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narratives

September Roundup: ‘Maps’

…a conceptual, social, ideological practice. World maps often provide a unifying theme for narrative, but are also narratives.”

With a second contribution for the month, RJ Davnall joins in the social commentary to suggests that Karol’s mapmaking in Tales of Vesperia as an expression of masculinity, control, and privilege.

Joining us from HoeyBoey, Joseph Dwan talks about the act of map making as a mechanic in The Etrian Odyssey but also about how the need for a map sets us apart as outsiders.

Meanwhile, Andrew Yoder discusses how certain spaces facilitate or prompt certain behaviors…

November 22nd

…A lot of people sat down with a lot of other people this week. First, Critical Distance’s own Eric Swain had Cara Ellison on his podcast to discuss her recently published book Embed With.

At The Mary Sue, Emma Fissenden spoke with Ann Lemay, a current writer for Bioware, on the ins and outs of working with games narratives:

There’s a lot of iteration in our work. There’s a lot of having to let go of ideas you really wanted to run with, there’s trying to make something that needs to be in the game fit, and

…

March 6th

…games culture has been to create a perfect marriage of story and interactivity. This week, four pieces challenge that in different ways, with one arguing that romance with less player agency is an interesting narrative proposition in its own right, and three pieces that praise narratives which embrace action rather than offer a commentary on it.

  • ‘Firewatch’ Makes You the Romanceable Companion Sylvia at FemHype makes a compelling argument that Firewatch could change the range of design choices for portraying romance in video games.

“Part of the beauty and lasting impact of Firewatch is in

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April 10th

…game for me, and I’d scramble to find “objective design flaws” to justify it. Once I could internalize that every experience is subjective, seeking walkthroughs is a natural extension. I can roll with the punches, take a game’s goodness and leave its badness. It’s only natural for me to reach for help when I’m challenged past my understanding.”

Outer space

Games are not only for children, but the medium’s enduring association with adolescence creates a supportive environment for narratives about relating morally to other people, and the reasons why a person might feel isolated. Content warning: spoilers…

May 22nd

This week sees some fantastic thoughts on role-playing. Which roles are represented in narratives, what it would have been like to play a particular role in its historical context, and how we deal with the pressure to perform in a particular role.

A dance teacher once told me that she sometimes tries on different people’s walks, to feel what it is like to be in their body. She said that it freaks people out, that somehow people can tell you’re doing it and it’s disconcerting. Some of the pieces this week make me think about game design as

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July 4th

…firsthand, and offers no consolation for the severity of such evils.”

What does this tell you?

Another major theme this week is inventive narrative strategies, with some people finding new ways to tell stories with interactive media; and others critiquing the tropes and structures of old.

  • Fatherhood isn’t the shortcut to emotional complexity games wish it was • Eurogamer.net Nathan Ditum critiques the shallow narratives of dad games.
  • Asemblance is a fresh spin on memory and narrative from some ex-Bungie devs • Eurogamer.net Christian Donlan praises some new trends in storytelling that create experiences…

October 9th

…what’s a certainty in the game. If what was shown in the marketing materials is possible in No Man’s Sky, then Hello Games have done nothing wrong, but if the version of the game that was released doesn’t allow for those possibilities then there’s a potential issue.”

Fostering dependence

Sound and interaction in games can create subversive narratives, playing on our expectations and reversing the expected outcome. These two pieces address the importance of silence in sound design, and weakness in player-character empowerment.

  • Indie Horror Month 2016: The Quiet Apocalypse of ‘The Final Station’ |…

November 6th

…Self-Confidence

Two of Waypoint‘s first features look at conditions in workplaces and in a prison, giving us a solid look at how games intersect with some of the fundamental institutions that underpin American society.

  • The Curious Appeal of Crunch – Waypoint The influence of personal investment and heroic narratives on labor conditions in gaming are laid bare, forcing readers to confront the uncomfortably fuzzy boundary between individual free will and social control.
  • Dragons in the Department of Corrections – Waypoint In a remarkable and rare feature, Elizabeth de Kleer interviews tabletop RPG players in prison, learning

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Everyone should have access to critical education

…“fake news” on Facebook is a mistake. It’s not just about the fact that people cannot tell the difference between real news and fake news. People do not get practice at thinking about how news stories connect to one another. They lack tools for making sense of their place in it all, and turn instead to simple narratives that make them feel good about themselves.

Those of us who write about videogames are familiar with media experiences that are engineered to trigger shallow emotions such as pride, anger, disgust, comfort. Videogames, movies, and politics, are all routinely made…

December 11th

…days I’m focusing on trying to express that worldview in my works directly.”

A mere player of videogames

In these pieces, writers show how narratives about the agency of player-characters in fictional worlds collide with the agency of the players themselves in the design of a game’s systems.

  • Exposition Dumps Don’t Need Dialogue in ‘Virginia’ | PopMatters Nick Dinicola explores how the silent game could have used its limited play time and lack of dialogue more effectively.
  • Controlling Fathers and Devoted Daughters – First Person Scholar Sarah Stang argues that the daddification of games…