All Work and Play - Game Invaders: The Theory and Understanding of Computer Games - page 172

WHERE IS THE PLAYER?

This chapter is very much about the relationship between the player and the game
and the work the player has to do to affect change in the game. So far we have not
considered the actual nature of the signs of intervention, the interface technologies.
We have in fact assumed a typical console or PC interface that consists of:

• A player sitting/standing outside the game and holding its enabling technolo-
gies in his/her hands
• Some device or devices: Control pad, mouse, keyboard, joy stick, etc., that
turns button presses and the like into electrical signals
• These signals are then conveyed to the console or PC and translated into
changes in the interactive sign.

Think back to that photo of people playing Spacewar in 1962: the fi rst link under
Spacewar in the List of Games at the back of this topic. CBS cope very well with
this scenario, but it isn't the only one. In fact, the games industry is in a phase of
great change set off in many respects by the release of the Nintendo Wii in 2006.
So, when we asked the question “Where is the player?” what we actually meant was
“Where is the player with respect to the game and the gameplay technology?” Other
gameplay technologies have appeared since the release of the Wii, Microsoft' s
Kinect is only one example, and they are making this question even more pertinent.
Using CBS we can gain some insight into what's going on here.
In Table 11.3 we see a number of game technologies represented in column one.
Some will be familiar, some won't. We will introduce them briefl y before discussing
the rest of the table and its signifi cance.
We can't imagine that anyone reading this topic hasn't heard of and most prob-
ably played games on the Wii. Basically, the Wii interface augments the traditional
game controller with an accelerometer and infrared tracking technologies to allow
players to mix in far more intuitive body actions with traditional button presses and
so on. The Wii sparked a revolution in the games world that brought in a far wider
player demographic and established commercial potential for casual games. Other

Table 11.3 Where Is the Player?

Game Technology Outside Game Signs of Intervention Interactive Sign

Traditional console/
PC

Player Button, keyboard,

joystick, etc.

Avatar, car/vehicle, other

Wii Tennis Player Wii Remote and

Nunchuck

Avatar, car/vehicle, other

Great Street Games
Kinect Joy Ride

Player
Player

Avatar, car/vehicle, other
Avatar, car/vehicle, other

DS Brain Training
Kinect Quiz Game

Player
Player