LIFE: The Game
description
Transcript of LIFE: The Game
LIFE: The Game
Jeannie NovakFounder, Indiespace
Lead Author & Series Editor, Game Development Essentials
Game Review
accessible & widely accepted to date
believable characters
lasting appeal
challenge & variety
unusual design feature: no choice in determining character’s initial starting location, appearance or gender (seemingly random)
customization comes into play later
newbie players are guided through early levels by NPCs (sometimes “griefers”)
experience achieved through “level treadmill”
player economy
career system
Components of “Play”
Engagement
Perceived Control
Entertainment
Decision-making
Social interaction (multiplayer)
Education (often covert/stealth and social)
Emotional attachment
Level of simulation
(“life simulation” as genre)
Game Elements
Gameplay (Formal/Structure/Mechanics)
Challenges strategies
Balance
Victory & loss conditions
Socialization frequency & success rate
Competition vs. cooperation
Virtual economies
Experience points (from battling monsters & “bosses”)
Story (Dramatic / Narrative)
Decisions and affect/emotions
Plot points = challenges
Narrative “pathing”
Game Elements
Character
Avatars vs. NPCs
Big boss
Identity and control
Effect of relationships on story “outcomes”
Interface
Physical/mechanical & visual controls
Feedback vs. control
Sensory feedback
Heads up display (HUD)
Life Examples
Job Hunting
Networking
Grocery Shopping
Dating
Driving
Negotiating
Investing
Learning
Writing
Composing
Creating a “blockbuster”
My Strange Encounter
“Doppelbot”
Virtual agent/”not so evil” twin that knows what you want/need and proceeds to get it for you (or provide you with the information you need to get it yourself)
Software-based
Automatic
Immediate linked to your thoughts
Life Management Tools
project management
organization
collaboration
searching
wikis
discussions
blogging
networking
strategizing
Age of the Amateur
Player as co-author
Non-linear life narrative
Comparing player control within and outside the game environment
Leveraging technology to enhance social interaction and efficiency
The Transparent Societyis Here . . .
Transparency goes both ways; feature of “good” corporations & government
Commercial web / information as facilitator
Privacy almost non-existent – but many would prefer to be in the public eye
Who Needs Privacy Anyway?
Total Recall?
Not Quite . . .MyLifeBits
Experiment: Gordon Bell is now completely digital (paperless)
Software Research: Jim Gemmell & Roger Lueder have developed the tool to support digital memories
If we can access all memories & our lives are fully digital, game-life elements will become even more pronounced
Ramifications: Legal, Social, Entertainment
If memories can be recorded, they can be altered
What is left untouched?
Dreamtime
Australian Aboriginal mythology
Two parallel forms of time:
Daily objective activity
Infinite spiritual cycle (dreamtime)
More real than “reality”
Natural world real? Human-made modifications less real, game-like?
Virtual Worlds / MUVEs
Economies
Merchandise
Social interaction
Simulated environments (many mundane – representational)
Game-Life Hybrid
What is real life? We’ve created artificiality; everything is an interface
Our impulse is to live in myth
Definition of story is “fiction”; if we move to the “real,” will we still be storytellers?
Will We Use -- or Lose -- Our Illusion?
Genre: Social
Farmville – social consciousness; tedious – just like life
Platform: Mobile
Intersection between analog and digital world
Mobile phone moves through our environment
“Cyberspace” as phone conversation cell phone as device that references an alternate environment
Augmented Reality
Bringing game elements inherent in life into focus
Augmented Reality?
Augmented Past / Memories?Alternate Reality?After Life?
Future of Entertainment
Entertainment business facilitates bottom grass roots entertainers vs. extremely high risk hit identification
This segment of the entertainment industry makes it easier to formalize the idea of our life as a game
Life and art have always mimicked one another, but the game entertainment segment has triggered a fusion due to the rise of online social media/networks and user-controlled content (player as “co-author”)
Web-based “life” has been an “enabler” in this area
Beyond “pseudo-events” & simulacra
The Game . . .
. . . Has Already Begun
Suggested Reading
The Transparent Society (David Brin) Total Recall (Gordon Bell et al.) Life: The Movie (Neal Gabler) CivilWarLand in Bad Decline (George Saunders) Play as Life (http://playaslife.com) Real Life – Gamespot Review (http://tinyurl.com/gufy)http://tinyurl.com/gufy)