New Era by Mike McClay
Half a millennium ago throngs of sweaty farmers bustled themselves into a steaming mass of flesh to witness the latest from the acclaimed Shakespeare. The curtains open. An extreme hush seems palpably present, a silence so thick Horatio's sword would dull trying to scratch it. In that sacred world, no laugh was out of place and no person up from their seat. The five hour break for Hamlet might have dehydrated their crops, but those trips to the Globe were the highlight of their week...A few hundred years later, the teenage girl burned a candle late into the night, sweating and pouring her mind into the world of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Any creak or chirp she hears startles her at first because she fears her parents discovery of her wasting her sleeping time and later on because she is terrified of where that dark path through the woods is leading her...Blinking constantly to dispel the dryness that scratches his eyes like grains of sand and twitching repeatedly to shake off the drumbeat of pressure reverberating from his upper neck all the way into his temples, the boy pushes past yet another checkpoint, anxious to see if the Covenant forces completely wiped out the rest of his crew. He only hopes he saves them before his clammy hands slip on the buttons and miss his target... There are so many ways to get lost in admiration of a story. A conditioned brain may instinctively sing that one of these things is not like the others, but a digital native's creativity retaliates with a defiant, simple, one-word response: Yet! It seems to be a pattern that the things Language Arts and English teachers love to extol upon and discuss the significance of are older forms of entertainment that were greatly disparaged in their day. Going to a theatre production was a waste of time, and society argued that people should put down their books and do something useful until rather recently. In today's world, parents use any means necessary to attempt to lure children into reading while students cannot escape high school without analyzing some piece of The Great Bard's mind. Human nature is compelled by the art of storytelling, but the process morphs over time, causing great discomfort and controversy among the change averse. Video games have permanently stamped themselves into our culture, but the effects are not nearly so devastating as the general public seems to agree upon. Video games are the next generation of novel because they are enhancing the way stories are told and advocating as well as changing literacy due to their new and interesting innovations that incorporate some of the older, natural ways.
The most highly acclaimed games are those that have the most captivating and engaging plots, so why is the genre so overlooked as a vessel for transporting the human gift we know as the story? Games like Super Mario 64 are ranked at the top of gamers' all-time lists because they offer the same action, romance, and suspense that people find in novels (IGN's Top 100 Games). Most good games even include a few unforeseeable turns to shock the gamer and keep them playing, such as the twist in Tales of Symphonia where the entire group of travelers finds secondary character Colette losing her senses in preparation for her sacrifice instead of moving along the steps to becoming an angel. The protagonist then begins battling for her survival, fixated on the idea that people do not have to die to save the world and driven by the clear dramatic irony that he loves her. An adventure like this sounds more likely to be found in the fantasy section of the library instead of the RPG (Role-Playing Game) aisle in Best Buy. If sampling the correct pool of games, amazing stories that challenge the brilliance of even J.K. Rowling can be found. The real genius of video games, however, lies in how they actually take their art a step above books by making the player interact with the rising actions and climax. Not only does a player get to choose when each plot advancement takes place, but they also become the determining factor in what the outcome is. Even if the story is linear, as it is in most games, the player must complete each (more grueling) objective as they go. This aspect very intimately involves the player with the formation because if the story is already at a satisfactory interchange, the player could decide to simply stop and accept their own ending. Hence, games have fused the telling process with the receiving process, but some have essentially “leveled-up” this idea. Fallout 3and its impending sequels have developed and implemented the use of “karma meters” that record every action and decision a person makes, whether this is choosing if they will help an elderly woman find her dentures or detonate a hydrogen bomb in the middle of a useless city. After recording this kind of data, these games can then abdicate themselves in as little a thing as the number of enemies attacking the protagonist to as complex as whether the storyline includes the death of the main character. Features like this eliminate surprise at the deficiency of paper in young peoples palms because an exceptional novel makes a reader forget about the leaking faucet and the couch and the rough pillow and the dim light and the cat scratching on its pole, but an exceptional role-playing game makes the player forget he or she does not actually live in Kokiri Forest where the Great Deku Tree needs urgent rescue. Because players get lost in the game and sometimes end up forgetting who they are, it is very evident that games have that distinct ability authors give their pieces in order to keep the reader engaged. Great authors can generally make a reader identify with a character even if the character is nothing like the reader. They accomplish this by using pathos and actual thoughts from the character so the reader knows exactly what is going through his or her head and compares their experience to the fictional person. Of course designers employ some of the same techniques, but as usual, video games take things a step above that standard by partially eliminating the gap between real person and fictional hero. Games like Wizard 101have features that allow children to customize their attributes and change their characters to fit their personality, or other games simply allow a player to change the appearance of their avatar to match their own or match whatever mood they have on any given day because there always is that freedom of expression (Ward-Crixell 29). There is no doubt that video games are an acceptable method to tell stories because they enhance the experience to include incredible interaction, but people still argue that games have found a way to somewhat dismiss the exercise of reading.
Besides searching for a story that invigorates the imagination, there is also the notion that books are read for the transparent purpose of reading itself. There are benefits of reading words themselves that people who plant themselves and watch movies all summer cannot expect to experience. Video games have in no way cut out the need for this type of literacy; instead, they actually encourage and require gamers to read in some subtle and some more obvious ways. As far as the obvious is concerned, every game comes with an instruction manual that people may or may not chose to read because they have become less than necessary due to the fact that most games have an instruction manual built into the introductory levels of the game (Maney). These first few baby steps are almost invariably text-based, whether that means a pop-up, a paper the character finds on the ground, a sign, or even a speech bubble from another character. Some games do tend to deviate from the realm of words from this point onward, but other games, such as, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time are just getting started. As the name suggests, a player can expect to hear “legends” throughout the game about the world when the three goddesses formed it so long ago. In addition to that, all of the speaking done by other characters in the fantasy world appears in a bluish transparent box at the bottom of the screen which especially encourages reading because the game is oriented in a way that the player must ask many people for help along the way. The game is so much like reading a story that a manga series has developed that follows the action of the video game. Zelda is not the only legend that has moved from digital into paperback; there is clearly a cult following the story from Halo into the pages of a book series as well because the books sold over a million combined copies by July 2010 (“Best Selling Author”). Halo and Zelda are just a few examples of reading-intensive games with complete stories, but there a many out there that give the player the option of listening or reading much like the modern day audiobook.
Despite the evidence in favor of the wholesome stories masqueraded by lights and cartridges, many still argue that games do not stimulate the brain as much as reading a book because the stories are not as good or complex, but these ideas are unfounded. Studies have proven that games “truly push kids to make decisions,” which helps them develop skills necessary to succeed in life or start their own business; a book lets a reader follow the decisions of someone else while a well-designed game allows a player to create their own path (Maney). This is clearly demonstrated in The Legend of Zelda where a player must guide Link through countless puzzles and decide whether or not to do the side-quests that improve his health or magic meter. It also teaches about consequences because if a puzzle is not completed correctly or in the allotted time, then it must be replayed which can be time-consuming and frustrating. The result of reading or playing decision-requiring games is a person who can think on a higher level.
Now think about gaming literacy outside the Xbox because a significant percentage of the reading that goes on takes place off of the television screen. Avid gamers rarely participate in the activity alone; there is planning, preparation, and research involved in merging the world of Sylvarant with Tethe'alla. Strategy guides are becoming increasingly more useful as designers escalate the difficulty on the new generation of game. The guide book for Halo 2 sold almost 300,000 copies on opening day alone; even considering the fact that it was one of the most anticipated games of the decade, that is a shocking number (Berardini). Guides offer walkthroughs on how to beat levels and tips for multiplayer competition, but they are not the only type of print text stemming from the gaming industry. Nintendo: The Official Magazine and Gameinformer are just a few of the paperbound texts that fanatics consistently hunger after, but the literacy does not end when the ink runs out because the digital natives that pilot those plastic reigns are extremely adept at navigating the internet as well. Countless websites are devoted to information about video games, but the most common are the discussion forums and what has become known as theory-crafting websites where arguments that “follow the framework of systematic scientific methodological analysis” breed and flourish. Players slave over trying to read and understand these analyses, but to do so requires them to think critically and look up the definition of words they do not comprehend (Danforth 50). Discerning complex written material, learning new vocabulary, formulating new ideas, and effectively communicating them through writing: are these not the goals of English classes around America and what the Baby-Boomer generation hopes to accomplish through the reading of novels and books? The difference is that video games have found a way to incorporate the fundamentals of literacy into an activity teenagers naturally enjoy.
The revolution has already begun, and it does not take long for a captivating concept to truly take flight. Video games compel a younger audience, a younger generation that will someday assume responsibility for teaching American Literature to a group of pimply socialites. The cause will soon have many supporters in small positions of power, and a mutiny only requires one overly zealous proponent to progress into an overthrow. Video games raised the bar, and it will not take long before society's jet-lag wears off and it awakens to the new dawn of storytelling. An interactive, enthralling, alien-crushing, sunrise, incomprehensible to the next generation will make them wonder how video games were ever belittled as they analyze the elements of literature surrounding Link's quest to save Hyrule kingdom.
Works Cited
Berardini, Cesar. “The Official Halo 2 Strategy Guide Becomes One of the Fastest- Selling New Books of the Decade.” Team Xbox. Imagine Gaming Network. Web. 28 September 2010.
“Best Selling Author Kare Traviss Set to Explore the Halo Universe.” Halo News.Halo Waypoint. Web. 27 September 2010.
Danforth, L. “Games and literacy”. Library Journal, 134(11), (2009) 50-50. Web. 25 September 2010.
Fallout 3. 2008. Bethesda Softworks. Video Game. 27 September 2010.
“IGN's Top 100 Games” Top 100 Games of All Time.10. Imagine Gaming Network. Web. 27 September 2010.
Maney, K. “Video Games Aren't Necessarily Turning Kids' Brains to Mush”. USA Today. Web. 29 September 2010.
Tales of Symphonia. 2004. Namco. Video Game. 29 September 2010.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. 1998. Nintendo. Video Game. 27 September 2010
Ward-Crixell, Kit. "Games have Stories to Tell." School Library Journal 55.6 (2009): 28-29. Web. 25 September 2010.
The most highly acclaimed games are those that have the most captivating and engaging plots, so why is the genre so overlooked as a vessel for transporting the human gift we know as the story? Games like Super Mario 64 are ranked at the top of gamers' all-time lists because they offer the same action, romance, and suspense that people find in novels (IGN's Top 100 Games). Most good games even include a few unforeseeable turns to shock the gamer and keep them playing, such as the twist in Tales of Symphonia where the entire group of travelers finds secondary character Colette losing her senses in preparation for her sacrifice instead of moving along the steps to becoming an angel. The protagonist then begins battling for her survival, fixated on the idea that people do not have to die to save the world and driven by the clear dramatic irony that he loves her. An adventure like this sounds more likely to be found in the fantasy section of the library instead of the RPG (Role-Playing Game) aisle in Best Buy. If sampling the correct pool of games, amazing stories that challenge the brilliance of even J.K. Rowling can be found. The real genius of video games, however, lies in how they actually take their art a step above books by making the player interact with the rising actions and climax. Not only does a player get to choose when each plot advancement takes place, but they also become the determining factor in what the outcome is. Even if the story is linear, as it is in most games, the player must complete each (more grueling) objective as they go. This aspect very intimately involves the player with the formation because if the story is already at a satisfactory interchange, the player could decide to simply stop and accept their own ending. Hence, games have fused the telling process with the receiving process, but some have essentially “leveled-up” this idea. Fallout 3and its impending sequels have developed and implemented the use of “karma meters” that record every action and decision a person makes, whether this is choosing if they will help an elderly woman find her dentures or detonate a hydrogen bomb in the middle of a useless city. After recording this kind of data, these games can then abdicate themselves in as little a thing as the number of enemies attacking the protagonist to as complex as whether the storyline includes the death of the main character. Features like this eliminate surprise at the deficiency of paper in young peoples palms because an exceptional novel makes a reader forget about the leaking faucet and the couch and the rough pillow and the dim light and the cat scratching on its pole, but an exceptional role-playing game makes the player forget he or she does not actually live in Kokiri Forest where the Great Deku Tree needs urgent rescue. Because players get lost in the game and sometimes end up forgetting who they are, it is very evident that games have that distinct ability authors give their pieces in order to keep the reader engaged. Great authors can generally make a reader identify with a character even if the character is nothing like the reader. They accomplish this by using pathos and actual thoughts from the character so the reader knows exactly what is going through his or her head and compares their experience to the fictional person. Of course designers employ some of the same techniques, but as usual, video games take things a step above that standard by partially eliminating the gap between real person and fictional hero. Games like Wizard 101have features that allow children to customize their attributes and change their characters to fit their personality, or other games simply allow a player to change the appearance of their avatar to match their own or match whatever mood they have on any given day because there always is that freedom of expression (Ward-Crixell 29). There is no doubt that video games are an acceptable method to tell stories because they enhance the experience to include incredible interaction, but people still argue that games have found a way to somewhat dismiss the exercise of reading.
Besides searching for a story that invigorates the imagination, there is also the notion that books are read for the transparent purpose of reading itself. There are benefits of reading words themselves that people who plant themselves and watch movies all summer cannot expect to experience. Video games have in no way cut out the need for this type of literacy; instead, they actually encourage and require gamers to read in some subtle and some more obvious ways. As far as the obvious is concerned, every game comes with an instruction manual that people may or may not chose to read because they have become less than necessary due to the fact that most games have an instruction manual built into the introductory levels of the game (Maney). These first few baby steps are almost invariably text-based, whether that means a pop-up, a paper the character finds on the ground, a sign, or even a speech bubble from another character. Some games do tend to deviate from the realm of words from this point onward, but other games, such as, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time are just getting started. As the name suggests, a player can expect to hear “legends” throughout the game about the world when the three goddesses formed it so long ago. In addition to that, all of the speaking done by other characters in the fantasy world appears in a bluish transparent box at the bottom of the screen which especially encourages reading because the game is oriented in a way that the player must ask many people for help along the way. The game is so much like reading a story that a manga series has developed that follows the action of the video game. Zelda is not the only legend that has moved from digital into paperback; there is clearly a cult following the story from Halo into the pages of a book series as well because the books sold over a million combined copies by July 2010 (“Best Selling Author”). Halo and Zelda are just a few examples of reading-intensive games with complete stories, but there a many out there that give the player the option of listening or reading much like the modern day audiobook.
Despite the evidence in favor of the wholesome stories masqueraded by lights and cartridges, many still argue that games do not stimulate the brain as much as reading a book because the stories are not as good or complex, but these ideas are unfounded. Studies have proven that games “truly push kids to make decisions,” which helps them develop skills necessary to succeed in life or start their own business; a book lets a reader follow the decisions of someone else while a well-designed game allows a player to create their own path (Maney). This is clearly demonstrated in The Legend of Zelda where a player must guide Link through countless puzzles and decide whether or not to do the side-quests that improve his health or magic meter. It also teaches about consequences because if a puzzle is not completed correctly or in the allotted time, then it must be replayed which can be time-consuming and frustrating. The result of reading or playing decision-requiring games is a person who can think on a higher level.
Now think about gaming literacy outside the Xbox because a significant percentage of the reading that goes on takes place off of the television screen. Avid gamers rarely participate in the activity alone; there is planning, preparation, and research involved in merging the world of Sylvarant with Tethe'alla. Strategy guides are becoming increasingly more useful as designers escalate the difficulty on the new generation of game. The guide book for Halo 2 sold almost 300,000 copies on opening day alone; even considering the fact that it was one of the most anticipated games of the decade, that is a shocking number (Berardini). Guides offer walkthroughs on how to beat levels and tips for multiplayer competition, but they are not the only type of print text stemming from the gaming industry. Nintendo: The Official Magazine and Gameinformer are just a few of the paperbound texts that fanatics consistently hunger after, but the literacy does not end when the ink runs out because the digital natives that pilot those plastic reigns are extremely adept at navigating the internet as well. Countless websites are devoted to information about video games, but the most common are the discussion forums and what has become known as theory-crafting websites where arguments that “follow the framework of systematic scientific methodological analysis” breed and flourish. Players slave over trying to read and understand these analyses, but to do so requires them to think critically and look up the definition of words they do not comprehend (Danforth 50). Discerning complex written material, learning new vocabulary, formulating new ideas, and effectively communicating them through writing: are these not the goals of English classes around America and what the Baby-Boomer generation hopes to accomplish through the reading of novels and books? The difference is that video games have found a way to incorporate the fundamentals of literacy into an activity teenagers naturally enjoy.
The revolution has already begun, and it does not take long for a captivating concept to truly take flight. Video games compel a younger audience, a younger generation that will someday assume responsibility for teaching American Literature to a group of pimply socialites. The cause will soon have many supporters in small positions of power, and a mutiny only requires one overly zealous proponent to progress into an overthrow. Video games raised the bar, and it will not take long before society's jet-lag wears off and it awakens to the new dawn of storytelling. An interactive, enthralling, alien-crushing, sunrise, incomprehensible to the next generation will make them wonder how video games were ever belittled as they analyze the elements of literature surrounding Link's quest to save Hyrule kingdom.
Works Cited
Berardini, Cesar. “The Official Halo 2 Strategy Guide Becomes One of the Fastest- Selling New Books of the Decade.” Team Xbox. Imagine Gaming Network. Web. 28 September 2010.
“Best Selling Author Kare Traviss Set to Explore the Halo Universe.” Halo News.Halo Waypoint. Web. 27 September 2010.
Danforth, L. “Games and literacy”. Library Journal, 134(11), (2009) 50-50. Web. 25 September 2010.
Fallout 3. 2008. Bethesda Softworks. Video Game. 27 September 2010.
“IGN's Top 100 Games” Top 100 Games of All Time.10. Imagine Gaming Network. Web. 27 September 2010.
Maney, K. “Video Games Aren't Necessarily Turning Kids' Brains to Mush”. USA Today. Web. 29 September 2010.
Tales of Symphonia. 2004. Namco. Video Game. 29 September 2010.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. 1998. Nintendo. Video Game. 27 September 2010
Ward-Crixell, Kit. "Games have Stories to Tell." School Library Journal 55.6 (2009): 28-29. Web. 25 September 2010.