What is a game?

15/10/10

Play and game

-is there a difference?

-Play is a wide activity being only a part of ‘game’

-Play is looser, less organized than games

-Games containing play, “subset of games”

-David Partlett, game historian.

Formal game had ends and means

Ends- contest to achieve objective

Means- set of rules and materials

-John Huizinga : Homo Ludens.

Play as- outside ordinary life, ‘not serious’, Absorbing, not associated with material gain, proceeds according to rules, has own time and space, creates social rules

-Roger Caillois

Play as- free, separate, uncertain, unproductive, governed by rules, make –believe-

Seemed to be very ahead of his time.

-Bernard Suits

‘To play a game is to engage in activity directed towards bringing about a specific state of affairs, using only a means permitted by rules...’

Play as- Activity, voluntary, goals, rules, *inefficiency, *acceptance of rules. *Lursory attitude.

‘Art of cheating’ Chris Crawford

Qualities of games:

Representation-Closed formal system that represents a subset of reality

Interaction- Allows audiences to create causes and observe effects.

Conflict- Arises naturally from interaction. Intrinsic element in every game.

Safety-Conflict=danger=harm, harm is undesirable –Excludes physical realisations to harm.

Adrenaline- Games affect this.

Greg Castikyan

“Game as a form of art”

Art-games as a culture

Decision- Making players

Resource management- player decisions hinge on manipulating recourses

Game tokens- The means by which players enact their decisions

Goals- objective

COMPETITION = appeal

Elliott Avedon and Brian Sutton

“Games are an exercises of voluntary control systems..”

-Exercise of control systems-some form of intellectual activity

-Voluntary

-Contest between powers

-Confined by rules

-Disequilibrium outcome

‘Rules of play’ 2004

“Players engage in artificial conflict defined by rules, result..”

-System

-Players

-Artificial

-Conflict

-Rules

-Quantifiable outcome

Games as SYSTEM

Group of interacting, interrelated, or independent elements forming a complex whole

-Objects

-Attributes

-Internal relationships

-environment

Framing systems

-Formal: Strictly strategic and mathematical

-Experiential

-Cultural

Chess as formal

-Objects: pieces

-Attributes: Movement and piece jobs

-Internal relationships: Position on board

-Environment- Environment for interaction of objects

As experiential

-Objects: Players

-Attributes: Pieces each player controls

-Internal relationships: Player interactions

-Environment: Mode of play

As Cultural

-Objects: The game itself

-Attributes: Elements of game how, why, when, by whom

-Internal relationships: Link of game and culture itself, relationship between black and white? Goo vs. Evil?

-Environment: Total environment itself for cultural framing.

GTA IV

Formal

-Objects: Avatars, environments

-Attributes: Ways of acting, moving

-Internal relationships: Position of character, in danger or safe?

-Environment: Whole ‘game world’

Experiential

-Objects: Player, AI

-Attributes: Avatar or character

-Internal relationships: Player and game

-Environment: ‘Game world’ play both mentally and physical

Cultural

-Objects: Location in culture. Film, movie etc.

-Attributes: Designed elements, who made it etc.

-Internal relationships: Russian relationship to US, Portrayal of US culture

-Environment: Whole culture, cultural discourse.

These Framing systems are good for analysis and critique.

All 3 exist together, consider how they interact together to achieve the balance.