If something is specialised, it means it does one thing, and it does one thing well. The video game industry is a specialised industry, and does things very differently from the film industry, the newspaper industry, and from every other industry.
The following notes came from an initial discussion on videogames, conducted with two separate classes.
What are some issues with teaching and studying video games?
- Not every student has the same experience, with some some students being extremely knowledgeable, and others choosing not to engage at all
- Video Games are expensive, and also require a significant time commitment
- Videogames are so completely different from one another, that they require completely different approaches
- No one can agree on how we study them. Approaches include an analytical approach (narratology) or a ‘gameplay’ approach (ludology)
- People who play videogames are still unfairly stereotyped, and the study of games is often seen as being unworthy of academic attention (although this is changing!)
In what ways do videogames represent a specialised industry? How do they differ from other media?
- Videogames are interactive, and require active audience participation
- Videogames often have interactive narratives that can be personalised to audience expectation
- Video Games are created by teams of specialists
- Videogames tend to be much longer than other forms media
- You can get better at videogames
- Many videogames are ‘open ended’
- Videogames are often updated with DLC or downloadable content
- Barrier to entry formed through a number of different platforms and high cost of hardware
- An assumption of a ‘hardcore’
- Requirement for accessories
- Accessibility issues
- Often high RRP, though some videogames are based a freemium
- A variety of audience responses
- A self-reflexive industry
- Increasingly, games are community based and distributed
- Videogames are increasingly digitally distributed on platforms such as STEAM, GOG, PS Store
- Heavily reliant on word of mouth and audience trends
- Completely different structure and mode of communication to other forms of media. Eg: some games are endless
- Videogames can be competitive
- Video Games are interactive (usually :) )
- Less story focussed (sometimes!)
- Requires active participation
- Not everyone can play games in the same way
- An assumption that videogames can negatively affect the audience, for example addiction, corruption of the audience???
- Items in games can have monetary value, and playing video games can be a huge financial investment
- Industry makes money off of dedicated fans
- Careers playing games are possible, eg esports, with prizes reaching the tens of millions
- Hardware/platform dependant
- Different control schemes
- Higher RRP… but many games use a ‘freemium’ model
- Lack of regulation/ineffective regulation
- Reliance on patches, ‘publish then filter’
- DLC: downloadable content
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| While there are many assumptions and statements that can be made about the form and function of videogames, to an even greater extent than other media, there are significant outliers to these characteristics. An excellent example of a game with little or no 'interactivity' is the visual novel/postmodern metaphysical crime drama (!) Umineko, which, despite having a script over 1000000 words long (that's longer than ever Harry Potter book put together!) has only one, single interaction that is ever made by the player. Even categorising Umineko as a game is contentious, although the 'player' is encouraged to actively engage with the ridiculously complex mystery, reading through endless dialogue and character biographies and scene descriptions, even if they technically cannot 'change the story' in a meaningful and quantifiable way. And, to further muddy the waters, Umineko was initially drawn, written and coded by a single person, and sold directly to fans at a Japanese convention called Comiket by the producer himself. Clearly this is a very different experience to those offered by AAA game studios! |