Game Studies: Narratology v. Ludology

Over the course of the coming week, I'll post my reflections and notes from my literature review in preparation for my upcoming conference. The posts during this week will be focused on how we can understand videogames as stories, how those stories are told, and what value those stories have in the lives of our students.


Konzack, L. (2007). The Players’ Realm: Studies on the Culture of Video Games and Gaming. In J. P. Williams & J. H. Smith (Eds..), Rhetorics of Computer and Video Game Research (p. 110-130). Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc.

Narratology is storytelling rhetoric; a game from this point of view analyzes it as a narrative format. The closer the game narrative gets to a film or book narrative the higher quality it is. For games that want to tell a story, this comparison is useful and important. If designers are modeling the conventions after other media, should games be analyzed in the same fashion? Are there unique criteria to games?

I would argue that yes, there are unique criteria. Narrative games are important and can be compelling. While they can use the same conventions of movies and books there are additional ones as well. Games have the ability to emotionally engage and invest a player based on their decisions in addition to the decisions of the author/designer/creator. Using a narratological framework is very useful, but it cannot be the only framework applied.

Konzack also describes the ludology field of game studies, which was created as a response to the narratology framework. Ludology holds that games do not need to have any narrative to be a good game. They operate on a rule set, not story elements. Ludologists also feel that in a game, the story is always a second to the gameplay. The story may help hold the game progression together, but the gameplay is the reason to continue to move forward.

The ludology prospective is useful and directly applies to some games. Players do not play Tetris for the story. Even popular games like the Mario franchise by Nintendo are better suited as game and criticized on gameplay rather than story. Has anyone tried to finish a Mario game just to see if he will rescue Princess Peach? Players play because of the level design and other gameplay elements.

But limiting videogame analysis to an either / or is short sighted. Videogames can and should be both. Movies exist both as spectacle and drama. No one worries if Spider-man, the Transformers, or Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow will save the day. People flock to the theaters to see how it will happen. The action drives the movie forward.

Videogames can and should, as a maturing medium, take on a variety of purposes and formats. Books have always existed for a variety of purposes. Fiction and non-fiction serve different purposes for the reader. Videogames have to potential and should be analyzed with such concerns in mind.

http://researchquest.blogspot.com/2008/04/game-studies-narratology-v-ludology.html

Barr announces Libertarian presidential bid

By Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Republican Rep. Bob Barr said on Monday that he will run for president as a Libertarian, a development that could pull some votes from Republican candidate John McCain.

Barr said neither McCain nor Barack Obama, the Democratic frontrunner, would rein in a government that he said has grown too powerful after the September 11 attacks.

"A vote for the status quo ... is really and truly a wasted vote, because it is not going to do anything," Barr said.

As a Georgia congressman between 1995 and 2003, Barr was a stalwart conservative and one of the leaders of the impeachment of Democratic President Bill Clinton.

But Barr has broken with the Bush administration in recent years over its domestic surveillance program and what he called its abuse of due process rights.

Barr's run on the Libertarian ticket could complicate things ahead of the November election for McCain, who has struggled to unite some conservatives behind his candidacy.

Roughly one-quarter of those voting in last week's Republican nominating contests in Indiana and North Carolina cast their ballots for candidates other than McCain. And libertarian-leaning Republican candidate Ron Paul has not formally withdrawn from the race.

Barr said several members of his former party have asked him not to run.

But he said his supporters "would not likely fall into the category of people who would be enthused about voting for John McCain, if such exist."

Barr's exploratory committee said in April that a poll it commissioned found he would get the support of 7 percent of likely voters.

Barr did not mention New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, the former First Lady, who trails Obama in the race for the Democratic nomination.

A matchup between Obama and McCain is unlikely to be close enough to be affected by any libertarian candidate, said Southern Methodist University professor Cal Jillson.

"I think we are in an election cycle here in 2008 that is leaning significantly toward the Democrats," Jillson said. "But if Obama stumbles and McCain gets close there is a possibility" that a third-party candidate could be a factor.

The Libertarian Party will pick its presidential candidate at its convention in Denver between May 22 and May 26. According to its Web site, it has gained ballot access in 28 states so far.

http://www.reuters.com/article/vcCandidateFeed1/idUSN1229696120080512?sp=true

Suge Knight Assaulted And Hospitalized

Author: Allen Jacobs

According to TMZ.com, who obtained pictures of the incident, Marion "Suge" Knight, controversial founder of Death Row Records was assaulted last night in Shag Nightclub in Los Angeles last night.

Knight was seen by witnesses arguing with a man, reportedly screaming "I want my money!" According to the reports, Suge and his entourage began assaulting the man, when Suge was struck in the face by the other party, and knocked out.

The pictures on the website [click here to see], show Knight, covered in blood, being escorted from the club, en route to the hospital. Just as the case with the night of Tupac Shakur's murder and the shooting several years at Kanye West's MTV Awards party shooting, Knight did not cooperate with police.

UPDATE: An anonymous witness contacted HipHopDX, claiming to have been in Club Shag Saturday evening. According to the report, Suge Knight was not assaulted by the initial man he was arguing with.

Although the witness confirmed that Knight screamed "I want my money," before allegedly attacking a man with his entourage inside the club, the publicized incident was independent. According to the reports, a third party was video-taping the beating with a cell phone. Knight witnessed this, and attacked the video-taper. The Death Row Records founder put the man in a headlock and took his phone inside the club.

Following the incident, the victim reportedly left the club, went to a vehicle, and opened the trunk. The man removed an unidentifiable object, and as Suge Knight stood outside the club, struck him in the back of the head. The attack left "a large gash" on the back of Knight's head, prompting the blood seen in the pictures provided by TMZ. The hit to the back of the head left Suge Knight unconscious on the sidewalk for a period of about 10 minutes. The attacker reportedly fled the scene.

While on the sidewalk, a female in Knight's entourage reportedly vacated the scene to get a car. Upon pulling in front of the club, the woman wrecked into several vehicles. This incident added to frenzy, that eventually led Knight to a Los Angeles hospital.

When asked by members of press about the incident, Knight has opted not to file a police report, stating that he would deal with the incident internally.

HipHopDX will remain updating on this incident.

Additional Reporting by Jake Paine.

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.6914/title.update-suge-knight-assaulted-and-hospitalized

HP Confirms Talks To Buy Electronic Data Systems

Acquiring EDS, the world's largest "pure play" outsourcer, would immediately turn HP into a major services firm capable of rivaling IBM.

By Paul McDougall
InformationWeek
May 12, 2008 04:35 PM

In a deal that would create a hardware, software, and tech services powerhouse, Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) is poised to purchase outsourcing giant Electronic Data Systems.

In a public statement issued Monday after the stock market closed, the company said it "confirmed that it is engaged in advanced discussions withElectronic Data Systems (NYSE: EDS) Corporation regarding a possible business combination involving the two companies."

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HP added that a deal is not certain: "There can be no assurances that an agreement will be reached or that a transaction will be consummated." The company said it "does not intend to comment further until an agreement is reached or discussions are terminated."

HP provided no further details.

The Wall Street Journal said the deal could be announced as early as Tuesday and also reported that HP might pay between $12 billion and $13 billion to acquire Dallas-based EDS. The newspaper cited unnamed sources familiar with the negotiations.

An EDS spokesman did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

HP shares were up 0.75% to $49.50 in late afternoon trading Monday. EDS shares were up 22.06% to $23.02. HP is scheduled to announce its second quarter earnings on Thursday.

Under former CEO Carly Fiorina, and now under current chief Mark Hurd, HP has struggled to grow its footprint in the lucrative IT services market, which is dominated by IBM. Acquiring EDS, the world's largest "pure play" outsourcer, would immediately vault HP into a major services firm capable of rivaling Big Blue.

HP posted $16.6 billion in total services revenue in 2007, while EDS recorded $22 billion in sales. For its part, IBM recorded $36.1 billion in technology services revenue last year and $18 billion in sales of technology-enabled business services.

If the deal happens, HP could face significant integration challenges.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) in recent years has slimmed down its efforts to focus solely on enterprise hardware, software and services. To emphasize its focus on business customers, the company went so far as to jettison its PC business in 2005.

HP, on the other hand, continues to operate a consumer-oriented personal computer and printing business that accounts for about half of its revenues. It could be difficult for HP to convince blue chip EDS outsourcing customers, such as American Airlines and Bank of America, that their service would not suffer in the hands of a company with such a significant stake in the consumer tech market.

Uncertainty created by an HP-EDS merger could, in the short term at least, play into the hands of IBM and also help several India-based outsourcers, including Wipro, TCS and Infosys, that are expanding their presence in the U.S. market.

On the other hand, HP, with the addition of EDS, could rightfully claim that it's the sole vendor capable of furnishing customers with the entire spectrum of IT products and services -- from PCs to global outsourcing services

http://www.informationweek.com/news/services/outsourcing/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207602791

Birdman's redemption bittersweet for his mother

Chris Andersen was going to buy his mother a house. They would build it right in the middle of the 10 acres she had in rural God-knows-where Texas. He said he would buy her a Lamborghini, too. She laughed at that. If he just helped her pay for her meds, that would be enough. This is what they dreamed about. A life where they didn't have to struggle. A life where she wouldn't have to push a janitor's broom or bartend at the bar one of her Harley buddies owned.

Linda Holubec was there that November night in 2001, when the Denver Nuggets called her son with the news that they were signing him to a deal that would end his vagabond lifestyle. They were sitting in a hotel lobby in Fayetteville, N.C., about to board a van bound for some minor league outpost. She would never have to lend him money for groceries or co-sign for another car again. They had made it.




For almost his entire life they had been inseparable. She held him for hours and wiped his tears the day his father walked out on them. She sat beside him as he got his first tattoo on his 18th birthday. She scraped together tip money to travel to the far side of the world to watch him play basketball in gyms so smoky her glasses would fog up.

Now they were bound for Denver, and she couldn't wait to hug Nuggets GM Kiki Vandeweghe. They didn't know much about pro basketball, but they knew they'd be rich. And they had done it together. An improbable journey from the backwoods of Texas, where kids are more likely to get hooked on meth than play AAU ball, had reached its end point.

But four years later, Linda's world collapsed.

One of Linda's friends saw the words that would change her life forever slowly crawl along the bottom of the television screen and called her right away.

"Something happened with Chris," the voice said over the phone. Andersen had been disqualified from the NBA on Jan. 25, 2006, for violating the league's anti-drug policy by testing positive for a banned substance. He didn't have the courage to call his mother and break the news. It was the spectacular finale to a downward spiral that began the moment Andersen scribbled his name on an official contract.

But the door to redemption swung wide open only two years later. On March 4, the NBA reinstated Andersen, and his former team, the New Orleans Hornets, signed him to a contract for the remainder of the season. Linda cried both tears of joy and pain. She was happy her boy had made it. Again. But there was something else that made the news of his reinstatement almost as hard to take as his expulsion: the fact that Linda Holubec and her son have not spoken in almost three years.

During his first four seasons in the NBA, Andersen was known for his wildly athletic dunks and reckless intensity. He hadn't developed any real moves to speak of, and even a 10-foot pull-up jumper was ill-advised for him. But what he lacked in skill he made up for with a floor burn-inducing style of play and an arsenal of eccentricities that won over fans leaguewide. The decibel level at home games soared when he checked his human-wrecking-ball act into the game.

Birdman's athleticism earned him invites to two slam-dunk contests.

Fans wore shaggy blonde wigs and imitated his signature Birdman hand gesture by interlocking their thumbs and flapping their fingers whenever Andersen threw down one of his high-flying yet lovably clumsy dunks. He never averaged more than seven points or six rebounds in a season, but seeing that toothy grin after he crashed into the stands trying to save a ball he had no shot at was worth the price of admission.

And Linda loved it just as much as anyone. But when the game was over and he disappeared into the tunnel, fans couldn't see what she could. That Andersen was unable to turn off who he was. That the circle of unscrupulous characters entering his world was bleeding him dry. That an NBA paycheck was like nitroglycerin in his pocket. She may have raised him to raise hell, but she also taught him to say when.

But Andersen had passed his breaking point. For the first time, his mother couldn't save him. And they would pay the price equally.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=Andersen-080511

Digital TV Converter Sales Increase

With broadcast TV stations preparing to switch to all-digital signals early next year, about 5.3 million U.S. households have taken the government up on its offer of discount coupons for a gadget to ensure their sets will continue to get the picture.

Each U.S. household is eligible for two $40 coupons toward the purchase of converters that sell for about $60, and most have asked for the maximum. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration said Tuesday that 10 million coupons had been requested since the program began Jan. 1. About 856,000 households in California have submitted applications.

"We're doing a pretty good job so far," Meredith A. Baker, head of the telecommunications agency, said at a Senate hearing. "We have a lot more work to be done."

Redemption is going much more slowly, because consumers need to wait for manufacturers to roll out the boxes and for retailers such as Best Buy Co. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to stock them. Some of the early boxes being sold are actually creating new problems for consumers in that they block access to local analog signals. According to Baker, more advanced boxes with Analog-Pass-Through will become more readily available in May and the major retailers are expected to begin offering these new boxes which are crucial in most of the rural areas of the country where Full Power Digital TV is not yet fully implemented and where the nearly 7,000 translators and Low Power TV stations serve outlying areas.

As of Friday, 280,128 coupons had been redeemed, about 17,400 of those in California. The government started mailing the coupons in February, and Baker said the backlog of requests was being worked through.




Lawmakers continue to worry about awareness among consumers; many still don't know that the transition is coming next year, according to recent polls.

On Feb. 17, all full-power TV stations must turn off their analog signals and broadcast only in digital. Although the new method will deliver better pictures, people who use antennas and don't own newer digital sets will need a converter box or their screens will go blank. If they install the wrong box now, the screens can go blank at that time.

"We all just pray this works," said Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), who is particularly concerned about rural residents who rely heavily on antennas.

As many as 20 million homes get only over-the-air signals. Cable and satellite TV subscribers will get the new signals through those systems, but millions of those homes have extra sets that use antennas. Broadcasters have estimated that 70 million U.S. televisions could need converter boxes.

The Senate Commerce Committee summoned Baker and Kevin J. Martin, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, on Tuesday to update them on the transition. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii), the committee's chairman, told Martin that raising consumer awareness and ensuring a smooth transition should be the top priority of the FCC and the telecommunications agency this year. He requested monthly updates.

Martin said that although awareness was rising, federal officials and a private coalition led by broadcasters still had work to do.

"Too many Americans remain confused about what they need to do about the digital transition," Martin said.

The coupons are a key to the transition, the federal government's way of helping ease the pain of the change, which is designed to free up TV airwaves for public safety use and wireless services such as high-speed Internet access.

Congress allocated $1.5 billion to a program to deliver as many as 33.5 million converter box coupons for an estimated 20 million households that actually need them. Resembling plastic gift cards, they are encoded and must be used within 90 days. That deadline worries Consumers Union because the boxes have been slow to hit stores. On Tuesday, the group urged federal officials to extend the deadline or allow people to reapply if their coupons expire.

For more information, consumers can check out the local FOX TV station's website at www.myfoxwausau.com

19 dead in Missouri, Oklahoma after new round of tornadoes

By MARCUS KABEL – 7 hours ago

PICHER, Okla. (AP) — Many have fled this depressed, pollution-scarred mining town. Those who have chosen to stay or have not yet relocated face a new heartache. A tornado ripped through a 20-block swath of Picher late Saturday afternoon, killing at least seven people. The same storm system then moved into southwest Missouri where tornadoes took the lives of at least 12 others, authorities said.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lt. George Brown said Picher's victims included an infant. He said at least three people were confirmed missing.

"We've seen homes that were completely leveled to the foundation," Brown said. "In a few of these homes you would have had to be subterranean to survive."

Ottawa County Emergency Manager Frank Geasland said dozens of people were injured, some seriously.

"Trees are toppled over, ripped apart," he said. "There are cars thrown everywhere. It looks like a bomb went off, pretty much."

Brown said 32 people were transported to Integris Baptist Hospital in the nearby town of Miami. Of those, 26 were treated and released.

Many families have moved away from Picher to escape the lead pollution left by mining operations. The town's population has dwindled from a peak of roughly 20,000 to about 800 people.

Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry issued a statement saying a major emergency response was under way. He planned to visit the area Sunday.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Picher and all of the other Oklahoma communities that have been impacted by the latest wave of severe weather," Henry said.

At least 12 people were killed after severe storms spawned tornadoes and high winds across sections of southwestern Missouri, the State Emergency Management Agency said. Ten of the dead were killed when a twister struck near Seneca, about 20 miles southeast of Picher, near the Oklahoma border.

"They're going over the hard-hit area and turning over everything and looking," SEMA spokeswoman Susie Stonner said of emergency workers' search for victims and assessment of damage. "It's hard to do in the dark."

The number of injuries across the area was not immediately available, though The Joplin (Mo.) Globe reported that more than 90 people from that region were being treated at Joplin hospitals.

Television footage showed some destroyed outbuildings and damaged homes west of McAlester and near Haywood. At a glass plant southwest of McAlester, the storm apparently picked up a trailer and slammed it on top of garbage bins.

"These are rural areas that we are in," Pittsburg County Undersheriff Richard Sexton told KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City. "These are good people coming together at this time."

In storm-weary Arkansas, a tornado collapsed a home and a business, and there were reports of a few people trapped in buildings, said Weather Service meteorologist John Robinson.

Central Park Elementary School in the northwest Arkansas city of Bentonville had roof and window damage, and damage was also reported at Pine Creek Center School.

The storms remained active into the night as they swept eastward, with watches and warnings abundant across a wide swath of the Plains and South.

Rescuers freed a man trapped in his vehicle in western Tennessee after a tree fell on it during thunderstorms, Memphis firefighters said.

Memphis authorities say they've received reports of power lines and trees down, but there have been no injuries.

Tornadoes killed 13 people in Arkansas on Feb. 5, and another seven were killed in an outbreak May 2. In between was freezing weather, persistent rain and river flooding that damaged residences has slowed farmers in their planting.

Associated Press writers Murray Evans in Oklahoma City and Chuck Bartels in Little Rock, Ark., contributed to this report.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jW-BndswWuhgPAPXOK4Q6TCQsANQD90JCF4O0

Jenna Bush Wedding Photos: Pictures of Wedding to Henry Hager Highly Sought

By Cyndi James May 9, 2008

Jenna Bush and Henry Hager will marry Saturday, May 10th and the wedding will be a very private affair but expect some guests to try to get Jenna Bush wedding photos to try and sell to the weekly entertainment magazines. The daughter of President Geore W. Bush and wife Laura says she doesn't mind sharing the wedding pictures of her special day but she will make us all wait until at least Sunday afternoon, a White House spokesman said on Friday.

Jenna Bush Wedding Photos: Pictures of Wedding to Henry Hager Highly Sought (Image: Wenn)

The family is very excited about the event and even President bush used the upcoming nuptials for a joke. "At 3 a.m. this morning, the red phone rang, Bush deadpanned earlier, "It was the damn wedding planner." President Bush says there will be dancing laughing and a bit of tears as his daughter ties the knot.

***

About 200 people will attend the event and one can expect very strict filtering of what is brought in by the US Secret Service. The couple's engagement was announced in August. There was once talk of a White House wedding, but Jenna nixed that idea as she wanted a bit of privacy for her special day.

The couple opted for a smaller wedding on Jenna’s family’s ranch because they wanted to keep it more private and not full of people taking wedding pictures. The Prairie Chapel ranch is a gated 1,600 acre paradise where the ceremony and reception can be held in seclusion. Although I am sure paparazzi will be all over trying to get those wedding photos.