From a research discussion of my studies ....
"New Horizons:
"To my mind, present day computer games are ….. the most recent examples of a long tradition of works designed for the mind's eye -- the sharpest "virtual reality" of them all..."
Charles Cameron
Research Summary
The development of efficient and affordable personal computers has been a revolution in not only technology but also communication, education, entertainment, and creativity. All of these aspects of the IT revolution of the past 40 years also have made the use of personal computers and CGI one of the newest realms of personal development and reality integration. As more and more modern individuals are forced to lead increasingly urban and high pressure lives, many slower and more naturally paced chances for people to experience, consider and relate to their own personal reality and their own personality development are lost. The development of some unique and advanced ahead of their time games has led to this project of detailed research into the impact these Immersive and High Quality Experiential Titles, the main subject studied was the range of dynamic quest and adventure and puzzle games, including such classics as the Cyan Worlds Myst series, the remarkable literature of graphic adventures from the Kyrandia series and other productions of Westwood and LucasArts up to the more modern works of Ubi Soft,and many others which are just now in the early and mid 200O's producing a whole and new promising literature that combines very remarkable technical innovations with a revival of focus on story line, back story and content.
It is hoped that this high quality genre will continue to develop, for there have been some concerns over the popularity of much lower quality, indeed somteimes banal and egregiously violent game trends, the impact of widespread gratuitous fantasy based violence and aggression motifs found in film, TV and video-popular music culture have debased and threaten to continue to degrade taste among the younger population studied. The importance of higher end quality titles thus becomes even more important for maintaining public morals and social values at large.
Theory of Gaming
Gaming and the development of computer games can be said to be a continuation of the narrative traditions of literature, prose, poetry and other forms of story telling, reality integration. In the modern crisis of personal reality being impinged upon and dominated by mass society and steadily degrading daily life, in the area of quality of life issues, such release for individual angst and personal dreams and hopes and aspirations becomes even more essential and central than it has been historically throughout recorded history. It is a haven of personal freedom and expression and increasingly valueable, while at the same time being increasingly discounted in the media and some areas of the press. I choose to believe and have faith in the innate good judgement and taste of all of us, and think that many are waiting to see if we rise to the challenge posed by the new technology and media we have created, and many millions wait, having not yet entered the comptuer gaming world, waiting upon the quality and value I believe is just emerging in a new generation of gamers, designers and critics.
The use of the computer generated dynamic imagery offers much in the way of interaction for all of us, as the viewer and indeed draws the us into a more and more personal and interactive environment with ongoing work by designers and developers to create games that stimulate and involve not only the emotions and the innate "literature" of cultural stories, but also the intelligence and the intellect of the participant. This is progressing as AI or Artificial Intelligence in various forms become available for the coding of modern computer game creations. And in some ways the real AI is the combined qualities of any inner working of the game and the mind and sensitivity of the viewer combined, a new synthesis of man and machine that offers great potential for both.
"the fundamental qualities that make a good game have remained unchanged and elusive. Consumers still flock to buy original, engrossing, and fun games, leaving many highly publicized products with million-dollar budgets languishing in the $9.99 bin. These costly failures demonstrate that the consumer does not desire a cinematic experience, but rather a quality gaming experience." from ;-Sid Meier, game designer.
"There's a conflict between interactivity and storytelling: Most people imagine there's a spectrum between conventional written stories on one side and total interactivity on the other. But I believe that what you really have are two safe havens separated by a pit of hell that can absorb endless amounts of time, skill, and resources. " -Walter Freitag, game designer.
..............(My studies and thoughts on all of this continue....)
We live in exciting times when our technology and its powers, both innate and latent, often run ahead of our understanding of what to do with it, and what we can become as individuals and a society using the fullest potential of both our craft, technos and our own inherent intelligence, powers of observation and distillation and understanding, and our full range of emotions, hopes, aspirations, fears, dreams and desires. In my thinking
and feeling currently the horizons widen as our understanding deepens and
our expectations of ourselves and our machines increases.
To be in our feelings, and to listen to our own hopes and fears as both users, players and creators and producers concerning computer game design may sound like an meaningless platitude, but it also gives a possible clarity and direction for thought. The limitations we see presently, the failures of both game design and the game industry to keep up and promote the highest potential in the games literature are not unchangeable, we can start with individual choice on the part of the designer, the developer, the critic and the marketing staff, and the analyst and go from there to awareness on the part of the public, for themselves, and for their children, and for our society. This research continues on from this paper with this hope and vision.
