Now this is all kinds of mediation: I, once again, am interpreting Adrian, Brian, Elliot and the other person’s ‘unlecture’ through the interpretations of those who actually attended. Like last week. And the week before.
I’ve read like four blog posts – so that’s like… going four times, right? – and I’ve picked up on one or two things: First, I’m an idiot. I’ve read the wrong readings again. Already fixed that problem by reading Week 7’s fairly interesting readings, and I’ve already done a quick post. Cool. Second, games. I love games.
Ok, that’s half-true. I suck at them. I’m as a close to a COD-junkie as I am a cod-junkie, which, if you know me, isn’t close at all. I despise fish. Regardless, games are… fun. Like most things that are designed to be fun. That’s said, some people say all things designed to be fun are games, so… yeah. Pinball is a game, as someone said. Chess is a game. Mahjong is a game. Arguably, some people have claimed that there is no narrative here: I’d disagree. Especially with Chess and Mahjong, two games with a huge contextual narrative – Chess is about war, homies. That’s a hell of a narrative. Aside from their histories, though, all of these games have a simplistic, beginning – middle – end story. You know, start: player moves pawn/ball comes out/breaking the wall. Middle: play. End: a winner is declared or the player beats/fails the game. That’s a narrative. A boring, shitty one, but it’s a narrative.
It’s a stupid argument, leave me alone.
No, the argument about the stories in games is really about one thing: games with stories. Most video games, for example. Role-playing games, ala Cluedo or Scotland Yard. You can’t say that Bioshock has no story, that’s one of the most fascinating plots I’ve ever encountered, with an overarching narrative that’s frighteningly detailed. Wait, what’s Bioshock?
To really get the ‘hypertext in gaming’ speil, head to another of my blog entries at: blah blah blah. For now, this is just about narrative. And yes, there is narrative in gaming. Now shut up about it.