Game Invaders

CLIVE FENCOTT, PhD, is a freelance writer and researcher in new media. For many years, he taught and researched the theory of computer games at Teesside University in the UK. He also worked in the games industry. Dr. Fencott has authored over fifty publications, including the successful textbook Formal Methods for Concurrency. MIKE LOCKYER, BSc, PhD, is a Professor of Web Services at Teesside University, where he has taught for over twenty-five years. He has published over thirty journal papers, successfully supervised more than ten PhDs, and is currently involved with developments in web services and rich client applications. JO CLAY completed a multimedia master's degree at Teesside University, under the supervision of Clive Fencott, before joining the games analysis team. As a gamer herself and apprentice semiotician, Jo assisted in the development of the Game Invaders method for application in computer software. PAUL MASSEY, CEng, MBCS, CITP, is a senior lecturer in computing at Teesside University, where he teaches and consults on databases. Paul believes databases are central to most IT systems and applies techniques (such as data mining) to a range of disciplines (such as games analysis and decision support).

Preface ix

Abbreviations xi

Part I Why Do People Play Games?

1. You Are the One 3

Tools to Think With 5

Getting Started 8

Summary 12

2. Genre 13

What Are Genres? 14

What Are Genres For? 16

Genre Maps 18

Computer Game Genres 19

A Theory of Computer Game Genres 21

Summary 25

Further Reading and Tasks 26

3. Activity 29

The Story of Activity Groups 29

An Overview of Activity Profiles 33

Three Driving Games 35

Calculating Genres 38

Summary 43

Tasks 44

4. Pleasure 45

Aesthetics and Computer Games 47

Spacewar 51

Zork 52

Pac-Man 56

Comparative Aesthetics 57

Summary 59

Tasks 60

5. Two Rail-Shooters 61

Star Fox and Rez 61

Activity Profiling and Genre Theory 63

Applying Aesthetic Theory 65

The Method of Game Analysis 67

Tetsuya Mizuguchi, Rez, and Beyond 67

Summary 69

Further Reading and Tasks 70

6. Why Don’t People Play Games 71

What Do We Mean by Games? 72

Resident Evil 73

Why Not Ask the Players? 75

Emotional Models of Play 76

Player Types 79

Demographic Research 81

Why Don’t People Play Games? 82

Conclusions 83

Part II What Is a Game?

7. Just an Ordinary Day 87

The Glass Vial 89

Unrealisms 90

Perceptual Opportunities 91

Sureties 92

Surprises 93

Attractors 93

Connectors 95

Rewards 97

Getting It All Together in SinCity 99

Perceptual Mapping in SinCity 100

AS-OceanFloor 103

Summary 108

Further Reading and Tasks 109

8. Big Bad Streets 111

Driver School 111

Sureties 113

Surprises 114

Driver and SinCity Comparisons 119

Summary 122

Further Reading and Tasks 123

9. Time to Visit Yokosuka 125

Shenmue 125

Genre and Activity Profile 126

Aesthetics 128

Shenmue POs 129

PSAS and Cut Scenes 131

Interactive Storytelling? 133

And On With General Aesthetics 134

Summary 135

Further Reading and Tasks 137

10. Meaning What? 139

Semiotics and Signs 140

Pac-Man’s Signs 143

Icons, Indexes, and Symbols 144

Denotation, Connotation, and Myth 146

Syntagms and Paradigms 148

Codes 151

Making Up Pac-Man 154

Filling Gaps 155

Summary 159

Further Reading and Tasks 161

11. All Work and Play 163

The Work of Meaning 164

Signs of Interaction 167

The Mechanics of Interaction 170

The Inside-Out Code 176

Where Is the Player? 178

Summary 180

Further Reading and Tasks 181

12. Big Game Hunting 183

Semiosphere 183

The Code of Interaction 185

The Myth of Interaction 189

What Is a Game? 191

How Do You Get Out of Here? 192

Big Game Hunting 194

Glossary 197

List of Games 203

Bibliography 205

Index 207