Two Rail - Shooters - Game Invaders: The Theory and Understanding of Computer Games - page 49

THE METHOD OF GAME ANALYSIS
Just a few thoughts on the way we have been using our theories in this chapter.
Genre analysis and activity profi ling go well together. In this chapter we started out
with some discussion of the genre(s) attributed to the two games by professional
review sites. We then went on to consider the activity profi les for the two games.
The two views are useful. Genre tells us where a game sits within popular game
culture, while the activity profi le is a more objective measure of the way professional
reviewers are thinking about a game. Putting the two together we can arrive at a
quite detailed view, an introduction, to the game.
Twitch factors seem to sit far more readily with aesthetics and, in particular,
can help to confi rm, whether or not our analysis of agency, in particular, is justifi ed.
In this sense they do help to add focus to our investigations into the nature of inten-
tions and perceivable consequences for the game under scrutiny.
So we have the beginnings of a method of analysis here:
1. Start with the high-level views of genre and activity profi ling to get an overall
view of the game;
2. Then use twitch factors as a starting point to begin unraveling agency, before
going on to consider intention and perceivable consequence in more detail;
3. Finally, go on to consider narrative potential, transformation, co-presence,
and presence
In Part II we will add in some more theory and expand on this basic method.
TETSUYA MIZUGUCHI, REZ, AND BEYOND
So Rez is a simple game in terms of our aesthetic principles. Let's pursue this further.
On the back cover of its box Rez is described thus, “Rez is an endorphin machine,
releasing the essence of trance through futuristic sound, visuals, and vibrations.
Journey through cyberspace as visualized by the 'system,' in your quest to awaken
'eden,' . . . can you beat the system? Ladies and Gentlemen, open your senses, go
to synesthesia.”
There are three things going on in this bit of publicity blurb: the back-story
that sets the context for the game, a claim that “Rez is an endorphin machine,”
and the command to “open your senses, go to synesthesia.” What on earth, or else-
where, is going on here and what on earth is an “endorphin machine,” let alone
synesthesia?
It seems to us that the back-story about cyberspace and the “ system ” are just a
way of distancing the game from any notion of simulating anything that might be
conceived of as “ real life. ” We are inside cyberspace “ as visualized by the ' system, ' ”
which basically means that anything goes: so far so good. The fi lm Tron used just
such an approach to simulate a human character getting literally sucked into a com-
puter game.