Time to Visit Yokosuka - Game Invaders: The Theory and Understanding of Computer Games - page 132

the original narrative form and turns it into an interactive mystery. The viewer can
try and fi nd out about the origami unicorn and other such fi gures, and can observe
the mysterious red-eye effect seen in replicants and wonder whether Deckard there-
fore is a replicant. There are levels of meaning which remain largely inaccessible if
we cannot disrupt the directorial narrative fl ow. But this does not invalidate the fi lm
as a fi lm. We can and do always go back to view the fi lm as the director intended
in real time.
Blade Runner the fi lm gave rise to Blade Runner the game, a classic point - and -
click adventure that is a predecessor to Shenmue. The authors believe that Shenmue
did in turn redefi ne the computer game by fi nding a way to integrate agency and
narrative so successfully. We may well be talking about the virtual storytelling genre
in the very near future. In its way, Shenmue raises the same questions as Rez, for
instance, “Can computer games appeal to more sophisticated aesthetic pleasures than
those offered by an FPS or a beat -' em - up ?” I believe the answer is the same,
“ Yes! ”— but for differing reasons.
One further point before fi nishing this chapter. At the end of the previous chapter
we made the point that much of what we have been talking about here remains
unanalyzed by the methods and theories we are working with. Toward the end of
the previous chapter we observed that much of what allows us to make sense of a
game like Driver relies on what we already know about the United States, organized
crime, and so on. Of course, much of what we know will come from TV and fi lms
and not from any direct knowledge of or contact with gangsters. The same is true
for Shenmue for Clive, who has never been to Japan. In order to make sense of such
things, to make meaning out of them, we bring into play the knowledge and meaning-
making strategies we use in the real world. It will be interesting to investigate the
relationship between these and the theories introduced so far. That is the subject of
the next two chapters; a signifi cant further outcome will be an overall theory for
video games. Read on.
FURTHER READING AND TASKS
All the references for POs and so on were given in the previous two chapters. As
for tasks? We are sure you know what to do now. Continue with the SimCity Classic
case study:
1. Use GIL to think about genre, twitch factor, and activity profi ling. Does GIL
have data on this version of OpenCity? If not, can you use the data GIL does
have on later versions of the game to get an idea of Classic's activity profi le
and twitch factor?
2. How do these relate to the Table of Surprises and all that it reveals about the
game?
3. With agency already fi rmly established, you can now go on to think about
the rest of aesthetics: narrative potential, transformation, co-presence, and
presence.