and interesting connections.
- The way that he
leaves the mystery box on the stage throughout the whole presentation is very
clever because even if his thought goes off track slightly for the audience, or
the audience do feel lost, they have a constant reminder of where JJ Abrams is headed with his
presentation, thoughts and ideas. It is a constant reminder of the main subject
matter of the presentation.
Notes on game genre presentation
Adventure:
Adventure:
- Grim Fandango is classed as an adventure game.
- Often puzzles,
items, keys and combat are used to push the player through the game.
ARG's:
- Alternate reality games are games which can blend over and bleed into loads of different types of media.
- They allow players to project images onto reality.
- Has potential for education uses.
- An current
example would be Wonderbook for the PS3.
Beat 'Em Up:
- Scott Pilgrimm vs The World is an example of this sort of game.
- They focus on raw
combat where the aim is to defeat opponents and cause as much damage as
possible.
Platform:
- They demand games ask the player to explore, negotiate, solve puzzles and conquer worlds.
- Spyro, Croc and Crash
Bandicoot are famous examples of platform games.
Puzzle:
- Puzzle games test players reflex ability, mind power and ability to solve their way through the game to progress.
Group Session Task
Following on from our CS session we were sorted into
groups and randomly allocated a genre. Ours was “Alternate Reality Games”
(ARG’s). Possibly the hardest genre to generate titles for and talk about
because there is a very fine line between one game and a spin off ARG which is
based upon it. We were pretty confused trying to define the titles we
discovered.
Our task proceeding on from our allocated
genre was to answer some questions which would push us to research the genre
and chosen game. The (few) games we thought about with the genre “Alternate
Reality” were:
Bioshock: There’s Something in the Sea
This was suggested by a group member and I had never
heard of it. Its not the main game we are going to use for our question task,
however I thought I would list it (as it’s only 1 of 3 that we thought about).
Having done some research it seems this was more of a publicity and advertising
event rather than an actual AVG, however, the game part could be perceived as
the section where the Bioshock team revealed co ordinates over the internet for
a selection of mystery locations of which fans picked up on and fled too to
find out what they were for.
Further research lead me to discover that there was a
website called “There's 'Something in the Sea” which unfortunately I
believe has been shut down as the AVG has ended. It was launched on March the 4th,
2009 and apparently gave clues, hints and tips towards a mystery that was
getting slowly solved by the fans of Bioshock.
The game element was that the website suggested it was
created by a father who's daughter had been kidnapped by a big sister (one of
the announced enemies of the forthcoming Bioshock 2 game). The events were
divided up into 3 phases of the fathers investigation.
Halo 2: I Love Bee’s
Another one suggested by a team member (clearly I am
very un educated in the field of AVG’s!). I have never heard of this
either. Instead of typing up some
elaborate background story from my research, I have found a (unfortunately low
quality) video which explains the whole AVG.
Video used from YouTube user spider394
Halo 2’s I love Bee’s website is actually
still operational and you can still visit it and see what happens. It gives off
the impression of a hacked website. More information can be found about this
AVG can be found on it’s appropriate Wikipedia page.
Resident Evil 6: No Hope Left
This is the most recent in the AVG category. With the
imminent launch of Resident Evil 6, Capcom created a whole alternate story and
realist campaign for fans of the series to follow. I was at Eurogamer recently
and there were even people cos-playing as genuine people (not even characters)
who were acting out the No Hope Left campaign.
The website is
still up but it states that the campaign is over. There is more information on
the official No Hope Left Wikipedia page.
Study Task
So they study task was to chose one of the games we had
discussed under our genre of AVG. I'm going to choose Resident Evil 6. I'm in a
bad situation anyway simply because I haven't taken part in any of these AVG
games so I'm not overly sure how I am going to answer these questions that we
have been set but I will give it my best shot. Out of all the AVG’s we
discussed, the Resident Evil 6 No Hope Left campaign was the only one I had
actually heard of.
Question 1a: How is the game
structured?
Based upon the internet community and fans of Resident
Evil, No hope Left was a series of revealing clues which “players” (I have put
players in inverted comma’s as you don’t really play this) must solve clues,
views images and listen to information that is associated with Resident Evil.
Question 1b: Does it have levels?
Nope.
Question 2a: Do you have to follow a set path to complete the
game?
Yes, information was strategically revealed to viewers
who were taking an active interest in following the campaign. There were also
puzzles and questions to solve.
Question 2b: How much freedom do you
have to explore the game world?
The game world is a viral hub, there are no levels to
explore. Everything is information based from cleverly
placed symbols, hyper realistic/conspiracy based imagery, “hacked” websites and
audio files which all add up to create the alternate world.
Question 3: What does the game look
like visually?
Okay this is tough and stems back to where I got
confused about how can this be a game. Sure its BASED on a game, but the
application itself is often just an advertisement ploy or PR stunt to get
reactions from fans who are waiting for the actual game itself, so how is THIS
part a game? And how does this deserve to be called an Alternate Reality Game?
Well, anyway, I guess ill try hard to answer the question with use of images from the campaign itself.
Well, anyway, I guess ill try hard to answer the question with use of images from the campaign itself.
Biohazard symbols began to pop up all over the internet
with the words “No Hope Left” and a date, 19.01.12. which caused heavy rumours
to flow that Resident Evil 6 was going to be announced that on that date.
The No Hope Left website is born and is used as a way of
posting images and feeding rumours and speculations. It was running from January 2012 right
through until Resident Evil 6’s release date in October with various publicity
stunts including social networking sites being “hacked” and strange posts from
people. A variety of imagery was posted which helped to build the realistic
aspect of the campaign helping it form its own identity.
Social media such as Twitter was used to also form a
world wide map which was supposed to represent the spreading of the “C-Virus”,
highly associated with Resident Evil. The more fans and the general public
posted on it, the more the map updated supposedly showing how infected areas of
the world was depending on how much they used the social media sites.
Other ways in which the No Hope Left AVG was presented
was through the use of viral video’s, here are a couple of examples which were
famous from the game.
Resident Evil 6: No Hope Left Campaign
Launch Trailer
Video used from YouTube user BiohazardFrance
Resident Evil 6: Digital No Hope Left Trailer
Video used from YouTube user gamespot
Resident Evil 6: No Hope Left Cinematic
Trailer
Video used from YouTube user gamespot
Resident Evil 6: Example of an No Hope Left Viral Entry
Video used from YouTube user TForepaugh
Resident Evil 6: Example of an No Hope Left Viral Entry
Question 4: How do visuals affect the
player?
I guess for this AVG, the only visuals I have to comment
on are the images posted onto the various websites and viral campaigns. I think
the use of unexplained images of dates and symbols intrigues players. Those who
know the Resident Evil franchise were all over the No Hope Left and biohazard
symbols being photographed all over the world and the fun came from trying to
put a meaning to them.
On the website there were various trailers and images
all pointing towards the game and this alternate reality that was being built
prior to Resident Evil 6’s release. I saw a Facebook page which encouraged
people to solve puzzles and answer questions which in itself is a game, however
it was on a simple Facebook page.
When the visuals include social media sites (such as
Facebook and Twitter) its hard for the general public and fans to ignore.
Referring back to an image I found of a twitter feed where people were leaving
goodbye messages and notes to their loved ones like the world was about to end
was a very strong visual which, had you not of already joined in with the
campaign, would certainly have you interested. Under the guise of an apparently
“hacked” twitter feed, it forced people to get involved.
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