Lesson 7: Gaming Culture Flashcards
What makes FPS culture interesting for study (3)
-Specialized language, community, identity, how people represent selves and others-Who is/isn’t hardcore gamer, questions dedication-Clans/teams, gaming cultures unto themselves
Name genre-defining FPSs and why
-Dungeons of Daggarath: No guns! But defining. Multi-level maze, varied/increasingly difficult enemies, and monsters made sound off scrren-Wolfenstein: beating heart, heavy breathing when damaged-Doom: Fast, scary, dark-Quake: Standardized control scheme, benchmark online connectivity, gave players tools to modify games themselves!-Half-Life: Added story/narrative to FPS, interactive NPCs, scripted events-Unreal Tournament: Team deathmatch & CTF, tracked player statistics-Halo: All these elements into an elegant package?
What was the linguistic Turn? How might it relate to gamer language?
The Linguistic Turn was a major development in western philosophy that focused on the rl between language and philosophy, and how it can be used to maintain authority/power/culture. Gamer language can be used to answer who does/doesn’t count as a gamer.
What is semiotics?
Semiotics the study of linguistic structures, signs and symbols. It is the rl between the words we use to describe things (signs/symbols) andthe concepts in our heads we conceive when that word is used. E.g. Train in WoW has 6-7 meanings, yet only has those meanings within that culture.
How did Stuart Hall say we understand culture? And what did he say about determinign the meaning of a text?
Stuart Hall argued that we understand culture through language, and that a text’s meaning is negotiated within a social community. As in, the audience determines the meaning of a text according to their experience/worldviews, not a single individual or the designer.
What is the problem with the term hardcore gamer (3 examples). What’s a better way to classify gamers?
A better way to label gamers is instead by style of play. Are you hardcore if you play words with friends for hours, CoD for hours, or grind dark souls for a couple hours on the weekends?
Why do arcades thrive in Japan and not NA/Europe?
Why do arcades thrive in Japan and not NA/Europe?-Third space for youth, outside of school/home in an unsupervised social framework, so thrived-Arcades designed specifically for adults in Japan-NA homes/schools less regimented, so didn’t serve as great a purpose, and rarely served adults-Japanese publishers like Sega/Namco/Square Enix actively support game centres, and develop games specifically for them. NA, only owned by individuals, w/o publisher support.
What is a material artifact? What must we refrain from doing when analyzing material artifacts?
Material Artifact is an object made or shaped by human hands. To make sense of a dead gamer w/ hardware, need some kind of theory to guide the chronology of hardware. Memory, controller complexity? These all put the consoles out of chronological order actually! The problem is that these distinctions ignore the artifiact’s situation in culture, and make arbitrary distinctions.
What is a tie-in, and how has it changed over time? What cultures do large IPs give rise to?
A tie-in is when a company collaborates with marketing/finance/advertising companies to release a title across several mediums, like the Harry Potter franchise (movie, book, game). In the past, outsourcing was rare (Days in LA by American McGee panned), but more common now, esp. for art. Localization was also rare, now games routinely into many languages. Both Cosplaying and craft markets like Etsy rely heavily on gaming IPs to contribute to a game’s material culture.
Indies exchange what for what? What do they try to find a balance between?
Indies exchange high production value for superior mechanics and addictive gameplay, and try to find a balance between expressive and economic value.
In what ways do indies define themselves, and differentiate themselves through their products and processes?
-No investors, so greater creative control over design (Gunpoint creator)-Place selves in opposition to AAA studios, but some say we’re still all part of capitalism (hello humble bundle)-Smaller budget and smaller scale games-Art & music even described as indie, 8bit or 16bit (cave story)-Tend to produce web-based or mobile games-Tend to self-market through social media (huge for superbrothers!!) and self publish through digital distribution
What was indie like in the olden days?
Yet, Indie isn’t a completely new movement. Developers in olden days would sell their games in plastic baggies, or as shareware.
What was the first Easter Egg, by whom, and why was it done?
Warren Robinette created the first Easter Egg in Adventure. A room with his name because we wasn’t paid well, credited, or given royalties.
What is modding, and what are two famous examples of remakes?
Modding is altering a game to sut some particular goal. Kings Quest 3 and Black Mesa are two of the best examples of remakes.
What interesting question do remakes and demakes bring up?
Remakes and demakes bring up an interesting question: What is considered faithful to the original game? or what is non-canonical?
