LECTURE SEVEN

Today our lecture explored the difference between computer and video games and the debate of narratology vs ludology - the attempts to understand video games, players and the interactions between theme. Some points:

• Ludology - the perception that a video game is first and foremost just a game that needs to be understood in terms of rules, interface and the concept of play.
• Narratology - the theory and study of narrative and narrative structure. The belief that a video game is narrated like a story and therefore should be studied like one. A term used by Jane Murray is 'Cyberdrama' - video games as a story telling medium.
• Computer games and video games often get confused as the same thing.
• Computer games are like a sub-branch of video games.
• You can think of video games as a medium of communication as they have a history with film, cinemal and television.
• Games have their own ontology and ontological position in their virtual environment.
• Aesthetics are things that make the game enjoyable.
• Role playing and playing games may be the oldest form of virutal reality.
• Internet games such as World of War Craft are persistent games that are constantly there whether you are playing them or not.

Some questions:

• Except that video games are games and fun, what are the parallels we can draw between video and computer games and the original forms of games (cards, backgammon, chess)?
• Why would someone play video games over cards?
• Are video games seen as mindless compared to 'a thinking man's game' such as chess?
• Do you study the game, the player or a combination of the two?
• Can we use a semiotic approach and study the game and the player seperately?
• How can we think about games as virtual environments?

I have never owned a Playstation or Nintendo of any description so have never been into video games. However, when I was younger, I really loved a few computer games. The games I played were like Spy Craft and Return to Zork. They were games where you didn't just run around shooting things to get to the next level. You had to collect things and discover how to use them in different situations and speak to people etc. I believe these were good games to have as they really made you think and develop problem solving skills.

My room mate has been sucked into the World of War Craft phenomonon. It has taken over his life. We are lucky to see him once a week. He lives upstairs in his room and barely emerges - not even to get food as he orders pizza delivery and one of his friends comes down and grabs it. There are about 5 people who constantly trek in and out of our house - armed with their laptop - at all hours of the day/night/unforgivably early morning. When I first met him 2 years ago he was a real party animal with heaps of friends and always out and about somewhere. I've now lived with him for 10 months and he'd be lucky to have gone out twice. He's quit his job and his uni. His computer game is now his life. I think it's sad.