Research Paper Draft (justin suder)

Everyone plays games. They are a worldwide attraction. Many may be the simple board game kind of person, and prefer to roll the dice or flip the cards by hand. Then there are those that are console based gamers. Consoles started with the Odyssey console, released in 1972, to today’s Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3, and X-Box 360. Maybe it’s the simple Pong that people today still enjoy playing, or maybe it’s Paperboy, or Mario Kart Wii, or Medal of Honor. Then there are the computer based games that have captured many gamers’ attention. Some started computer gaming by playing the simple game of solitaire at work on their computer when bored and nobody was watching, while others bought computers just for the thrill of gaming. Some may prefer the original computer games, such as chess, compared with today’s computer games, such as Everquest or The Sims 3. Some games are rollovers to different consoles. The Sims franchise started on the PC, but has since been released on other console platforms, such as the Nintendo DS, the handheld PSP, the X-Box, the Nintendo Wii, and the Playstation 2.

The games that fascinate me in particular include; the Kingdom Hearts franchise, the Tomb Raider franchise, The Sims franchise, Mario Kart Wii, and Wii Sports. Some online based games that I play includes; Farmville, Mafia Wars, Evony, Bloodlines, and Mobsters. These are mainly Facebook or MySpace game applications, except Evony. Mario Kart Wii is a console based and online based game, where you can choose to race opponents within the nation, or worldwide via the internet. The Sims franchise, excluding The Sims Online, is not really an online based game, but you can have a lot of interaction with the world wide web, such as downloads off The Sims 1/2/3 websites, or the online item exchange, and so forth.

In a variety of ways, games do supplant narratives as privileged cultural forms. They involve main characters, plot, and story lines into the games. The big difference is that compared to writings and narratives, you’re not reading nearly as much as you would when reading a book. A book is all about reading, and using your imagination throughout the story to help you create what the characters and environment looks like. Games, on the other hand, are about creating the story as you go along. You already see the characters and the environment, you just don’t know how the story will play out. This is one way that reading and playing are similar. You start out with not knowing how the story will play out. In a book, you turn page-by-page and continue learning more and more about the characters, their background, and the environment. It’s similar in games. When you start out, you usually have the basis of what is needing to be done, but you don’t know how to do it. You have to learn more about how to control the characters, and in a variety of games, you can choose to talk to different characters, or choose to ignore different characters, based on how you want to play the game. Some decisions allow you to go forward in the game. Other’s end the game right there by getting you killed, or making you have to backtrack your steps because you went in the wrong direction.

Every game is a narrative from as far as I can tell. From the creator’s point of view, it is also a kind of writing. They have to be able to tell the complete story before being able to apply it to the game. So, in a way they had to write the game as a book first, before adding the graphics and whatnot to the game. Games such as chess and football are narratives. With chess, it’s a story of defeating or being defeated. In football, it’s a similar concept, only you are playing as characters instead of board game pieces. Every game has some sort of narrative behind it, to explain the meaning of the game, to explain how to play the game, and then the storyline or progression of the game as you play. The creators of the game creates the story for you to follow along with usually, but in many recent games, such as The Sims franchise, especially its most recent sequel, The Sims 3, the creators of the game only create the foundation, which then allows you to start from wherever you want. You can create your own family, watch them grow, have children, die, and continue playing the lives of the offspring. You can choose to try to lead the world in world peace, or try to conquer the city through evil. Games such as The Sims 3 have an endless amount of storytelling, and allow you to be the narrative of the game.

After interviewing Will Wright, creator of The Sims franchise, the Canwest News Service stated “Following on from his bestsellers like "The Sims 3" and "Spore," Wright is working on new franchises that can go beyond games to the Web, mobile devices, and traditional Hollywood outlets like television and film.” The Sims franchise, along with Spore, has already allowed gamers to combine storytelling computer simulation games with online multi-media by allowing the gamers to upload shared content to the web. (Canwest News Service. ""The Sims" creator eyes the world beyond games." http://www.canada.com. October 6, 2009)

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Brief reflection: What is most successful in your draft? What still needs work?

The information I added about online games, and games in general, and the progression of gaming, and how it relates to the online world is the most successful part of my draft, I feel. I still need to work on the rest of the body and the conclusion.