First Person Response #2: Videogames of the Oppressed

From the first page of this I already liked the idea of using Aristotle’s Poetics to break down ideas in games. I used it a lot in my high school Poets and Playwrights class, so I’m fairly familiar with the text. I fully agree, as I think Poetics can be used with almost any medium. I also was interested in the idea of games as more simulation than narrative. One quote that brings this to light is “In temporal terms, narrative is about what already happened while simulation is about what could happen.” SimCity is a good example of this, talking about making a copy of Paris, but changing things. Simulations are very much about exploration: You build, you learn, you figure out different possibilities, and you can easily destroy what you create, at least in the case of SimCity.

Frankenstein

Well, now that the novel has come to a close, I must admit, I saw a lot of the “game” aspect in this, with the active reading through many narrators, and many themes inside the book. For instance, Frankenstein cheating at the games of life and death. Much of my reaction we covered (and probably will cover) in class, however.

Reading Response 1

Well, I must say that I’ve found the reading to be fascinating. The text from First Person was really interesting in how it went into what games are and aren’t. Games really are diverse: They’re art, but not one form of art, as they are many forms. They have text usually, some have visuals, some are translations of films and books, and they are all interactive. I also found one other quote interesting. “We might say that unlike literature, games are not about the Other, they are about the Self.” I find this to be very true. In the game, you’re not merely playing that character, you control that character. You make them live, and you move them forward in life. It is this kind of personal touch that you don’t really get from a novel or film. In games like The Sims, you don’t just see what others are doing, and you don’t just control them, you build their world. There’s an omnipotence factor as well.

In the next chapter of G4M3R 7H30RY, I enjoyed reading about The Sims. This idea of the “allegorithm” is a pretty fresh look at things. A metaphor with a strict process, very true for a lot of games. I’m liking this interactive text, it really pulls you in, and it’s easy to read. Wark does a fantastic job of drawing the reader in, and I like the comment system also.