Ben Gonshaw: Digital Media Theorist & Game Design Consultant
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A PRIORI: PRIORITISING GAME MECHANICS

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Over the few years that academics have been examining videogames, two major viewpoints have been established. Ludology is the study of gaming focussed on the rules that underlie the experience. Narratology is the belief that the game is closely related to the story and presentation. The idea that there can be a division between Ludology and Narratology is deeply flawed. A designer must consider both aspects in order to create a solid whole.

I believe that both camps are right in their stances, indeed Gonzalo Frasca, a founder of ludological thinking, counters the idea that there is a conflict here and is right in saying that in reality there are no such parties even exist. There is little mutual exclusivity between a game’s mechanics and its overall form. A game designer must see that the two are largely separate, but that they both contribute to the play experience.

For this thought experiment, imagine that there are Ludologists and Narratologists, even imagine that they are friendly to each other if you like. If you ask the ludologist what makes a game, they will say that it is the mechanics, those that can be applied to many different scenarios and still play in the same way. To the ludologist you can take the basic rules of GTA and place them into a pirate game, stealing other people’s ships, taking over islands and gaining treasure. You could make GTA the space opera, a subtle twist on Elite, or even a Simpsons version. To the mechanically minded, such variants remain essentially the same game. Sega certainly seems to think that this is true, if you look at their court case against Fox/EA for The Simpsons Road Rage aping their Crazy Taxi arcade and console conversions. Here are two games, wrapped up in a different dressing, that have the same fundaments: pick up a passenger, drive like mad anywhere on and off road and drop them at a destination before the time runs out.

However, a narratologist would disagree. They would say that GTA in a spacesuit is no longer GTA. Part of the allure is playing a gangster, being in a believable city, picking up tricks and doing drive-bys. That is what defines GTA. If you ask your average person in the street they may say that their favourite parts are when they get their own mansion or steal a tank, something related to the atmosphere, plot and style of the game rather than the way it has been constructed.

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