Lev Manovich and his thoughts
I would think that Electronic gaming would be a form of new media.
Let's take a look at the 5 principles of new media as proposed by Lev Manovich.
1. Numerical Representation
Electronic games are stored in data form, thus they are represented by numbers
2.Modularity
All data of a game is stored under the same system. For example in a Role-Playing Game(RPG), character's Hit points, Magic points, Items are saved in a certain data point. In each different game, the data point is modified and thus modifying the value for that game itself.
3.Automation
With Aritficial Intelligence, computer games with a computer controlled opponent has the element of automation, in which the computer has pre-defined responses to actions that the player takes.
4.Variability
In most games, even if the player does the exact same sequence of moves, the computer will respond slightly different due to 'randomness'. This could be in the form of the AI choosing a different set of moves in respone to the player, or just a simple different random number being generated by the computer when dealing damage or example.
5.Transcoding
We have seen many traditional games being transcoded into computer games. Games such as chess, risk, monopoly have all been transcoded into a computer game. This allows for players to play games even when they can't find a human opponent. The computer has taken over that aspect. Even sports such as tennis or golf are being transcoded into electronic gaming. Currently, Nintendo has plans to release a console called Nintendo Wii. This console uses a controller that communicates through Bluetooth, and it is able to sense linear motion through 3 axis, effectively moving us closer towards virtual reality. One can simply take the controller and play the game as though holding a racket or a golf club.
Comparing Chris Crawford and Manovich's views about interactive media, I find myself leaning more towards Crawford view of interactivity in which he defines it as a cyclic process in which two actors alternately listen, think, and speak. According to Manovich, everything that is represented on a computer is interactive. Let's take a look at songs/videos/movies stored on a computer.
Do they allow interaction with the user? Unless one is arguing that since we can stop, play, fast foward, rewind them as and when we like, and that is interaction between us and songs/videos/movies. Even so, I do not consider that interaction as we cannot control what goes on in the songs/videos/movies. They carry on at their own pace playing the exact same date at the same point in time.
Run Lola Run like blogged in the previous entry has a very video game feel to it. I would not be surprised myself to see it coded into a video game. This relats to Manovich's concept of transcoding in that the same narrative can be expressed in different mediums.
Let's take a look at the 5 principles of new media as proposed by Lev Manovich.
1. Numerical Representation
Electronic games are stored in data form, thus they are represented by numbers
2.Modularity
All data of a game is stored under the same system. For example in a Role-Playing Game(RPG), character's Hit points, Magic points, Items are saved in a certain data point. In each different game, the data point is modified and thus modifying the value for that game itself.
3.Automation
With Aritficial Intelligence, computer games with a computer controlled opponent has the element of automation, in which the computer has pre-defined responses to actions that the player takes.
4.Variability
In most games, even if the player does the exact same sequence of moves, the computer will respond slightly different due to 'randomness'. This could be in the form of the AI choosing a different set of moves in respone to the player, or just a simple different random number being generated by the computer when dealing damage or example.
5.Transcoding
We have seen many traditional games being transcoded into computer games. Games such as chess, risk, monopoly have all been transcoded into a computer game. This allows for players to play games even when they can't find a human opponent. The computer has taken over that aspect. Even sports such as tennis or golf are being transcoded into electronic gaming. Currently, Nintendo has plans to release a console called Nintendo Wii. This console uses a controller that communicates through Bluetooth, and it is able to sense linear motion through 3 axis, effectively moving us closer towards virtual reality. One can simply take the controller and play the game as though holding a racket or a golf club.
Comparing Chris Crawford and Manovich's views about interactive media, I find myself leaning more towards Crawford view of interactivity in which he defines it as a cyclic process in which two actors alternately listen, think, and speak. According to Manovich, everything that is represented on a computer is interactive. Let's take a look at songs/videos/movies stored on a computer.
Do they allow interaction with the user? Unless one is arguing that since we can stop, play, fast foward, rewind them as and when we like, and that is interaction between us and songs/videos/movies. Even so, I do not consider that interaction as we cannot control what goes on in the songs/videos/movies. They carry on at their own pace playing the exact same date at the same point in time.
Run Lola Run like blogged in the previous entry has a very video game feel to it. I would not be surprised myself to see it coded into a video game. This relats to Manovich's concept of transcoding in that the same narrative can be expressed in different mediums.
posted by SkyfireX at 8:22 AM
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