The presentation is closer than I first thought- well it's gone quite quickly! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's working progress but I'm also quite nervous about presenting ours so fingers crossed it goes to plan! These 2 weeks, my group have been working on the presentation and bringing all the prep we have done to date together into a coherent PowerPoint as we felt this was the best way to present our idea and also give our presentation some visuals to look at whilst we explain our idea and thoughts.
Whilst looking over the footage we have shot to date, I realised that we don't need to heavily rely on Flash as I'd first thought i.e. not taking everything from a video game to make it recognizable. I wanted the 'look' to be subtle and recognizable through maybe one or two iconic factors of each game and not the whole interface. Like the example of Scott Pilgrim, the uses of video gaming iconography such as 'extra lives' etc replicate/ transform into a representation of reality to an extent without being too OTT or blurring with an actual video game. From doing research about game theory, to some extent there are many similarities between video and video-gaming, i.e. the emphasis on a narrative/ the restoration of the equilibrium. I think video-gaming is very much personal as you indeed become the controller and character within the game (POV shots for example) you cannot help but become the first person rather than controlling through the third person which in fact is what you're actually doing- the third person being an avatar. Steven Poole in Game On: The history and culture of video games argues, ' a video game character is the game's star: the central figure that you control and, to some extent perhaps, become'.
We intended our project to have a narrative or have a point at least. Within our brief film we wanted to portray and emphasis the blurring of reality and virtual reality through the idea that maybe the game world IS the world. Arguably, narratives have a beginning and an ending- in which video games also adhere to and an interesting middle part. To some extent, reality follows the same structure, beginning- birth and ending- death yet we play games or involve our selves with similar media to escape reality and unlike games our lives aren't as dramatic or continuously interesting. Video-gaming is play, as Eugene Provenzo JR argues in video games: a popular culture phenomenon, 'we can't stop 'playing' life when we get bored with it. This matter of having a beginning and endings is also found in fictional narratives in all media...'.
Here's some tidbits of working progress and tests;
19.2.11
Week 4
Started thinking about the project in terms of theories and how what theories could be applied to our project that we have studied so far this year. I suggested to my group that the following are addressed within our project;
-Simulation
-Remediation
-Immediacy vs Hypermediacy ( I think that by our project being within the video form- it takes away the awareness (the hypermediacy) where the user is far more immersed and therefore reflects far more on the 'blurring of reality and virtual reality' ) Also that video is structured as immersive media.
Worked on a brief outline of the proposal this week;
-Simulation
-Remediation
-Immediacy vs Hypermediacy ( I think that by our project being within the video form- it takes away the awareness (the hypermediacy) where the user is far more immersed and therefore reflects far more on the 'blurring of reality and virtual reality' ) Also that video is structured as immersive media.
Worked on a brief outline of the proposal this week;
Our project explores video gaming conventions and iconography through remediation into the video form. By intentionally using the video form, we are reiterating theories of immediacy and simulation within an ever-growing technologically advancing society. The games we have chosen reflect iconic moments within video gaming history that, through technological innovation, has resulted in a shift towards immersive game play.
Continued with filming this week, it went well. Took a few production shots;
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| Our take on Pong |
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| Our 'real-life' Mario |
5.2.11
Week 3.
Started filming this week which was quite enjoyable and fun and didn't feel like a task like other uni work. Not much to say on this front as only just started so as a group were getting a feel for what we wanted to do/achieve. Started reading books that focus on video games;
Video games : a popular culture phenomenon by Berger, Arthur Asa
Game on : the history and culture of videogames / edited by Lucien King by King, Lucien
Joystick nation : how videogames gobbled our money, won our hearts, and rewired our minds by Herz, J. C
The video game theory reader / edited by Mark J.P. Wolf and Bernard Perron by Wolf, Mark J.P
Understanding digital games / edited by Jason Rutter and Jo Bryce by Rutter, Jason
What Mark Pesce states in Game On: the history and culture of video games reiterates what we are trying to achieve for our group project. With the advancement of technology, games in particular 'the boundaries between the real world and the imaginary realm of electronic play have already begun to blur'.
Reading around the topic of video games, the term 'immersion' kept coming up, I really liked the description given in The Video Game Theory Reader; 'Immersion is a metaphorical term derived from the physical experience of being submerged in water. We seek the same feeling from a psychologically immersive experience that we do from a plunge in the ocean or swimming pool: the sensation of being surrounded by a completely other reality'.
Found this video online, found it interesting as it is taking an existing game and gives it a unique spin- a remediated spin,yet it is still recognizable as PONG despite not being from a birds eye view, this again is what we as a group are trying to achieve in being creative and thinking of ways to portray the games we've used other than being stereotypical and unimaginative. We wanted to take the conventions of individual games that make them both iconic and recognizable and place them within reality to reinforce Mark Pesce's idea of the real world and the imaginary realm beginning to blur (See above).
Video games : a popular culture phenomenon by Berger, Arthur Asa
Game on : the history and culture of videogames / edited by Lucien King by King, Lucien
Joystick nation : how videogames gobbled our money, won our hearts, and rewired our minds by Herz, J. C
The video game theory reader / edited by Mark J.P. Wolf and Bernard Perron by Wolf, Mark J.P
Understanding digital games / edited by Jason Rutter and Jo Bryce by Rutter, Jason
What Mark Pesce states in Game On: the history and culture of video games reiterates what we are trying to achieve for our group project. With the advancement of technology, games in particular 'the boundaries between the real world and the imaginary realm of electronic play have already begun to blur'.
Reading around the topic of video games, the term 'immersion' kept coming up, I really liked the description given in The Video Game Theory Reader; 'Immersion is a metaphorical term derived from the physical experience of being submerged in water. We seek the same feeling from a psychologically immersive experience that we do from a plunge in the ocean or swimming pool: the sensation of being surrounded by a completely other reality'.
Found this video online, found it interesting as it is taking an existing game and gives it a unique spin- a remediated spin,yet it is still recognizable as PONG despite not being from a birds eye view, this again is what we as a group are trying to achieve in being creative and thinking of ways to portray the games we've used other than being stereotypical and unimaginative. We wanted to take the conventions of individual games that make them both iconic and recognizable and place them within reality to reinforce Mark Pesce's idea of the real world and the imaginary realm beginning to blur (See above).
Whilst reading around the subject of video games, I learnt that due to technological advancement Pac-Man was the first character led game which then later influenced the making of Donkey Kong in 1981. Having characters within the games suggest that the game must need a narrative. The most common narrative used within gaming is kidnapping. Take for example, Mario, Princess Peach is kidnapped. The user does not question why she has been kidnapped just that she needs to be rescued- relating to Propp's character theory of a heroic character, a damsel in distress and enemies for examples. I quite liked the below link as it shows the users engaging with the video games and forming opinions on fictional characters, again that suggests video gaming is immersive.
http://games.uk.msn.com/gaming/photos/photos.aspx?cp-documentid=156037560.
At present, still working on a proposal so that it is both coherent and interesting. Resuming filming on Tuesday. Not feeling as confident as before, as it is quite frustrating when your creativity is limited because of resources and time available. Hopefully my view will change soon.
Picture of my mushrooms I made for the Mario scene :)
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