Big Game Hunting - Game Invaders: The Theory and Understanding of Computer Games - page 187

Do any of the aesthetics apart from agency and presence come into play? Trans-
formation always comes into play in the sense of “loss of self” or “enhanced self”
or “ other self. ” In determining player types this basic distinction is very important.
Does narrative potential not make much sense, or is there a back-story, does it turn
into virtual storytelling? How important for the game is co-presence and does this
mean being with other people or NPCs?
Do semiotic codes such as the social code need to be employed to make sense
of and play the game? If yes, then the real world of people and things is central to
the game and those who want to lose themselves in a game might be put off.
Is the internal economy set in the game engine, or is it in the hands of the
players? If the latter is the case then people who might “play” Second Life may well
be interested because the game or environment will be a lot closer to reality. If the
former, then the main game-playing types will be happy with the illusion of whatever
reality they have bought and are playing into.
These are just a few of the questions you could ask; there are many more. And
these questions are not mutually exclusive. You can have a game with lots of attrac-
tors to choose from that may or may not give you time to think. “Loss of self” can go
with either of the possibilities in the previous sentence, but does it go with the need
for strong narrative building and extensive use of social codes? So the combinations
are quite endless and all fi t within the code of interaction as laid out in Chapter 11.
It is amazing to think just how many game types actually fi t within what fi rst
appears to be the very rigid, unforgiving concept of compulsive repetition that
essentially defi nes computer games. To help you think about compulsive repetition,
you could also think about an appropriate activity profi le of the genre characteristics
of your game. Will these characteristics appeal to target player types? Throughout
the topic we've made use of GIL to support as much of our theoretical and analytical
work as we can. You can go on using GIL yourselves. It is a great starting point for
playing with ideas about games in a very free and easy manner. You can, for instance,
set up your own activity profi le and see if anyone has made a game like that already.
On its own, GIL is an amazing resource. Used in conjunction with the other theories
and models in this topic it is even more amazing and powerful. On the website you
will fi nd tutorials and other materials to help you make the best use of it.
What about narrative potential, transformation, and co-presence? Can these help
to give you an angle on why compulsive repetition will overtake your game' s
players? Think about the code of interaction. The analysis provided by GIL can be
applied to help show what drove the whole interactive process forward; it is the
buildup of these pleasures that feeds compulsive repetition.
You are almost out now, almost free. You could make a run for it. No one would
be any the wiser; but you might be!
BIG GAME HUNTING
It is now over ten years since the fi rst paper on perceptual opportunities was pub-
lished and even longer since the theories and processes that are at the heart of this