Time to Visit Yokosuka - Game Invaders: The Theory and Understanding of Computer Games - page 124

6. The game engine then loads the fi les that represent whatever is on the other
side of the door: our reward ,
7. Within the reward we search for the next attractor and the cycle continues.
There are several interesting points to note here. It is quite unusual for the phy-
sical interface, the controller in the form of a graphic representing the red A, to be
represented within the game itself. It should be a shock that reminds us we are in an
artifi cial environment. It would normally remind players that this world is mediated
and that button presses are analogous to walking and running, for instance. This
technique is used extensively in Shenmue and extended in the QTEs where agency
is very simplifi ed, an obvious abstraction of the real world. The fact that for the vast
majority of players the red A is not a shock but an enhancement of gameplay points
once again to the positive role unrealisms often play in games. The encroachment of
the red A into the game world is also used to highlight possibilities for agency that
are not obvious from the game logic the player has so far encountered.
We do not always know the PSAS we are to get. If the door is locked we might
get Ryo's thoughts; he might not want to knock because it is late and he does not
want to disturb people. We might hear a request to “go away” from the other side
of the door. This uncertainty of the outcome of exercising agency is used to great
dramatic effect in Shenmue. Perceivable consequences and rewards are not always
what we would desire or expect. False attractors can be great for gameplay.
Most interesting of all, though all from the above sequence, is that the perceiv-
able consequence of exercising agency when in adventure mode — apart from when
we are training—is always a prescripted, sometimes a prerendered, sequence. For
instance, if we want to talk to someone, the perceivable consequence of pressing the
red A when close to that person will be a question from Ryo followed by some sort
of response, not necessarily helpful or polite, from the person he is speaking to. The
conversation can often be continued by another press of the red A—after agency has
been given back—which will result in another question and response.
Why is this so interesting? Well, in most computer games we would trigger a
sensor or touch a switch and the door would open and we would walk through. We
would type a question and wait for the response. But all this would be under our
own volition and if we got in the way of the door we might accidentally stop it
opening properly and perhaps be injured in the process. In Shenmue we lose control
of the details of the act. Exercising agency is rewarded by removal of agency. The
perceivable consequence is a cut scene.
As we have seen in the “opening door” sequence above, agency and POs are
very closely linked. Let's jump straight into POs at this point and investigate
Shenmue's strange form of agency further. Later on we will look at the wider
ramifi cations.
SHENMUE PO S
What do we look for in Shenmue? What kinds of attractors tempt us into forming
intentions? The main attractors are: