Socializing Gamers - Wordplay and the Discourse of Video Games - page 21

expectations about how video games work. Gamers learn from the games
they play and lessons carry on to the next game, as certain elements of the
discourse of video games teach them what it means to play games. In prac-
tice, this means that if the tutorials that teach players how to play the game
are increasingly built into the game, the relevance of something like an
instruction manual is marginalized. The limited importance of the instruc-
tion book is further degraded by larger industry trends, like the growth in
the sale of used games and the emergence of a rental market, where games
are unlikely to come with their instructions. As designers are faced with
the reality that players may not have the original materials, the cycle begins
again, because designers cannot assume players have the instructions and
must develop the game so players do not need what they may not have.
The process of socialization into games means that, as the elements of
the discourse of video games change, the context of gaming, including what
it is to play games, who is playing games, and what is considered enjoyable,
is altered. As an example, the approachability of certain games, like Ultima
IV , has shifted over time as contemporary gamers are used to a dif erent
experience than the massive amount of reading and exploration necessary
to succeed in Ultima IV . Instead of reading the two manuals provided with
the game, a contemporary player may want to jump right in, only to fi nd
that the game “isn't too much fun for them” and “they want a radar in the
corner of the screen. They want mission logs. They want fun combat. They
want an in-game tutorial. They want a game that doesn't feel so much like
work.” 4 In addition to the potential for older players to reminisce nostalgi-
cally about the lack of appreciation for the classic games of yore, socializa-
tion also means that concepts like 'video game' and 'gamer' are malleable
over time, changing in response to the overarching dynamics of design and
economic trends in the industry. In so doing, the scene of what constitutes
games and the players/agents who are perceived of as playing games are
altered, potentially taking on new meanings, while prompting feedback on
other elements of the discourse of video games that reconstruct the whole.
In order to better understand what it means to socialize players into games
and develop the elements of socialization more generally, it is instructive to
look to a variety of games to examine how they use words, design, and play
to socialize players.
UNCHARTED 2: AMONG THIEVES
Some of the introductory moments of Uncharted 2 have been sketched
out already, but there is far more to understand how this game socializes
players. A PlayStation 3 exclusive and the sequel to the award-winning
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune , Uncharted 2 was highly anticipated and
critically acclaimed, winning numerous 2009 Game of the Year awards.
Players are positioned in the role of Nathan Drake, a treasure hunter and