Defining Videogames

In James Newman's book, "Videogames", he uses the terms paidea and ludus to describe types of gameplay.


Paidea refers to games which do not have defined goals or objectives. Paidea games can not be won or lost, and the game lasts for as long as the player wants to play.

Minecraft is an example of a paidea videogame:

Minecraft is an online game, where you can build your own 3d environment. There is no limit to how long you can play, or what you are allowed to build.

Some people like to build pretty rooms made of rainbow coloured wool.....

Some people need to be supervised at all times or chaos will ensue.......

Many people have put countless hours into numerous projects, and your project can be as large-scale or as small-scale as you like.

On a side note: when searching through Google for the two pictures above, I came across this: Nyan Cat! :D If you have not heard of the famous Nyan Cat then YouTube it at your peril, the music can and WILL get stuck in your head for long periods of time!

Ludus refers to games that are more constrained by rules, and have a clear outcome, of victory or defeat.

Command and Conquer 3 is an example of a ludus videogame:

Command and Conquer 3 is a Real-Time Strategy game, in which you must collect resources, construct a base, and build an army to complete specific objectives throughout the game. This game does not have much of a paidea aspect, as you are restricted to following the rules within reason. For example, if you try to play the missions in an open-ended, Sim City type way, then your opponents (whether they are computer controlled or player controlled) will most likely come along and destroy you, or the timer for your mission will run out, and you will lose.

Some games can combine both paidea and ludus. For example, in the Nintendo DS game, Scribblenauts, there are many solutions to each puzzle - it is possible to complete levels using methods that the game designers did not foresee. This is known as emergent gameplay, where the gameplay is nonlinear, and the players are encouraged to make up their own solutions to puzzles, instead of always using the most 'sensible' solution.

You can even turn the game completely into a paidea videogame - the menu screen has an interactive open-ended level, where you can spend as long as you like playing around with the vast array of items you can create. You can even choose to ignore the objectives in the main puzzle mode. If the mood strikes you to create a rainbow flying robot unicorn, then go ahead, the game won't stop you. You can even make 'fearless invincible boy + Excalibur + invincible green armoured liger' and ''invincible skeleton warrior + wizard staff + invincible panther', and you've got your very own He-Man and Skeletor battle.

Character Questionnaire - Abby Maitland

For one of our Introduction to Design Methods lessons, we were asked to pick a character and have them be interviewed. I picked Abby Maitland from the tv series Primeval.

What is your name?
Abby Maitland.


What is your sex?
Female.


How old are you?
25.


What is your physique?
I'm athletic - I have to be in my line of work!


Do you see yourself as a hero, an antihero or a villain?
Hero.


Do you have any scars?
Nope.


Do you have any disabilities?
Nope.


What is in your wardrobe?
Lots of stylish but practical outfits, can't go chasing after anomalies in heels!


What are you wearing today?
A red tank-top, cream cargo trousers, black Doc Marten style boots and a grey crop jacket.


What type of person are you deep down?
I care a lot about the people in my life, but I can be tough when I need to be.


Are you happy?
Most of the time.


Are you romantic?
I wouldn't say I'm not romantic necessarily, but relationships aren't high on my priority list at the moment.


Are you brave or a coward?
I guess I'm pretty brave - not many people could survive living in the Cretaceous era for a year!


Where do you live?
I have an apartment in London, near the ARC


What is your home like?
Its pretty cosy, a bit warm though, what with Rex needing the thermostat turned up and all.

What education did you receive?

I used to go to college, but I dropped out when I was offered a job in the lizard house at Wellington Zoo - it was kind of a dream job for me.

What is your job? At the moment I work at the ARC (Anomaly Research Centre). We monitor the anomalies, and protect the public from any creatures that may come wondering through them.

What is your workplace like? Busy, it's never just a quiet day at the office.

What do you do for fun? If I have any time to spare, I like to do yoga and practise kick-boxing. My job is pretty fun in itself though, there's never a dull moment!

Who are your friends? I don't really have any friends outside of the ARC, I don't have the time for it, I'm good friends with most of the people I work with (Connor, Becker, Sarah, Danny and Jess). Lester is pretty close to us all too, even though he'd never admit it.

Who are your family? Your parents, siblings, etc? I don't really keep in contact with my parents much, but my brother tends to stop in from time to time, and likes to cause trouble, like all brothers do.

What is your backstory? What happened before we met? Hmm, well lets see......

I worked as a keeper at Wellington Zoo, specialising in reptiles mostly. And then my boss got eaten by a future predator. After that I started working for people that were investigating the anomalies that these creatures came through, tracking the anomalies and closing them, hopefully before anyone gets hurt. There are a lot of stories from my time working at the ARC, too many to tell, but I did end up stranded in the Cretaceous era for a year once.

What are your fears? Spiders. Reptiles I'm fine with, hey I'm fine with dinosaurs and prehistoric monsters, but spiders...bleugh *shudders*

What are your weaknesses? I care a lot about the animals I work around, and I absolutely hate the thought of them getting hurt.

What are your dreams, desires or goals? (Revenge, love, wealth, etc.) I just want to keep people safe, and help get the prehistoric creatures back to their natural habitats, they don;t belong in our world, being poke and prodded at for research.

How far would you go to achieve your goal?I'll do as much as I can to help them, even if that means trying to sneak them all out so that Philip can't murder them because they are "inconvenient".

Greg Costikyan (2004) I Have No Words & I Must Design: Toward a Critical Vocabulary for Games

Costikyan says:-

"A game is an interactive structure of endogenous meaning that requires players to struggle towards goals"(2004:24)

This statement is made up of several key words:

Game: A puzzle is static and requires the player to find the solution, with their input having no effect on the outcome of the puzzle. A game, however, is not static, and changes depending on the actions of the player.

Interactive Structure: To be interactive, the player's decisions need to have an effect on the game state/outcome of the game. All games must have interaction to be defined as a game, but not all interaction is a game. For example, if you turn a tap, the water will either start or stop flowing out of the tap - this is interaction, but it is not a game.

Endogenous: This term is used to describe things in a game which have no value in the outside world. For example, currency in games has no value outside of that game - you can't pay for your shopping with Monopoly money. Likewise, the armour/weapons/vanity items that are found in games are only valuable in the that game itself. It can be argued that certain items which can be sold to people for real world money (i.e. trading cards that reward in-game items for games such as World of Warcraft) cannot be classed as endogenous to the game. However, the items only have any real value so long as the game remains active, so if World of Warcraft shut down, then the trading card items would no longer have any value.

Struggle: A game without a challenge of some kind is not fun. For example, if a game lead you to making a decision between - A) Giving up and stopping the game, or B) Fighting the final boss of the game and winning instantly, then it would be a very unsatisfying victory. Struggle is also needed to improve the player's skills that are required in the game.

Goals: To be meaningful, a game needs to have goals for the players to strive towards. If the player has no goals to work towards, then they will quickly tire of the game. In RPG games there are often many goals, of which the player can choose to complete freely. For example, the Final Fantasy series has the main story-driven goal, but you can often choose to deviate from the main story and level up, collect cards, obtain secret items or complete small quests that have no effect on the main game.

Jesse Schell (2009) The Art of Games Design: A Book of Lenses

Over the next few years at UCS, Computer Game Design students will be encouraged to increase their knowledge about games design by reading various articles and text books about the subject. The first reading that we were assigned was an excerpt from Jesse Schell's The Art of Games Design: A Book of Lenses. We were asked the question:

"What advice does Schell offer to the would be games designer?"

The first thing Schell says is to "Design games. Start now!". This is simple but very useful advice: designing a computer game involves many different processes and a lot of intricate software. It is important to get as familiar as possible with them, as it would be no use having great ideas, but not be able to actually bring them to life, due to being shaky with the programs needed to design/make a game. Moreover, the more you practise designing games, the better you will become at it, regardless of which medium you use (pencils, paints/watercolours, Photoshop, flash etc).

Schell also says that you need to convince yourself "I am a game designer", even if you don't really feel like one yet. It is important to build your confidence as a designer, because as you work your way into the game design industry, you will often be pitching your ideas to other people: if you don't believe in yourself, then other people are not likely to either. There will almost certainly be times where your ideas aren't accepted, or the client has demanded drastic changes from what you had originally envisioned, but don't lose heart, it is all part of the learning experience - different clients will want different things for their product, and it is vital to learn to be adaptable. This also links in to Schell's next piece of advice, that listening is the most important skill.

Within the game design industry, listening can be grouped into five categories:

Team:

It takes a team to make a game, it is very rare that one person will make a game alone. As a team you will have a larger range of skill than you would alone, and it is important to listen to your team, because you will be building your game and making crucial decisions together.

Audience:

The audience will ultimately be the ones buying your game, so you need to listen to them, and give them a game that they will truly enjoy.

Game:

You need to get to know your game inside and out, and be able to recognise and fix any bugs or other problems that the game may have, so that the audience's enjoyment of the game is not lessened unnecessarily.

Client:

The client is the one who will be paying you to design the game, and if you don't listen to their requirements, then there are many other designers that they can go to. This is especially important for people that are just starting out in the game design industry, as they have not yet had a chance to build up a good reputation and get their name known.

Self:

It is thought of as the most important of kind of listening, and as Schell says,"if you can master it, however, it will be one of your most powerful tools, and the secret behind your tremendous creativity".

Finally, Schell goes on to talk about being gifted. Schell says that being naturally gifted at something is only of minor importance, and says "The major gift is the love of the work". Because if you love the work, it will show in the games you make, and "infuse your work with an indescribable glow that only comes from the love of doing it".

A little bit about me - Critical Games Studies interview

1. What is the title of the last book (fiction) you are currently reading (or the last fiction book you read)?

Mayday by Clive Cussler. Originally I watched the movie Sahara, which was an adaptation of one of the books in this series. I really enjoyed the film, and when I discovered that it was based on a series of books I decided to start reading through them. So far I haven't been disappointed - the plots are interesting and the characters are well thought-out.

2. What is the title/topic of the book (non-fiction) you are currently reading (or the last non-fiction book you read)?

Long Way Down by Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor. This is the second of Charley and Ewan's motorcycle journeys across the lesser travelled parts of the world. This series really appealed to me as I've always wanted a motorbike - I used to often ride on the back of my dad's Harley's when I was little:

Okay, well I'm not much taller now but one day I'll have a Harley of my own! :D

3. What is the last live performance (music, drama or dance) you attended?

Muse, Wembley Stadium - they are a fantastic band to go see live!

4. What is the title of the last film you saw at the cinema / online or watched on dvd?

Serenity (dvd). This movie is the follow-up to a great series called Firefly. It is a sci-fi show with strong western themes, and centres around the crew of the spaceship Serenity. Anyone who hasn't seen the series... go watch it now! It is a brilliant show, with excellent actors, a well-written storyline, and plenty of laughs.

5. How often do you read a newspaper? (which one?)

Very rarely, and usually only for the Sudoku puzzles. I don't tend to follow the news very much, because I find that it gives a very unbalanced and pessimistic view of the world, focusing mainly on extremists, and negative events.

6. Which art gallery / museum / exhibition did you last visit?

The Natural History Museum. I have been here a few times lately, it is always a good place to go when visiting London with friends. I find it quite nostalgic going to these types of exhibitions, as I used to love visiting these places when I was younger - if I'm honest I still love the dinosaur section though :D

7. How many hours per week do you spend playing video games?

30-35. I've always had my own pc, as my brother used to build his own - whenever he built a new and better one I'd get the older one, which could generally run all the current games.

I grew up playing consoles like the Megadrive, SNES, and whichever pc games my brother owned at the time (i.e.Warcraft III, Command & Conquer, UT2004, Oni).

I play World of Warcraft way too much, in true gamer-geek style :D Glory to the Alliance! Courage, do not falter! (Oh god why Blizzard xD)

8. How many hours per week do you spend playing games other than video games?

Very few currently. I do love doing jigsaw puzzles though, and when I was younger I played lots of Risk, Cluedo, Backgammon and Chess. I also used to buy a lot of puzzle books, and although I don't tend to buy them very often now, I do still love the occasional Sudoku or Picross.

Hmm, what else to add about myself...

I love food.

I want to be the next Takeshi Yasutoko.

I can't see a cute bunny picture or video without favouriting or saving it.

Hello Kitty rules.