As for the project itself, we could write it either in blog form during each step of our progress or, in the way I plan to do which is a traditional written paper.
* Alongside the written project we are also expected to keep an in depth blog of all our findings throughout the course. So I need to make sure to make my blogs as detailed as possible in future.
* It was advised that whatever subject we pick it should reflect what we do and what we feel we specialise in. Thus I will choose a subject that matches my narrative and character development.
* As I had already informed my lecturer, I was planning to write about the importance of play as it brings families together through shared interactions, and even helps the individuals playing to identity with the characters and discover important life lessons.
My lecturer however, advised that I look at more subjects before making a final choice. Knowing already that I don't wish to cover sexuality, gender or ethnicity, I therefore decided to make a list as seen below.
- My initial idea on the subject of play, could include my experience playing video games with my siblings, father and now niece. Also, it could include the experiences of a modern day father who I have spoken with who plays mature games with his son who takes the subject matter seriously and asks the important questions of how, what and why? I could even ask the mother I know in BA if she has had any similar experiences with her daughter. I may want to use video game examples that encourage play such as the Lego games and world renown video game developer Tim Schafer's 'Sesame Street' game which he made so he would finally have a game he could play with his own child. Maybe I could include how Disney films, traditionally watched by children have been included in a series called 'Kingdom Hearts' where the player travels to each film's world and interacts with their favourite characters. I could then go into the subject of fun and how through enjoying play we are more interested in the subject matters brought up. Further more, I could then go into 'Dungeons and Dragons' and how we take our own experiences of play and incorporate it into the groups of people we play with. Finally, I could reference animals as play is an important aspect of their lives as well.
- Continuing from the 'Dungeons and Dragons' idea, I could talk about identity and how we portray ourselves during life and play. Which persona's we put on to deal with certain situations and what character types we relate to and play the most. I could use the actor Vin Diesel as an example as he used a 'Dungeons and Dragons' character he played as a boy in order to bring to life his Riddick character in the movie of the same name.
- The uncanny valley could be a good subject to write about because then I could describe why we are afraid of what is different and how we relate to certain individuals more than others. I could then go into depth about video game characters that we connect to through their actions often more than their words as they develop as the game goes on. For example, Dog the robot from 'Half Life', Aigis the android from 'Persona 3', Okami the wolf from 'Okami' and so on. Further more, this uncanny valley could also relate to PS1 character models that, although were blocky with some basic textures on them, still made players identity with the characters and relate to them. This is similar to my recent experience with 'Metal Gear Solid' on the PS1 that ended up being my favourite in the series and had a style that I liked since my imagination filled in the blanks where the graphics couldn't.
- Character development through the years in video games could be an option, as I could discus what video games in the past did to make players relate to the characters e.g. based them on movie stars. Also how video games are pushing even further with their character development, personalities and choices they make, all of which constitute to their overall human personalities. With this I could use both human and non human examples as well as characters from video games that are out dated such as Duke Nukem. Also, characters who have no real human personalty and completely change to suit the story, not a natural progression as seen with perhaps the character from 'Indigo Proficiency' Carla who changes drastically at the end of the game. Good examples could include Lee from 'The Walking Dead' game and nearly the entire cast of 'Persona 4'. Yes, I would use the characters from 'Persona 4', again as they are just so well developed and designed. Mo-cap acted characters could also be talked about as they are performed by real actors.
Since all the above relate in one way to another with narrative, character development and/or play, my lecturer suggested that I look up existing examples of these topics so as to get a clearer idea of what I wish to talk about.
* As a note to myself, I may wish to use the video game related books I have at home in order to help me develop my project as I have subjects on both narrative and play.
I may even wish to use the following picture as it brings up some fun examples.
* Our lecturer would like us to have chosen a concept by next session and will be looking at our blogs at the end of term. However, he will not be grading them yet so I don't need to worry too much about this. Instead I can focus on adding the things I wanted to.
Harvard Referencing:
- Conover, S (2012) Stuff I learned From Video Games [Online Image]. Available at: http://www.civin.org/wp/stuff-i-learned-from-video-games/ (Accessed: 21/11/2013).
No comments:
Post a Comment