BA1 - Contextual Studies

In contextual studies, we were given a presentation on different authors who have written books on the world of gaming and how its shaping the world and exploring the idea of what a game is.  We were also shown a video of Jesse Schell giving a presentation on 'When Games Invade Real Life' (link below) which was very interesting and made you think outside the box; it made you think about the future and how governed our lives would be around gaming.  We have then been given the task to look at "I Have No Words And I Must Design" by Greg Costikyan and choose 10 points that we think are interesting and explain why and how it relates to my own experiences.  Here are my 10 points:

• “gameplay” itself is a nebulous, and therefore pretty useless term. Saying “it has good gameplay” is about as useful as saying “that’s a good book.” Calling something “good” doesn’t help us understand what’s good about it, what pleasures it provides, and how to go about doing something else good
•  I was asked to teach a course on “Interactive Games.” I’ve heard the term used before, by people who think they’re talking about electronic games – arcade, console, and computer. They aren’t. Every game is interactive;
• We have a goal here already, notice; players are motivated to improve their characters
• goals are as fundamental to a MUD or RPG as they are to gamestyles that have explicit win-conditions. Indeed, when players begin to feel they don’t have a goal worth striving for, they begin to get restless.Games are goal-directed interaction. But goals alone are not enough
•  You can go out and buy a hint book, or download a walkthrough from the Web, and solve the puzzles by the book. You’ll get the story that way, and won’t have to think about the puzzles.So – why don’t they just get rid of the puzzles? Why not just make it an interactive story?For one thing, you’d turn a thirty hour game into a four hour story – and personally, I’m not going to pay $50 for four hours of entertainment. But never mind that; without the puzzles, it’s no longer a game
• Good visuals provide one form of sensory pleasure; we like pretty games. Audio is important. For some games, tactile pleasure is important, too; sometimes a game’s controls just feel right. For some games, muscle pleasure is important as well – sports, obviously, but perhaps that’s part of the appeal of Japanese arcade dance games, like Dance Dance Revolution
• Simple things, like writing in appropriate language, or using a graphic style appropriate to the setting, or using systems that feel like they simulate some aspect of the setting, all help reinforce the fantasy of the game.
•  rising tension, leading to a climax and a sense of accomplishment. Sometimes, lots of little peaks of tension, with moments to catch your breath between
• Even so little a thing as allowing a choice of character name can give people a modest means of selfexpression
• But your changes of getting that beautiful, wonderful, superb game will be much higher if you begin with intentionality, begin by thinking about the experiences you want your players to have, understand what makes a game, and understand what pleasures people find in them.

Here is my explanation for my 10 points:

• The word "gameplay" is quite vast and you have to be specific in explaining certain aspects of a game in being good or bad and that's what i have to try to keep in mind, not the using the term "gameplay" as a whole over view but try and be specific when creating my own games or critically analyzing other games.
• When most people think about games (I was the same before reading this) was that you associate the word "interactive" with digital and computer games.  But this is not the case, interactive is a word used when you interact or touch or use something.  Greg goes on to talk about interacting can be as simple as flicking on and off a light switch but in games its about the interactivity you get as a player to the environment, other characters, other players etc.  There are different kinds of interactivity and all games have it whether they be board games, card games or computer games.  In board games you interact with the board (picking up and moving pieces, choosing cards) and talking to other players.  In card games you interact with the cards and other players.  In computer games you interact with other players, other characters in the game, fight, talk, open chests, open doors, pet animals etc.  All games have a level of interactivity and personally, but it doesn't necessarily mean that the more interactivity the better.  I like RPGs best because there can be plenty of things to interact with that can either earn you money or items or help you progress in the game.  Interactivity also makes the game feel more realistic by picking items up, moving them, breaking them etc.  Like in LA Noir, even items that are not useful to you at all in the crime scene you can still pick up.  Although, sometimes this was annoying as you tried to find all the crime scene items and all you can pick up and find are used bottles.
• I agree with the fact players make it a goal to improve their characters or their status in the game.  Iv been known to stay up till the early hours of day because im so close to leveling up or getting a special item or learning a new ability for my character.  We as humans like to be the best and as quickly and as easily as possible and when we get to play a game where improving your character or status is an important element in order to advance in the game we make it a top priority and have great satisfaction in doing so.  In Pokemon, leveling up is key to advance in the game so you can go on to defeat gym leaders and then onto the elite 4 to then become the best trainer in the world.  Knowing that youre only a few battles away from leveling up one of your Pokemon makes you stay up that bit longer just to get to the next level and you get that sense of achievement the same as if youve worked hard and earned something.
• Every game has a goal, no matter how simple or complex the rules are or how long or short the game is.  Whether its a board game or a computer game there is a goal that we have to reach, that we work towards.  Its important that its clear to get to the goal at the end of the game and if we work hard enough by completing tasks or missions we get a step closer to the end goal.  But, if there is something in the way, a task that is too complex or we are stuck and dont know what to do we as players become restless and we get frustrated and we dont want to play anymore.  I remember in Dragon Age at times i got lost and confused and had no idea what i was doing and i became so annoyed at times i would just stop and quit the game.  But goals are not enough, there has to be another element that makes the game interesting such as the mechanics of the game.  You may have a clear task get from A to B, but it may be utterly boring.
• All games do have puzzles, they are challenging and we all like to be challenged in new ways.  Some games are based entirely around puzzles and others they are just an added aspect of the game.  Whether it be a game like Professor Clayton where its a game full of various puzzles or a game like Dragon Age where you have many options to do an action but can only choose one; that is a puzzle in that you think about the future consequences and what may happen and if youll get any benifit.
• I thought that this point was interesting because i never really thought about it before, the different was of playing and their appeal.  Before the Wii, you didnt get that many physical computer games.  But those physical games attract a different kind of audience prehaps those who are more phyicical and sport orientated or those who want to lose weight e.g. the Wii fit.  Gaming doesnt have to be simply mashing buttons, but can be elevated to the next level and i think there are so many more possibilities to make more physical based games.
• This point i felt was important because, when making a game its important to keep the game consistent in its setting, story and theme with the use of audio, visual and language.  Otherwise the game wont slow properly and it becomes difficult to understand and you lose interest.  Doing things like that, even little things like how the characters talk add to the feel and the effect of the game keeping you absorbed into the game, no matter how realistic or fantasy based the game is.
• Greg described this part as when in english class you would learn about building tension and cliff hangers and the same can happen in gaming, when you wonder what will happen next; if theres a monster lurking behind the corner, how to battle one of the games bosses, if your or another character is going to have something unfortunate befall them.  Like in writing and in film tension is a great way to hook in the audience and keep them on edge and interested in whats happening.  This can be seen in mainly horror games as there are many monsters and zombies waiting around every corner ready to kill you.  But there are also different kinds of tension such as in Monopoly, tension between players as they try to guess who will buy what apartment, handling money and becoming bankrupt and dealing with other players.  This can also be seen in many card games such as Poker where higher stakes are on the line to the person who wins.
• In this section, Greg talked about self expression which i agree with.  Examples of self expression is having multiple options to choose e.g. what to say, individually developing your own character and being able to customize your own character by changing their clothes and hair etc.  I personally find this an important aspect in gaming as i love to individually create and decide what my character looks like and becomes by letting a part of my own personal tastes and personality come through.  Players will spend their own real money just to be able to have that self expression to customize their character.  For example, Facebook games allow you to spend some money to get an exclusive hair style or outfit and so many people spend their money just to do this.
• This is a very good point because there many games that are beautifully done visually but the whole experience isnt fully executed sometimes by the story, game mechanics or there being too many glitches.  Sometimes the idea of player experience and pleasure isnt even explored as fully as it should. I never really considered the player experience before, after all iv just started learning.  But that's a valuable thing to keep in mind.  After all if your player doesnt get some sort of feeling or experience from playing it, its just another game on the market nothing special and rather pointless.