Thursday, February 19, 2009

So, What Is This Project Of Yours?

The following is a brief (well, perhaps not so brief...) summary of my current work. It began Fall semester, and will conclude when I give a public presentation on the subject at Hamilton College on April 17th.

What is a Senior Fellowship?
The Senior Fellowship program is offered every year at Hamilton College to members of the senior class who wish to pursue an in-depth personal project. At the end of their junior year, interested students submit a 10-page proposal outlining their academic studies to date and the project they would like to pursue the following year. A committee of faculty members read these proposals, and select up to seven that they feel have academic merit.

The selected students are exempt from all classes their senior year, and all other requirements for graduation, including major and number of credits (although students may still choose to fulfill any of these requirements). Instead they spend the entire year working on their project of choice under the supervision of one or more faculty advisors. At the end of the year, they must give a presentation (open to the campus) to a board consisting of their advisor(s), two Hamilton faculty members, and a member of the student's chosen field from outside the college. This board determines whether the student fulfilled his or her obligations as defined by the original parameters of the proposal and, therefore, whether the student graduates.

The Senior Fellowship program is designed for independent, self-motivated students who have a very strong desire to pursue a project that is too large and/or too interdisciplinary to qualify for a senior thesis in the student's department. Projects vary from creative works, such as writing novels or creating comic books, to research projects, including scientific and social. Almost any topic is game as long as the committee determines that a) it has academic merit and b) is large/in-depth enough to merit a full year's worth of intensive work by the student.


What is your project about?
The subject of my paper (book, really) is narrative in video games. Tentatively, I have decided to title it either "Hands-On Narrative" or "Playing Stories" (with the subtitle "Video Games as a Narrative Medium"). For research, I have been playing video games and reading books on both narrative theory and game studies. The major final product for the project is going to be my paper, but there will also be a preliminary outline/design for a video game of my own that exemplifies some of the techniques I have been studying for game narrative. (The game tentatively titled "The Legend of Acornus.") This latter connects my project to my chosen career field - video game (story) design.


What has your research encompassed?
My research currently covers 43 games and 54 other sources (with 6 or 7 sources still pending in the latter category). The other sources include academic works such as texts on narrative theory and game studies, popular culture sources such as podcasts and video reviews by gamers and game critics, and other sources such as films. The current bibliography for my paper is as follows (I apologize for reproducing the entire thing here, but a) perhaps it will be useful for those researching on the same subject and b) I plan to use this page for a presentation in which I will need to display my bibliography. So, sorry.):

Games:
2K Boston. 2007. Bioshock. Windows. 2K Games.

Arc System Works. 1998. Guilty Gear. Playstation. Atlus.

Black Isle Studios. 1999. Planescape: Torment. Windows. Interplay.

Blizzard Entertainment. 1998. StarCraft. Windows. Blizzard Entertainment.

Bullfrog Productions. 1997. Dungeon Keeper. Windows. Electronic Arts.

Capcom Production Studio 4. 1996. Resident Evil. Playstation. Capcom.

Cyan Worlds. 1993. Myst. Windows. Broderbund, Midway Games, Mean Hamster Software, Sunsoft.

Double Fine Productions, Budcat Creations. 2005. Psychonauts. Playstation 2. Majesco Entertainment.

Game Freak. 1998. Pokemon. Game Boy. Nintendo.

HAL Laboratory. 1999. Super Smash Bros. Nintendo 64. Nintendo.

Hudson Soft. 1999 – present. Mario Party series. Various platforms. Nintendo.

Infinity Ward. 2007. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Windows. Activision.

Ion Storm Inc. 2000. Deus Ex. Windows. Eidos Interactive.

Konami Computer Entertainment. 2006. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (Subsistence). Playstation 2. Konami.

Level-5. 2008. Professor Layton and the Curious Village. Nintendo DS. Nintendo.

Lionhead Studios. 2001. Black & White. Windows. EA Games and Feral Interactive.

Lionhead Studios. 2005. Fable: The Lost Chapters. Windows. Microsoft Game Studios.

Maxis. 2000 – present. The Sims series. Windows. Electronic Arts.

Maxis. 2008. Spore. Windows. Electronic Arts.

Media Molecule. 2008. LittleBigPlanet. Playstation 3. Sony Computer Entertainment.

Namco. 1999. Soul Caliber. Dreamcast. Namco.

Namco. 2004. Katamari Damacy. Playstation 2. Namco.

Nintendo EAD. 1985. Super Mario Bros. Nintendo Entertainment System. Nintendo.

Nintendo EAD. 1992 – present. Mario Kart series. Various platforms. Nintendo.

Nintendo EAD. 1993. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. Game Boy. Nintendo.

Nintendo EAD. 2006. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Wii. Nintendo.

Nintendo EAD. 2007. Super Mario Galaxy. Wii. Nintendo.

Nintendo EAD. 2008. Wii Fit. Wii. Nintendo.

Nintendo R&D4. 1987. The Legend of Zelda. Nintendo Entertainment System. Nintendo.

Pajitnov, Alexey, and Vadim Gerasimov. 1985. Tetris. Various platforms. Various publishers.

Ready at Dawn. 2008. Okami. Wii. Capcom. (Originally developed by Clover Studio and released for Playstation 2 in 2006.)

Rockstar North (DMA Design), and Tarantula Studios. Grand Theft Auto series. 1998 – present. Playstation 2. Rockstar Games.

Silicon Knights. 2002. Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. Nintendo GameCube. Nintendo.

Square. 1987. Final Fantasy. Nintendo Entertainment System. Nintendo of America.

Square. 2000. Chrono Cross. Playstation. Square Electronic Arts.

Square. 2001. Final Fantasy X. Playstation 2. Square Electronic Arts.

Square. 2002. Kingdom Hearts. Playstation 2. Square Electronic Arts, and Disney Interactive.

Square Enix. 2006. Kingdom Hearts II. Playstation 2. Square Enix and Buena Vista Games.

Square Enix, and Jupiter. 2008. The World Ends With You. Nintendo DS. Square Enix.

Team Ico. 2001. Ico. Playstation 2. Sony Computer Entertainment.

Team Ico. 2005. Shadow of the Colossus. Playstation 2. Sony Computer Entertainment.

TOSE. 2001. Chrono Trigger. Playstation. Square Electronic Arts. (Originally developed by Square, and released for Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995 by Square Soft, Inc.)

Valve Corporation. 2007. Portal. Windows via Steam. Valve Corporation.


Other References:
Adams, Ernest. “The Designer's Notebook: Difficulty Modes and Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment.” Gamasutra. May 14, 2008.

Adams, Ernest. “The Designer's Notebook: Three Problems for Interactive Storytellers.” Gamasutra. December 29, 1999. October 25, 2008.

Bissell, Tom. “The Grammar of Fun.” The New Yorker. November 3, 2008: 78-84.

Booth, Wayne. “Distance and Point of View: An Essay in Classification.” in Hoffman.

Bradley, Ed. “Can A Video Game Lead to Murder?: Did Grand Theft Auto Cause One Teenager to Kill?” CBSNews.com. June 19, 2005 (originally filed March 6, 2005):

Carson, Don. “Environmental Storytelling: Creating Immersive 3D Worlds Using Lessons Learned from the Theme Park Industry.” Gamasutra. March 01, 2000. October 25, 2008.

Carson, Don. “Environmental Storytelling, Part II: Bringing Theme Park Environment Design Techniques to the Virtual World.” Gamasutra. April 05, 2000. October 25, 2008.

Chatman, Seymour. “Discourse: Nonnarrated Stories.” In Hoffman.

Chatman, Seymour. Story and Discourse: Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1978.

Consalvo, Mia. “From Dollhouse to Metaverse: What Happened When The Sims Went Online.” The Player's Realm: Studies on the Culture of Video Games and Gaming. Williams, Patrick J. and Jonas Heide Smith. Jefferson, North Carolina and London: McFarland & Company, Inc, 2007. 203 – 222.

Coomer, Greg. Portal commentary, Stage 10. Portal. Valve Corporation. 2007.

Costikyan, Greg. “Where Stories End and Games Begin.” Game Developer Magazine. 2000. October 25, 2008.

Doody, Margaret Anne. The True Story of the Novel. New Brunswick, New Jersey, Rutgers University Press: 1996.

Dunniway, Troy. “Using the Hero's Journey in Games.” Gamasutra. November 27, 2000. October 25, 2008.

Eladhari, Mirjam. “The Player's Journey.” The Player's Realm: Studies on the Culture of Video Games and Gaming. Williams, Patrick J. and Jonas Heide Smith. Jefferson, North Carolina and London: McFarland & Company, Inc, 2007. 171 – 187.

Frank, Joseph. “Spatial Form in Modern Literature.” In Hoffman.

Frasca, Gonzalo. “Ludologists love stories, too: notes from a debate that never took place.” Digital Games Research Conference 2003 Proceedings. 2003.

Frasca, Gonzalo. “Ludology Meets Narratology: Similitude and differences between (video)games and narrative.” Parnasso #3 (Helsinki – Finnish version). 1999.

Hoffman, Michael J. (ed.) and Patrick D. Murphy (ed.). Essentials of the Theory of Fiction. Second Edition. Durham: Duke University Press, 1996

Iron Man. Dir. Jon Favreau. Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jeff Bridges. Paramount Pictures, 2008.

Iser, Wolfgang. The Act of Reading. Baltimore and London: John Hopkins University Press, 1978.

Jenkins, Henry. “Game Design As Narrative Architecture.” Publications: Henry Jenkins. March 25, 2002. MIT. October 25, 2008.

Jenkins, Henry. “Reality Bytes: Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked.” The Video Game Revolution: Impact of Gaming: Essays. PBS. October 25, 2008.

Keller, Daniel. “Reading and Playing: What Makes Interactive Fiction Unique.” The Player's Realm: Studies on the Culture of Video Games and Gaming. Williams, Patrick J. and Jonas Heide Smith. Jefferson, North Carolina and London: McFarland & Company, Inc, 2007. 276 – 297.

Konzack, Lars. “Rhetorics of Computer and Video Game Research.” The Player's Realm: Studies on the Culture of Video Games and Gaming. Williams, Patrick J. and Jonas Heide Smith. Jefferson, North Carolina and London: McFarland & Company, Inc, 2007. 110 – 130.

Krahulik, Michael, and Jerry Holkins. “Our Crucial Pamphlet.” Downloadable Content: The Penny Arcade Podcast. Penny Arcade. March 7, 2008. Podcast.

Krahulik, Michael, and Jerry Holkins. Penny Arcade. Nov. 18, 1998 – Present. Retrieved 11/12/08.

Krahulik, Michael, and Jerry Holkins. “The Spore Cult.” Downloadable Content: The Penny Arcade Podcast. Penny Arcade. February 15, 2008. Podcast.

Leaska, Mitchell A. “The Concept of Point of View.” In Hoffman.

Montes, Rafael Miguel. “Ghost Recon: Island Thunder: Cuba in the Virtual Battlescape.” The Player's Realm: Studies on the Culture of Video Games and Gaming. Williams, Patrick J. and Jonas Heide Smith. Jefferson, North Carolina and London: McFarland & Company, Inc, 2007. 154 – 170.

Mortensen, Torill Elvira. “Mutual Fantasy Online: Playing with People.” The Player's Realm: Studies on the Culture of Video Games and Gaming. Williams, Patrick J. and Jonas Heide Smith. Jefferson, North Carolina and London: McFarland & Company, Inc, 2007. 188 – 202.

Murray, Janet H. “The Last Word on Ludology v Narratology in Game Studies.” Digital Games Research Conference, preface to keynote talk. June 17, 2005.

Palmer, Alan. Fictional Minds. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2004.

Phelan, James. Narrative as Rhetoric: Technique, Audiences, Ethics, Ideology. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1996.

Pirates of the Caribbean. Dir. Gore Verbinski. Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley. Walt Disney Pictures, 2003 – 2007.

Prince, Gerald. “Introduction to the Study of the Narratee.” In Hoffman.

Rabinowitz, Peter J. Before Reading: Narrative Conventions and the Politics of Interpretation. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1987.

Ratatoille. Dir. Brad Bird. Patton Oswalt, Lou Romano and Peter Sohn. Walt Disney Pictures and PIXAR, 2007.

Rickey, Garret. Portal commentary, Stage 10. Portal. Valve Corporation. 2007.

Sinclair, Brendan. “Q&A: Diving deeper into Bioshock's story.” GameSpot UK. September 20, 2007. Accessed November 6, 2008.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Dir. David Hand. Adriana Caselotti, Lucille La Verne, and Pinto Colvig. Walt Disney, 1937.

Taylor, Laurie N. “Platform Dependent: Console and Computer Cultures.” The Player's Realm: Studies on the Culture of Video Games and Gaming. Williams, Patrick J. and Jonas Heide Smith. Jefferson, North Carolina and London: McFarland & Company, Inc, 2007. 223 – 238.

The Emperor's New Groove. Dir. Mark Dindal. David Spade, John Goodman, and Eartha Kitt. Walt Disney Pictures, 2000.

Todorov, Tzvetan. “Reading as Construction.” In Hoffman.

Totilo, Stephen. “Playa Rater: The 10 Most Influential Video Gamers Of All Time.” MTV News. June 21, 2006.

Toy Story. Dir. John Lasseter. Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, and Don Rickles. Walt Disney Pictures and PIXAR, 1995.

Watt, Ian. The Rise of the Novel. London, Chatto & Windus: 1967.

Williams, Patrick J. (ed.) and Jonas Heide Smith (ed.). The Player's Realm: Studies on the Culture of Video Games and Gaming. Jefferson, North Carolina and London: McFarland & Company, Inc, 2007.

Yahtzee, aka Ben Croshaw. “Bioshock.” Zero Punctuation Reviews. The Escapist Magazine. September 5, 2007. Video review.

Yahtzee, aka Ben Croshaw. “Console Rundown.” Zero Punctuation Reviews. The Escapist Magazine. August 29, 2007. Video review.

Yahtzee, aka Ben Croshaw. “Fable: The Lost Chapters: in retrospect.” A FullyRambloMatic Review. July 29, 2007. Video review.

Yahtzee, aka Ben Croshaw. “Little Big Planet.” Zero Punctuation Reviews. The Escapist Magazine. February 4, 2009. Video Review.

Yahtzee, aka Ben Croshaw. “Super Mario Galaxy” Zero Punctuation Reviews. The Escapist Magazine. Jan 2, 2008. Video review.

Yahtzee, aka Ben Croshaw. “The World Ends With You.” Zero Punctuation Reviews. The Escapist Magazine. May 28, 2008. Video Review.

Yahtzee, aka Ben Croshaw. “Tomb Raider Anniversary.” Zero Punctuation Reviews. The Escapist Magazine. September 12, 2007. Video Review.

(The pending sources for the paper include 2-3 more books on narrative theory and 4 books on game studies.)


What do you cover in your paper?
Below is the table of contents for my paper, along with a brief summary of what is included in each chapter.

Introduction
In which I compare the rise of video games to the rise of the novel - both were treated either skeptically as escapes from reality, little more than pop culture fluff, or as potentially dangerous - causing the disconnect of their audiences from reality. I also use the introduction to outline the content of the rest of the paper.

Chapter 1:
Narratology vs. Ludology
In which I address the narratology/ludology argument in the field of game studies, and use this argument to present the framework through which I will analyze narrative in video games - as a relationship between a story and its medium.

Chapter 2:
Anatomy of a Game
In which I outline the basic narrative and structural anatomy of a game, presenting the most common way a game is segmented, and the narrative/gameplay purpose of each segment.

Chapter 3:
Choice and Non-Linearity
In which I discuss the first of two narrative tools unique to video games - non-linear storylines. This chapter details the ways in which games make use of player choice to dynamically adapt the storyline of a game to the individual player.

Chapter 4:
Empathy and Immersion
In which I discuss the second of the two narrative tools - player/character empathy. This tool allows video games to draw in their audiences in a way that more traditional media cannot.

Chapter 5:
Storytelling Techniques and Traditional Narrative Tools
In which I outline certain elements of video game narrative that have interesting parallels with elements of more traditional narrative. Topics in this chapter include point of view, genre, and breaking the fourth wall.

Chapter 6:
Non-Narrative Elements
In which I briefly outline various elements of video games that are not necessarily directly associated with narrative, but which may greatly affect the gameplay experience.

Conclusion
A brief concluding statement regarding the content of the paper.

Glossary
A glossary of narrative and game-related terms, both those used in the paper, and other terms that might be useful for a discussion of game narrative.

Appendix
An appendix of game reviews - a bibliographic record, brief summary, and highlighting of interesting elements of many of the games which are referenced in the paper.

Bibliography
Reproduced above.

The total work currently comes to 95 single-spaced pages, but it is only the rough draft.


What about this game you're designing?
The game I am designing will, unfortunately, be forced to remain a briefly-sketched outline. My original intent was to have a full design ready for implementation as part of my work, but time constraints have forced me to cut this segment of the project. However, I will be pursuing a completion of the design after the project has come to an end, so that I might have a full game design to add to my portfolio. I am quite enamored with the concept - it stars a small group of rodents fighting for their independence on the Hamilton campus. Through this work, I hope to use the power of player/character empathy to show how radically different the same story can be when told from multiple points of view.



I hope this helps to illuminate both the direction of my work and the purpose of my blog. If anyone reading this feels that they have something valuable to contribute, please don't hesitate to comment!

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