Preparing for Presentation

For my presentation, I've chosen to go with how nostalgia is, for me, the greatest form of immersion. I've written a short piece to prepare myself, but I will be shortening it down into note form so I can present it within the ten-minute time slot:

When playing a game, it’s not always the story alone that drags you in. Characters, settings and the gameplay itself make up a huge part of a game’s immersion factor. As a child in the early 90’s I was utterly captivated by the Sonic the Hedgehog series. The character oozed attitude, while still retaining a heroic presence, and he was genuinely a hero young kids like me could look up to. The world he lived in also played a huge part in this, since the lush hills of Green Hill Zone, the water-filled Chemical Plant Zone, the utopia that was Sky Sanctuary Zone were all places that we’d never seen the likes of before. They were memorable places, and the games just kept you drawn in, kept you wanting to get to the next stage and eventually defeat Dr. Robotnik for that huge sense of achievement. Beating a level or boss made you feel like a hero, like you were genuinely in Sonic’s shoes. That feeling was even greater amplified if you managed to speed through the level and maintain your momentum for as long as possible, whizzing through loops, dominating the slopes and ploughing your way through any obstacle that stood before you. It made you feel invincible, like you were unstoppable. You could free Sonic’s friends from Dr. Robotnik, and nothing would stand in your way.

Fast-forward to 2011. The young, naïve kids we once were are matured and wiser. We know these are just games we’re playing. Sure, we’re still immersed into the worlds and stories, but we always know they’re just games. However, there is one way that those same feelings that you had as a child can be felt again. Nostalgia. Nostalgia is a feeling that normally describes a ‘yearning for the past’, to re-live the feelings you had from a certain time in the past. Recently, with the recently released Sonic Generations, SEGA have made nostalgia the key selling point by introducing ‘Classic’ Sonic and setting the game in a ‘best-of’ of the series’ levels.

When I played the game for the first time, I instantly had that feeling I had when I was young flow back into me. The entirety of Green Hill Zone was how I’d pictured it looking in real life as a child. It’s like SEGA had plucked the image out of my mind. The music, the visuals and most of all, the gameplay made me feel like a kid again. That is what immersed me so much into the game, I was in the same little world I’d put myself in all those years ago. As cheesy as it sounds, it was a magical feeling. I’ve still stuck with the franchise over the years, but no game has given me the same feeling that this one did. 

Iconic Elements

Another task had us taking a popular franchise and writing down 5 iconic elements from said franchise.I have chosen the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, as this is a world-renown series that re-defined how platformers are made:

1. Speed - Sonic was always popular for the speed the game was played at. It wasn't like Mario, where everything seemed sluggish in comparison. It was new and exciting to people back then, hence the popularity.

2. Attitude - The character himself oozed attitude, and this is what made him the 'cool' thing for kids to like in the early 90's. 

3. Sounds/Music - Everywhere you go, there's bound to something somewhere that plays one of the iconic sound effects from Sonic the Hedgehog. Most widely used is the 'Collect Ring' sound, most recently used in a Coco Pops advertisement! Green Hill Zone's melody is also instantly recognisable to the world due to it's simplicity and catchiness.

4. Bright Visuals - Sonic's world is an immensly colourful place, and its these surreal environments that helped Sonic catapult to stardom in his early days. There was a level trope for everything; Jungle, Factory, Underground, Sky Haven and even space.

5. Merchandising - Sonic has always been popular, which means a slew of merchandise has been released over the years. Even today new items are constantly being released for fans to snap up.

Analysing Metal Gear Solid

During a lecture, we were put into groups to answer two questions using a game narrative to back it up. With the group I was in, we went ahead and tackled Metal Gear Solid.

"What is the relationship between the main character and the goal?

Snake’s goal in Metal Gear Solid is to rescue the DARPA chief to obtain intelligence about the operation Metal Gear Rex. The scenario changes when the DARPA chief dies right in front of Snake and a new character named Meryl is instantly pull in to play to continue the story without looking back.

Why does the character care about it?

Snakes cares about the situation because the antagonists can take control of the situation without his help. Major Cambell needs to save his daughter Meryl then initiates a love relationship between Snake and Meryl. Snake must stop Metal Gear Rex from final phase to save the world."

These findings helped us to think about how other games could be analysed in the same way.

Creating Coherent Worlds

During our first lecture, we were split into two groups and given the task of analysing a game which was set in the future and its coherent world. We chose to go with Star Wars: The Force Unleashed as this seemed popular within the group. 

The story world builds off of the one already set throughout the franchise's long history, which automatically helps the player identify and connect with the game world. Here are the notes our group put to thought:

The protagonist is one of the founding members of the rebel alliance.

The game bridges a gap between episode III and episode IV.

Open sequence begins with Darth Vader in pursuit of a Jedi while brutally killing Wookies.

With this in mind, taking control as an antagonist instantly pulls the player into the would with its immersive convention.

The game is CORE HEAVY.

Does the game function with the aspects of the Star Wars story, background, 

characters, assets etc?

Space opera: By looking at the Star Wars world you can see aspects of the history in the game itself.

The game's graphics aren’t just eye candy, they all build the coherent world.

In our next lecture, we learned the narrative theories of a man named Vladimir Propp. His theories are still widely influential in today's works within narrative construction  His book is described with one of his theories:

"The word ‘morphology’ means the study of forms. In botany, the term ‘morphology’ means the study of the component parts of a plant, of their relationship to each other and to the whole – in other words, the study of a plant’s structure. But what about a ‘morphology of the folktale?’ Scarcely anyone has thought about the possibility of such a concept."

The theory basically breaks down to meaning that a study and analysis of a folktale can be made according to the functions of its dramatic personae. This is a good approach to take because it privelages function over character. With this outlook on the story world, it can easily be broken down into its prime structure.

Propp provides a supporting example:

1. A tsar gives an eagle to a hero. The eagle carries the hero away to another kingdom.

2. An old man gives Sucenko a horse. The horse carries Sucenko away to another kingdom.

3. A sorcerer gives Ivan a little boat. The boat takes Ivan to another kingdom.

4. A princess gives Ivan a ring. Young men appearing from out of the ring carry Ivan away into another kingdom.

Using this, Propp deducts that while "the names of the of the dramatic personae change... neither their actions nor functions change." He also says "a tale often attributes identical actions to various personages. This makes possible the study of the tale according to the functions of its dramatic personae."

Propp continues this theory with a list of dramatic personae's "Spheres in action":

·         The Villain. - The antagonist during a situation or event

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·         The Helper. – Helps the hero during a situation or event.

·         The Donor. –  Prepare the hero with weapon, or power up during a situation or event.

·         The Princess, and her father. - Damsel in distress during a situation or event

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·         The Dispatcher. – The character who sends off the hero with a lack of knowledge during a situation or event.

·         The Hero (Seeker-hero, victim-hero). - The protagonist of the story.

·         The False Hero. – Takes credit of the hero during a situation or event.

Using Propp's theory, I will look at a Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and apply the theory to it:

·         The Villain. - Dr. Robotnik

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·         The Helper. – Miles 'Tails' Prower, Sonic's sidekick.

·         The Donor. –  Chaos Emeralds, can be used by Sonic to gain unlimited power with enough rings.

·         The Princess, and her father. - All of the kidnapped animals, trapped inside metal containers.

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·         The Dispatcher. – Other animals, warning Sonic of the situation.

·         The Hero (Seeker-hero, victim-hero). - Sonic the Hedgehog.

·         The False Hero. – None.

BA4 - Brief Introduction

In this brief, we'll be looking at the role of the story world within games and its importance. It will also look at the development of digital games from narrative-based games to Alternate Reality Games and MMORPG's.

During this brief, we will gain more of an understanding of coherent worlds, genre and narrative theory. We will be looking into things like transmedia storytelling, where digital games are only one part of the story world.

In the end, we will present a 10 minute presentation on the subject, with accompanying documentation.