Author: Tim

My first interaction with “Game, game, game and again game…” wasn’t very pleseant. When I first started playing it I was excited and had originally wanted to go through it all. After a couple levels, I had enough and had to stop. Perhaps my mindset was not right, but it was all too chaotic for me. Plus before I realized how to jump and consequently kept dying, the voice telling me to meet my maker was driving me crazy.

After we talked about the game again in class, I decided to go through it again and take a closer look at any meanings I could extract from it.  I liked level 2, which had the cross in the middle with the fake verses around it. I took this level as somewhat poking fun at christianity. With the whole attituide from the game it doesn’t seem to be really serious. The next level deals with materialism with housing and such. I liked when the huge red text came in saying “You will not ever be debtless.” Personally I liked this level because I thought it was pointing out the worthlessness of particular housing and how people go in way other their heads to live in places that have too much. The level with the staircase reminded me of a pyramid scheme, especially when the arrow point to the tip and said “your wealth.”

Overall, I would consider “Game, game, game and again game…” a game. Although it is no where near a traditional game, it nonetheless had game elements, yet was more concerned with meaning in my opinion.

As I started reading “Understanding Comics” by Scott McCloud, I couldn’t help but remember reading a book written in a similar fashion which went over the concepts and ideas of Nietzsche. The book was like a simple introduction to Nietzsche by using a comic-like structure which was heavily based on illustrations. With “Understanding Comics,” the technique was utilized even better with the books subject matter. I think everyone would agree the illustration heavy format invites readers and promotes an easier read, however, more importantly I think this format was necessary in relation to its subject matter. Obviously many of the images were simply to please the eyes and entertain the reader, most of the illustrations work with McCloud’s explanations and theories in order to drive his points home.

McCloud makes a couple of points that I really found interesting. In chapter 2, he talks about how quickly our minds tend to associate imagery. We see symbols and signs which to some, based upon their exposure/understanding to these symbols, would just see lines or a random image. Yet based upon all our experiences and understanding we immediately (and as McCloud also states, are forced) to make a specific association. Additionally, I found it really interesting when McCloud talked about how simplistic characters can draw attention away from themselves and more towards the ideals they represent. In that sense, many comics only appear to be simplistic, yet can indeed be very deep based on the ideas or points being relayed to its readers.

I really like McCloud’s statements at the end of Chapter 3. As he sums up the chapter, I began to think heavily on the freedom given to readers of comics. The gutter, in some cases, provides a window for the reader to expand upon the story and invites imagination to take center stage. The idea of filling in the gutter can be applied to so many things, especially within the realm of art. As soon as I read this segment, something quickly came to mind. I recently watched the Coen Brother’s No Country for Old Men again. At the end, the film has Anton and Carla Jean together in a house. It goes from the two together, talking about if he is going to kill her, yet cuts to an exterior leaving out the actions which took place. Anton exists the house where Carla Jean was in and the audience wonders what happened. The gutter here is ambiguous and leaves the audience to question the actions that just took place. Using prior scenes, the audience can make a better judgment of what happened inside the house, yet one must use their imagination in order to fill in their own details.

I wouldn’t consider Afternoon a joy to read through and navigate, yet it does possess an interesting quality of intrigue. As I began the first time, I chose not to click any words, instead, just pass through the backbone of the story by pressing return until I could no longer. This provided me a basic story which was presented in a more or less orderly and unchanging style.  Unsatisfied with the result, I went back and sought out interesting words I thought would lead to interesting subplots or just random information. Most of what I clicked on resulted in pages I found to be unrelated, at least in an explicit sense. Many of the other comments before mine talked about a lack of decent closure and I couldn’t disagree.

I think it’s interesting to note that the story seems somewhat chaotic based upon what the reader chooses to explore. In some ways I found it a metaphor for how it would feel to be in the main character’s shoes after such an accident. If you think about how you’d react to such an event, and the consequential confusion that would result, it could be understood this story attempts to replicate such an experience.

After going deep into all of the IFs I really began to notice a progress in my ability to function in such virtual worlds. The first IF I attempted was Photopia. After 10 minutes I was too pissed off to continue. I wanted to go into it with little context and instruction as I do with most works, yet it became pretty clear it was necessary to obtain some form of explanation of functioning within IFs. When we did the single ending IF in class, it really helped me understand how IFs work and I began to have more confidence in working with Photopia and the others.

I decided to work with Pig first and worked my way through it fairly well. I really enjoyed myself with Pig because it was funny and laid back. I felt no rush or anger as I had previously with Photopia. I think that whatever character the user must be plays a large role in how they go about going through the IF. With Pig, I felt like nothing I did was wrong, I felt little responsibility in my actions. This (along with the HELP page telling me there’s no way to get stuck) also lead me to have more fun with the commands since I tried to do a lot more from burning everything I see to kicking and singing as I pleased.

After playing all the IFs I was inspired to find my MYST online and play it. I remember when my Brother and I were little kids we used to play MYST constantly and loved it. As I play it almost a decade later, I realize why we had such a fascination with it. It has all the attractive elements of CYOAs and IFs. It takes user interaction to a new level from a visual standpoint. Basically, for those not familiar with MYST, it’s an old PC adventure game. I wouldn’t say it was the first of its kind, but it was a major frontrunner in the genre. The game works just like a CYOA and IF by allowing the user to explore a virtual world. The different being it’s not based on a text but visuals. The virtual world is comprised of a large series of interactive (and many times “alive”) views/pictures. On each picture the user clicks on objects in order to examine and work them, while moving throughout the massive world by clicking places in the distance in order to walk around. When the user clicks a place in the distance, they will move there and be given a new view in which more paths, puzzles, and/or objects are present. In an essence, this takes CYOA and IFs to a new level. Unfortunately, with the addition of such visuals some freedoms are taken away. While many adventure games contain dialogue, such games like MYST lack an amount of characters due to its isolated context. However, there is a very strong narrative presence with all adventure games and MYST is no different.

Before I did my map, I wondered about the connections between choices and outcomes. I wanted to know if there could be any distinguishable trends with how to story plays out based upon the choices you make. After I finished my rough draft, it was difficult to tell how the storylines played out. For my final version, I auto formatted it with straight lines which created a much more understandable map. It was then easy for me to see how the choices led to their respective outcomes. After looking over the final version, I realize there was really no trends and similar choices led to random and different endings. Interesting to note, choosing to follow a stranger early on in the story is the only way to get to the bulk of the story.

The map also broke the story into 4 main tree sections, creating a great visual of the story. Like a key, it allowed me to see which nodes opened to the biggest structures and which choices lead to quick endings, good or bad. Additionally, the map revealed the book’s simplicity and lack of depth by pointing out the low amount of nodes and the accompanying two choices.