Games Old and New - Games Britannia, part 1

Watching a TV show in class was one of  the many things I was not expecting to do in this course. Well it was actually a digital copy, but a TV show is a TV show even if displayed with the help of a projector. On a white board. From a computer. In class.

I have to say  I really enjoyed watching "Games Britannia", learning about the history of games and realising that games are not just a mean of entertainment, but a way to get a unique perspective on human evolution. "Games Britannia" is a three part series about the history of popular games in Britain, dating from the Iron Age until the Information Age, presented by the historian Benjamin Woolley. In the first part of the show he follows the games evolutionary path, from a fundamental element with rich prophetic meaning to a widely addressed comercial good.

Humans have been known to play games, more or less complex, since they climbed down from the tree, this ability being seen as one of the attributes that differentiate humans from, lets say monkeys. Of course they play games too, but as far as I know, only humans play games using a set of rules more or less complicated, games which require struggle towards the achievement of a goal. And why is that? Because humans have that unique ability of getting bored. And so to devise a mean of entertainment, they came up with games, and knowing the human nature they kept improving them, iterating,  striving for a better "weapon" against boredom. I, for one, would dare say that the early humans were also the first games designers, and so adding game design to one of the oldest professions in the world.

The first games had, at a second glance, a more improtant role than we might expect. They were used as tools of divination by druids. Foretelling the will of the gods with a cast of the die, or the outcome of a battle was predicted by the outcome of a game, played by druids in the night before the battle, under the watchful eyes of their gods.Now, I don't know if they really worked and how much people would trust them, but given the strong inclination humans had for magic and mystery, and since it was before the occurrence of scepticism, and later on technology, I'd say it worked pretty well.

Also, games were used to explain political struggles or religious abstractions. Let's take for example "Alea Evangelii" - a game dating back to the early kings of Britannia, seen as a game of gospels. The game is started with 24 white pieces, 48 black pieces and 1 white king. The goal of the game is to get the king safely to one of the 4 corners of the board. This set-up could easily be associated with both religion ( the battle between black & white - good and evil, and the winning would result in the passage of the soul into heaven) and politics ( guarding the king and getting him safely across the battlefield, fighting the enemy's army).

Following the progress of games in history, in 1282, the king of Spain ordered the creation of "Libro des los Juegos" ( "The Book of Games"). It was a recollection of Arabic games know at that time, and it was the first book to introduce games like backgamon or chess. At that time it was widely believed that games were a refection of how ones life was supposed to be lived, believing in fate, or calculating every move. Just as games, life was supposed to either be ruled by chance, connecting it with a game like "Hazard"; or by skill, being connected with a game of strategy, like chess. Many got to the conclusion that life was a combination of both, and so the game that depicted this most clearly is considered to be "Backgammon", implying both the effect of chance and strategic thinking. "Backgammon", the perfect game.

Going on a bird's eye view over the medieval world, one can notice that games were played everywhere. Why is that? Because humans had a lot of waiting to do, for this pope, or that reverent, that speech or this execution. And they got bored. When humans get bored they played games. One of the most common game boards scratched around churches, dating from that time is the one for "Nine Men's Morris". Surprisingly,  knowing how strict the Church was at that time, they were pretty tolerant towards people playing games while  in church. That is due to the fact that life of a medieval man was extremely short and the accent was on enjoyment. And of course the Church approved! Even the priests used to play it.

But through time, games turned to another side of human nature, and that was greed. They were used to gain material goods in life (defying in a way Costikyan's definition of "Endogenous Meaning" : "...  one definition of endogenous is “caused by  factors inside the organism or system... A game’s structure creates its own meanings... Suppose you’re walking down the street, and someone gives you a $100 in Monopoly money. This means nothing to you; Monopoly money has no meaning in the real world. The guy who gave you the bill is probably some kind of lunatic. Yet when you’re playing Monopoly, Monopoly money has value;) (Costikyan, 2002, pg.22). And that's how gambling appeared. And the Church started to  disapprove the fact that humans were using fate and chance to determine  an outcome. Once used as tools of divination, to determine to will of gods, now dice was viewed by the Church as a tool of the devil. Games like Hazzard were highly played amongst the common folk in taverns, being a fast way of loosing one's hard earnings, or if a skilled player, making more money in one day, than one could ever dream. Amongst the upper classes, one of the most notorious gambling games was "Faro" a complete game of chance, bringing down famous members of the times aristocracy.

The middle classes, as the church, highly disregarded this way of life and tried by all means to ban gambling, being against their belief that any money you have must be earned through hard work. This battle culminated with a famous trial : John Thurtell - "The Elstree Murder". In 1823 the son of the Mayor of Norwich, John Thurtell, murdered a fellow gambler, William Weare, over a gambling debt of £300.  This was a shock, being the furthest anyone went because of gambling. He was arrested, trialled, proclaimed guilty and executed by hanging, and then had a wax statue made of him and added to Madame Tussauards. This event had the media explode. West End theatres they staged shows based on this case and the middle classes got enough fuel to push into writing the "The Gambling Law" - putting of the gambling wave that took over the country for about a century.

After this games changed direction, going for a design that was meant to teach manners and the good way in life for both children and adults. The best example for this is "The Royal Game of Goose", a famous Victorian parlour game, which is actually firstly mentioned by Francesco di Medici, who sent a copy to Philip the IInd, king of Spain and then rapidly spread in popularity amongst European royal courts. It consisted of a board with 63 spaces, representing the average human lifespan, and was packed with both penalties and rewards, depending on the players course of action. The goal of the game is that player has to live his life as best as he can, upholding the good ways of living.
Also this is the time when games become a commercial good. Adaptation of "The Royal Game of Goose" and the vast commercialisation of it, brought the game down from the royal palaces to a common Victorian household. This is also the time when games inspired by British colonies became popular in Britain.

 The British colonies were a vast source of inspiration for games, one of the most famous adaptations being "Snakes and Ladders". The game was inspired by the "Indian Game of Knowledge" or " Paramapada Sopaanam" ( The Ladder of Salvation); a game that had it's basic structure around a racing game, getting from point A to point B, but it had a more spiritual meaning, being an expression of both physical and spiritual Indian belief regarding life. It represented a journey towards  enlightenment, filled with obstacles and deceptions, making it more than a racing game, a game that emphasised the role of fate, or karma in ones life.
Another adaptation of an Indian game is "Ludo", but it didn't have the same success as "Snakes and Ladders" due to it's complications. 


This first part of "Games Britannia" ends with the explanation of the occurrence of "Chess" in the format we know it today. Even though the game is known since its mention in "The Book of Games" in 1282, it has only recently been given the definite formate we all know. Untill 1851, the game of "Chess" had always been played with different looking pieces or slightly different rules, even though the concepts and basic strategies were the same. It's widely believed that "Chess" is the highest developed board game of all time, due to both it's simplicity and it's difficulty, being easy to learn but hard to master. It has been used as a way of teaching strategy and determine battle tactics since medieval times, but never with a set of precise given rules or roles. 
In 1851, Paul Stautsdon, organises "The Great Exhibition" where he displayed the first game of "Chess" in the format we all know now, with a set of precisely given rules and standardised pieces. He was also the first one who organized the first "Chess" tournament, setting the set for the most amazing game of chess ever played.  


On the 21st of June, 1851, the game known as "The Immortal Game", played by Adolf Anderssen, the German Chess master of that time, and Lionel Kieseritzky, another 19th century Chess master, from Paris. The risks taken by the players and the incredible victory of Adolf Anderssen made it the most famous Chess game of all time, being called an achievement perhaps unparalleled in Chess history. 


                                "Attack! Always Attack!  -  Adolf Anderssen"




Bibliography:

Aleff, P., H The Royal Game of the Goose and of the Phaistos Labyrinth. Available from: <http://www.recoveredscience.com/gooseintro.htm> [Accessed 28 October 2011].

Althoen, S.C., King, L. & Schilling, K. (1993) How Long Is a Game of Snakes and Ladders? The Mathematical Gazette, 77, p.71.

Anon John Thurtell - “The Elstree Murder.” Available from: <http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/thurtell.html>.

Costikyan, G. (2002) I Have No Words & I Must Design: Toward a Critical Vocabulary for Game. Proceedings of Computer Games and Digital Cultures Conference, ed. Frans Mäyr,  Tampere: Tampere University Press.

Anon (2006) The Immortal Game: A History of Chess. Doubleday.

Topsfield, A. (1985) The Indian Game of Snakes and Ladders. Artibus Asiae, 46 (3), pp.203-226.

Paidea, Ludus and Videogames

Who would've thought that Ancient Greek, Latin and Computer Games go so well together? (but I'll get to that later). To be able to talk about the terms  "Paidea" and "Ludus"  I first want to talk about how Newman defines and classifies game in Chapter 2 of his "Videogames" book : "What is a video game? Rules, puzzles and simulations: defining the object of study."

Firstly I have to say that James Newman's "Videogames" book is one very hard to follow, not because it might use complicated terms or analogies, but because every two sentences there is a reference to something someone wrote. For a person not used to reading this kind of work, where almost every sentence is accredited to someone, but reading the whole work and the person's ideas and then at the end be presented with a bibliography, this book is a very difficult one to grasp, considering that with every mention of someone I loose track of my ideas and I get confused about who that person is and where does his idea start and where Newman took over. 

So, getting over the little bit of confusion the chapter left me with, I found the reading both interesting and relevant to the study of games design. When done with the chapter I could understand the evolution of games as interactive entertainment (as Costikyan has it : "Interactive entertainment means games!"), how it was immersed into the popular culture, what do games actually imply the player to behave like and what players expect a game to be like.

Starting with the first : Evolution of games as interactive entertainment, I have to say that Costikyan in his article "I have no words & I must design"  gives a straight to the point and compeling explanation of why any kind of interactive entertainment IS a game, and nothing else, by saying that what is viewed as entertainment is, outside the gaming area' non-interactive because it doesn't require the implication of the viewer, or the one who is entertained, and not all that is interactive it's necessarily entertaining. Thus, the only one that combines the two are games, be they video or boardgames.
Now the question arises, what is a videogame? Would anything with a digital/video interface incorporated be eligible for the title of video games? I would disagree with that, because, in my own opinion, a Furby or a Tamagotchi ( what he gives us as examples) are not games. They are toys with which you can interact and create games, but by themselves they are toys. They have a minimum amount of interaction required from the owner, there is no struggle for a goal, (I don't really believe they have any goals)  and from an entertaining point of view they can get boring pretty fast, thus leaving in their description only : A toy which requires minimum interaction from the user. If  I were to develop a game in which I use a Furby as an avatar of a player and I set myself goals, then they could be viewed as part of a game, but I believe never as a stand alone game.

Seeing now that not all that have some form of digital implementation can be called a videogame ( or even a game) and returning to Costikyan's definition of a game : "A game is an interactive structure of endogenous meaning that requires players to struggle towards goals" (2004:24) ; where should we actually classify videogames? Should they be thrown in along with film and television, due to the digital/video display, or be viewed as an extension of non-digital games? I would say both. Computer games are certainly an extension of non-digital games, using the same basic principles that define all games, but the way they are presented, delivered and viewed upon by both general public and target public set them very close to a movie and television area. 

But to make games more familiar and appealing to the majority, there were critics, games developers and people who wrote papers based on games studies  who orientated their analyses around similar classifications that were turned into game types :   

• Action & Adventure 
• Driving & Racing
• First-Person Shooter (FPS) 
• Platform & Puzzle
• Roleplaying
• Strategy & Simulations
• Sports & Beat'em-ups. 

This types helped players and future players to pick a certain game style they are comfortable with and made it easier for players to understand the game, the mechanics and what was required of them.
To this type of classification of games, those who introduced computer games to popular culture also attributed genres which are specific to other ares like film or literature with which the general public is already familiar with (Horror, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Historical, Realistic, Psychological.) to games, to make them seem more in touch with players preferences.

Also there has been adopted a sorta-kinda system close to "auterism", system in which names of certain videogames designers and/or producers dominate. The term "auteur" comes from French and as Wikipedia has it : <<In film criticism, auteur theory holds that a director's film reflects the director's personal creative vision, as if they were the primary "auteur" ...  In some cases, film producers are considered to exert a similar "auteur" influence on films they have produced. >> However is not clear if remembarance of names is felt through the creation of unique characteristics of their games (be they aesthetic , formal, or they just managed to create a game which has that "certain right feel to it") or whether the allusion to film is simply stylistic and indicative of a further attempt to gain credibility by association with other more known types of media.

Thus there were two types of major classifications that were selected for and pinned on computer games and putting these two together you get a very easy way of deciding which type of game is more appropriate for you and so introducing the general public to gaming and boosting the industry in the ranks of popular culture.

Now, coming back to "Paidea" & "Ludus".  

One of the means to differenciate types of games is by taking into consideration the location of play and all  that derives form that : types of experience, structure, engagement and social interaction. As Huzinga described them in his  work :"Homo Ludens" (1950) : "Paidea" stands for free-play, the kind of play you get with a sandbox game like "Minecraft" or "Spore" and "Ludus" stands for a game that imposes restrictions from the start, that has a strict set of rules and pre-set goals.
In his book, Newman started talking about this system firstly by comparing coin operated arcade machines with home playing systems. This is a very easy comparison to follow, since knowing that a coin-op system will always restrain it's player by limiting his time of play and also making the experience more intense by forcing the player to adopt a more fast, straight to the point approach to the game. The arcade environment also puts pressure on the player because it forces him to struggle more to reach his goal, due to the limited time pf play. Also an arcade gaming experience is most likely than not to become a public performance as there are observers gathering around the player. And as most of us surely have noted, all the games that are placed in an arcade are purely  "ludic" games, being fast paced, with an enormous amount of  restrictions both in the physical world and in the game world and with a set goal that the player need to complete in a given time and space.

I tend to classify every other game that is not a simulator or a sandbox game (or "Everquest" because it doesn't really have an ending or a specific main goal) a ludic game. These range from RPG's to RTS's and TBS's and FPS's and Racing games and Adventure Games ... everything except Simulator games and Sandbox games (in my opinion). In a very wide assessment they all start form the same basic premise : they have a set goal which the player must reach ( in a given amount of time or space in some games) and you start with a set of rules and a given world that impose restrictions upon the player.
In a sandbox/simulator you are given 90 to 100% control over everything: your world, your character, your goals, this meaning that you play the game for your own pleasure and entertainment, going at your own pace, playing in an environment in which you are comfortable, most likely using a home gaming system.  The best two examples of which I can think of at the moment are "Spore" and "Minecraft" which I mentioned earlier. Both of this games start from a slightly different premise :

• In Spore you have to create your own creature and set a complete evolutionary track for it, observing it and guiding it till it becomes either a raging conqueror of galaxies or a peaceful diplomat (It was created by the developers of "The Sims" "Sim City" and the almost unknown "Sim Earth")  

• In Minecraft you as a player are given control over everything and are free to do whatever you want in that digital world. You can build, dig, mine, create, experiment, destroy, explore, discover etc. 

Both of these games can easily jump from a paidea type of game to a ludus type of game by creating your own goals, but in essence the games started as just games for the players pleasure, games that you can start now and pick up again in a month without fear of loosing or not making any progress, games that can truly last forever ( or until you set you Minecraft universe on fire with lava )



                               "You have to play the game before it will reveal its nature"
                                                              (Jessen 1998:38)
                                

Magic words in an unexpected context

Who would've thought that magic words had anything to do with games designing?

We are all familiar with those little prayers towards Flash or Windows, not to crash during a furious session of coding, or to Photoshop, not to "die" on you when you're 5 minutes from finishing an intricate background and you forgot to save. But I'm not talking about these now because these magic words apply to all who work with any of these programs. I'm talking about a special set of words, a 5 word-sentence which is addressed to all those who aspire to be a games designer :


I am a games designer.  


Reading Jesse Schell's article "In the Beginning There Is the Designer" I got to the conclusion that those words might just do the trick. They are the magic words of the real, elf-less, orc-less, hobbit-less world, words that give you confidence and make you look forward, and see the difficult path you have taken to, and then you loose confidence again, and then there come the magic words to lift you up and the whole circle goes on and on and on.  I have a friend who always used to play this little game with herself. Every morning she used to encourage herself in the mirror before she came to school and every day she was radiating confidence.

In a games designer's portfolio one can find a HUGE amount of skills, because almost anything you can be good at, can become a useful skill for a games designer. Going from A to Z you get to go through: Animation, Anthorpology, Architecture, Business, Cinematography, Communication, Economics, History, Management, Math, Psychology, Sound Design, Visual Arts, and sooo many others.
Of course one person can't master them all, but you are good at at least one, and once you've mastered that, you can pass on to the next one and master that too. You have loads of time to practice any one you want, but whatever you choose it will still be a useful skill for a games designer. That's why, in the past 20ish years games started to be created in teams. This way more skills can be combined into a team and hopefully better games might be created. Now, from a 1 person team, games development has jumped to a 100 or more person teams.

But as we humans go, we like to deem something the most important thing, what would the most important skill for a games designer be? Of course, for the one naming it, it might  be the one he's the most good at, or it might be the ones that pop in everybody's mind when they think of games designing. Skills like "creativity", "logic" "management" "organisation", "coding" or "visual arts" are the ones most commonly named.

But I have to agree with Jesse here and say that "Listening" is the most important ones. Listening to the team you're working with, listening to the audience, to the client, to the game and to yourself.
By listening I don't mean just hearing, but paying attention and take into account both voice and body language. And when you learn to listen like that then the message you might receive might be different from the one you would get just by hearing the message. When you listen thoughtfully you start to observe everything and constantly question yourself on your actions and thoughts.

And now, while you start and struggle to learn and master the skills that you believe will turn you into a good games designer, someone will come and tell you: "I already have everything I need to be a games designer because I've been born with the skill".
Here is where Jesse Schell comes in and explains that there are two kinds of gifts. The minor gift which is the innate gift, the one you are born with . If you have this gift it might be easy for you to design games, but you might not really enjoy it. Plus, if you don't keep working on it, it will fade away with time.
The major gift is the love you have for the work you do. If you have the love for the work you do , you will design games using whatever skills you have, no matter how limited your skills have. And you will keep doing it. And the work you do will get better and better. People who will look at what you did will think that you have the the innate gift, but you'll know that the games you did are the reflection of your love for the work you do.

But to find out which gift you have, you have to start working, start experimenting and start learning. See what works for you, pick up those skills that you think will help you and keep saying those magic words to build up the confidence that will carry you through.

                                                           " I AM A GAMES DESIGNER "

Start with an Interview (cuz it's the easiest way to present yourself)

The first post on every blog is always the one in which you must make the world acknowledge your existence. And when this critical moment comes, everyone has that weird blank sensation of not knowing what to say (or at least I do). So, to help us pass this endeavor Eddie, Critical Games Studies tutor devised an easy way to do that.
He asked us to each pick someone in the class and ask them a few simple questions about themselves, printed on a white sheet of paper, then swiping the answer between us, so you'd end up with your own answers back. Perfectly normal...
Wait what???
Why would I want to end up with a piece of paper that has my own answers about myself, when I already know all this? Because this will help me save time not having that annoying brain-lag moment, when you feel like you know nothing about yourself. This way it's easier to write your first blog post... (or is it???)

So, my answers to this little Q&A by and for myself are :





Q: What fictional book are you currently reading or last read?
A: I am currently reading "Midnight Tides" , the 5th book in The Malazan Book of the Fallen series. Weirdly enough, I'm half way through this book and I'm still confused as were in time (in relation to the other 4 books) the action takes place. Anybody?  




Q: What non-fictional book are you currently reading or last read?
A: I wasn't into reading non-fictional books by my own will (all though that will change this year ^_^) but I do remember a 12th grade Romanian History school book I read before my exams

Q: What is the last live performance you attended?
A: I stumbled upon an English Folk and Japanese Shamisen live performance while I was in Colchester 1 month ago, does that count?

Q: What was the title of the last film you saw at the cinema, online or DVD?

A: Kung Fu Panda, and I'm sure of it, because there are no such things as accidents  


Q: How often do you read a newspaper?
A: I usually get my news via internet, but I could say as often as I get my hands on a free one. (it's comforting to feel the rustle of a newspaper while traveling by train)

Q: Which gallery/museum/exhibition did you last visit?
A: I was told that the Eurogamer Expo 2011 counts, so...
Eurogamer Expo 2011, Earl's Court, London. Oh.. and the exhibition that's inside the Town Hall in Ipswich.

Q: How many hours a week do you spend playing video games?
A: Used to play more than 30 a week, but now that I lack proper gaming device, I'd say about 15 or less *sigh*

Q: How many hours a week do you spend playing games other than video game?
A: Adding the games that we will be making and playing at school, I'd say about 10ish...

So that's my series of Q&A's for and  by me....It feels weird to answer my own questions on a blog, but I suppose it's for the best.
I have to confess that this blog is one weekish late in it's appearance on the internetz, and so I have lot's of catching up to do to be up to date with the posts. I'll try to do that as soon as possible.

oh, and as a personal touch, I'll try and end every post on this blog with a quote from a book, a show, a person I like.

"Do me a favor? Don't scream. Just hear what I've gotta say... and then scream" 

(Tales from The Crypt )