Contextual Studies 2

"It [game] proceeds within its own proper boundaries of time and space according to fixed rules and in an orderly manner. It promotes the formation of social groupings that tend to surround themselves with secrecy and to stress the difference from the common world by disguise or other means" -Johan Huizinga,

Huizinga, Johan (1992), Homo Ludens, Beacon Press.

This quote narrates quite fittingly how games can be used as a social medium and will be incorporated into my introduction to give some needed direction to the essay.

I have also come across this interview with Donald Bitzer, in it he discusses the repercussions of what he terms, 'virtual trade', the exchange of in game items. I have used an interesting extract from this interview in my essay to illustrate how games can exist beyond a social for of recreation.

Interview with Bitzer, Donald L., (1988), Interviewed by Sheldon Hochheiser, on 19^th February 1988.

 In support of the quote I use from the video interview in the last post I made,  "What we see now is people playing games, literally on every layer of society, ranging from the Farmville super-world to what we do…we are expanding the imagination of players of the time.” –Richard Hilleman, chief creative officer of EA,

  I will examine the game farmville to show how not all games are for the hardcore solo player and how multi-player can be made more accessible to a wider audience. This has lead me to Zynga's homwpage, where I was surprised to learn that Cityville outshines Farmville by more than double its registered users.

 

Contextual Studies

McGonigal, Jane (2011), Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Change the World, Vintage Books.

This book was recommended to me by through feedback and upon reading the relevent chapters, I have discovered a wealth of facts and supporting opinions to add to my essay. Jane McGonagil writes in depth about how video games can be utilized to change the world, theorizing on the future use of games. The chapters that stand out to me are the ones concerning the social interactions between online players. This ties perfectly into my essay title of :

The Social Aspects of Games and their Potential

to Exist Beyond the Play Medium. 

The book mentions in detail about the psychological effect of MMORPGs on various gamer types. This links in nicely with the papers and documents that I discovered while searching the web. particularly the paper published by Dr. Richard Bartle. 

Dr. Bartle, Richard A., April 2004, the Pitfalls of Virtual Property, The Themis Group, available from http://www.themis-group.com/uploads/Pitfalls%20of%20Virtual%20Property.pdf, last accessed 03/05/12

 The above video features a panel, including Dr. Bartle, being questioned about the effects of multi-player on their lives and its origin as a military for of training.

PLATO, An Early Robust Community of Multiplayer Games , (June 3^rd 2010), Computer History Museum Available from: http://www.platohistory.org/blog/games/, last accessed 03/05/12.

Resources

   Most of the information on styles and designs of different culture armours has come from this book, 'Blandford Warriors and Weapons 3000BC to AD1700. ISBN: 0713707356 Blandford Press LTD. 1972, Niels M. Saxtorph. Illustrated by Stig Bramsen.
   Another source of inspiration for several designs are comic books, specifically the build of a character/ hero and the more armoured costumes such as one worn by Invictus from the Green Lantern series. I feel that superheroes are a good place to begin as the design of most such is that no identifiable source of power can be discerned as the power comes from within. This translates rather well into my brief of Roscillian technology seeming almost magical.

Mountain Watch

A mountain watchtower based on a far away Roscillian Planet. The idea spanned from playing with lighting ideas. I limited myself to 30 minutes for this image as alot of it was experimentation from a thumbnail sketch I had generated earlier.