Close Reading

One approach to critical play

(Auto)ethnographic close reading

• Like cultivating an inner four year old

• "Why is ____?"

• Ethnography is the study of what humans are doing and why they are doing it

• Auto means self

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Autoethnographic is focusing on the self

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Autoethnographies analyse personal, situated, embodied experiences to contribute to cultural knowledges. Autoethnographic close readings facilitate text-centric analysis, without minimizing the players role as a creative collaborator

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Close reading is viewing a medium with tunnel vision and researching it in depth

• Poems, games, writings etc

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Reader response theory: the text doesn't exist until it is read/interpreted

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Cannot do close readings of games without an ethnography

• The role that player plays is irreplaceable

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"Empirical studies are useful for finding generalized facts about gaming, but rarely are they able to capture the experiential breadth of being-and-doing-in-the-game-world" (Krzywinska, 2006, p.121)

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Unpicking and unpacking

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Mindful meta-interpretation (play is already an interpretive act)

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Power, values, omissions, aberrations (what assumptions/ideologies are made? What is presented as normal / unmarked?)

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Helps us understand how the rules of the game reflect upon society

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Video games are profoundly modal texts with many different semiotic experiences to bare in mind

• Dynamic ecosystems of interacting parts

• Ludic

• Visual

• Audio

• Verbal

• Haptic

 

 

• "Instantaneously punctuated picture music...Supercerebral crystal clear Silicon Valley eye jazz" (Brian Sudnow)

 

Activity: Focus on different elements of the games during the live-livestreams

Florence (2017)

Interactive graphic novel

Phone vibrates with the alarm

Lift Music - gentle non descript

Thumb controls to brush teeth

Colour scheme is greys, while the thing she's paying attention to is in colour

Mechanics are boring and repetitive for a reason

Talking to mother is boring and a chore - just going through the motions

Day ends as it began but nothing much was achieved

New colour is introduced (pink) for childhood box

• Music and time changed, pastel colours and uplifting music (flute)

• Tasks are fun, more expressive and unexpected

• The music then changes from fun to something else

• Back to blues and greys

• Conveys that it is a result of our mothers actions

• Simple artstyle - conveys story though body language

Same pictures to show repetitiveness

Interesting sound visualised with bright colours - she floats towards it and the world gets brighter (yellow)

Blurring and movement to show she is hurt - Music is distorted but swells as she focuses on him

New colour palette for new situation

Duets between chello and piano represent conversations between them

Conversation puzzle gets easier as florence gets more comfortable

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Activity: Do the same task as the live-livestream, but playing through the games myself

Queers in love at the end of the world - Anna Anthropy

10 seconds in total to play the game

Not enough time to read things or take in whats happening

Very sweet sentiment

Rushing to try to do everything

Can repeat to try different things

Clicking with a mouse

Reading

Fail condition/conclusion of the world ending

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Passage - Jason Rohrer

Entire game is squished together, passes by as you progress

Meet a wife or miss her completely

Can only go in one direction

Moving right signifies passage of time

Can collect chests to get more points

Characters age

Staying in one line is linear and simple, moving down brings obstacles that sometimes cant be passed with the two of you

Pixels blur in the same rhythm as a heartbeat monitor

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Hair Nah - Momopixel

Overwhelming at times

Sound design - people only ask sometimes (but do it anyways)

Frustration mounts with the pressure and stress of completing the level in time

Multiple stages equates to the physical exhaustion of this happening but having things to do

Nice message at the end

Mechanic of swatting too much being a fail condition is equal to appearing irrational and aggressive in real life

Character customization adds a personal element

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Loneliness - Jordan Magnuson

Simple, pixel art style is minimalistic

Background gets darker as you go

Music is a piano, solitary

Other groups will be doing things, but stop and drift away as the character gets closer

Fading away shows failure to connect to others even if you reach them

Cant control the character at the end as it fades to black

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The Best Amendment - Molleindustria

Play as a triangle shooting others

Shoot before you get shot

Enemy triangles mimic your previous movements

Triangles following each others actions show copycat/inspirational tendancies (bad)

Guns dont solve the gun problem, it just kills more people

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Pick a theme that links to my game, experiment with mechanical and audiovisual combinations, then share

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Pay attention to:

Control scheme

Art style

Audio

Rules

Mechanics