My Term Paper

Peter de Saint Phalle
1501 ART
New Communications and Technologies
Term Essay

Narratology: The Future of Gaming

In the past three decades we have seen videogames and aspects of virtual, interactive gaming evolve dramatically. As the years have passed, games have become more realistic and more accessible to gamers everywhere. Games have strayed away from the seemingly mindless entertainment of the ATARI age and have entered into a realm of interactive, complex game play[9]. But what makes a game of today worth buying? What criteria must a game possess in order for a gamer to gain the ultimate gaming experience? Over the years, there have been many approaches in answering these questions, two of which have gained the most notoriety: that which concerns Ludology and that which concerns Narratology. Proponents of Ludology, or Ludologists assert that the value of a game lies in how well a game simulates a situation or, to put it bluntly, how well a game plays. Narratologists, on the other hand, argue that a game’s value lies within the storyline, the settings, and the characters that the game constructs and introduces to the gamer [10]. Through my personal experience with game-play as well as through the research I have conducted on the subject, I have concluded that a game’s value mostly lies in Narratology, or in the game’s ability to construct a sound and interesting narrative. To merely have a game that possesses smooth game-play is not enough to make a game valuable in our modern day society. The game that functions well and has an intriguing storyline will be the game that provides players with the ultimate gaming experience.
Ludologists often argue that videogames play the same role in our society as the board games or card games that have come before them: they are forms of entertainment where people amuse themselves by playing. In his critical essay, Ludologist Gonzalo Frasca states that Narratology is a study that “focuses on small characteristics and without looking for bigger patterns of understanding.”[3] For Frasca, video games prove their legitimacy merely through the way they provide a set of rules to the players which in turn then distinguishes the players as winners and losers in the game:

(games) have a defined set of rules. These rules can be transcribed, and easily transmitted among different players. The game itself is played during the development. The Beginning is a previous step, where the rules are defined and accepted by the players. The Result is the final step, where, according to the rules, a winner and/or loser are designated[3].


This view that computer games are remediated games (and not presentations or narratives) is one that is soon proving to go out of style. Having a game that merely presents a “configurative practice with the gaming situation as a combination of ends, means, rules, equipment, and manipulative action”[7] is only characteristic of games of the past. Old games, nostalgically deemed “classics” like Tetris and Pong have indeed proved popular ever since their respective inceptions during the mid 1980’s; but is this because these ‘classics’ are innovative games or is it something different? Games of old are largely those games that only present gaming as a configurative practice. The result of which is mindless gaming. Any player with little or no effort can play games like Tetris for hours on end with little recollection of the game on completion[8]. Such an experience could be compared to driving yourself home and forgetting the route you just took upon entering your driveway. The result of a game that is entirely constructed in a configurative way is mindless gaming that is hardly memorable or rewarding. A game that is focused on a narrative, on the other hand, proves to give its player a completely different, more challenging, and rewarding experience.
A game with a well-constructed narrative will provide its player with a deeper experience that will prove to be more memorable. In his critical essay, Narratologist Markku Eskelinen defines narratives as that which possesses both Events and Existents:

Events are divided into actions and happenings based on their agency, and into kernels and satellites based on their relative importance... Existents are divided into characters and settings based on their significance for the plot, and they are also divided according to different degrees of permanence into identities, traits and moods…[6]

But what is it that makes these events and existents well-prepared and memorable? It seems that what makes a good narrative in a video game can be closely linked to what makes a good narrative in a work of literature. A comprehensive narrative is often that which is easily accessible to its reader, or in the case of video games, its player. What makes a narrative accessible often lies in the game’s existents rather than its events. Indeed, successful games like Epic Game’s Gears of War is a game based in an obviously fictitious setting, but it possesses a character with whom many gamers can identify with. No sane person could really ever expect to be combating aliens with the fate of human society in jeopardy, but most all gamers can readily identify with protagonist Marcus Fenix: a representation of the everyman - often in trouble with authoritative figures yet morally well preserved. A protagonist with whom gamers can regularly identify with definitely renders a game’s narrative more compelling to its players.
But what about the game’s storyline? There are many games out there whose campaign modes intrigue players enough to play through once but are not enjoyable or challenging enough to return to ever again. The games that are truly valuable are those that compel gamers to play over and over again. The question, then, is what makes a storyline memorable and, more importantly, re-playable. In his essay, Casual Notes on the Mystery Novel, crime-fiction novelist and prolific writer Raymond Chandler, explains that the best Mystery novels are those whose solution to the mystery is not the main draw to its readers – that the novel possess a story that is sound enough to make the reader reread the novel though they already have found out who the culprit may be[2]. We can see that Chandler’s critiques can be readily applied to games. Games such as the popular Grand Theft Auto gaming franchise are so popular with consumers because gamers can replay missions over and over again[5]. Even when the game is complete and the protagonist’s ultimate fate has been revealed, gamers will return to the game. The game’s campaign possesses missions that are intricate and intriguing enough to replay over and over.
In this day and age, it is no longer compelling to play a game that merely performs well. Smooth game play must be combined with strong and intriguing narratives in order to be considered the utmost success with gamers. Strong narratives include original storylines, agreeable characters, and campaigns that are re-playable.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Bolter, J. David. 1951, Digital Media and Art: Always Already Complicit?Criticism - Volume 49, Number 1, Winter 2007, pp. 107-118

2. Chandler, Raymond. 1949, Casual Notes on the Mystery Novel, Dorothy Gardner & Katherine Sorley Walker, eds, London.

3. Fransca, Gonzalo. 1999, Ludology Meets Narratology: Similitude and Differences Between Videogames and Narrative, Parnasso and Helinski, New York.

4. Jesper Juul, A clash between game and narrative, op. cit., http://www.jesperjuul.dk/thesis/4-theoryofthecomputergame.html

5. Konzack, L. (2007). The Players’ Realm: Studies on the Culture of Video Games and Gaming. In J. P. Williams & J. H. Smith (Eds..), Rhetorics of Computer and Video Game Research (p. 110-130). Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc.

6. Markku Eskelinen. 2001, ‘The Gaming Situation’, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 3-8.

7. Murray, Janet H. 2005, The Last Word on Ludology v Narratology in Game Studies, Georgia Institute of Technology Press, Atlanta, Georgia.

8. Ryan, Marie-Laure. 2001, ‘Beyond Myth and Metaphor: The Case of Narrative in Digital Media’, vol. 1, no. 1, pp.12-16.

9. SuperSite Blog, US video game sales, March 2008, Available at: http://community.winsupersite.com/blogs/paul/archive/2008/04/18/us-video-game-sales-march-2008.aspx

10. Wikipedia 2008, Game Studies, Available at: Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_studies