Contextual Studies: Introduction

For this terms contextual studies we will be looking at creating a coherent world within video games. We will also be looking at good and bad examples of a coherent worlds within video games as well as other medias such as film and television.

The definition of “coherent” is something that is logically connected and consistent.

In the concept of video games, creating a coherent world is creating a world that is believable and clear to the player. Anything is possible within a video game, yet it needs rules and boundaries for the game to be fair. When a gaming world lacks this consistency it is something that can be seen clearly, yet a coherent world can easily be taken for granted because the player immediately accepts it and will probably not think any more about it. Gravity is a good example, most games show the use of gravity, yet we as players don’t really notice this because it is what we expect.

An example of an incoherent gaming world may be one where the player is constantly under attack from enemies yet has no understanding of why they have to fight. This can make the player feel cheated and quickly lose interest in the games, however, by simply mentioning there are dangerous monsters, for example, the player automatically expects these battles.

While in our first Contextual Studies lecture, we were asked to discuss video games set in the future and how the worlds are coherent.

We started by discussing some video games we had played set in the future, but found it hard to find one we had all played. We finally settled on Star Wars: The Force Unleashed because, although not all of us had played the game, we all knew the franchise and story behind it from watching the films.

Myself and the others who had not played the game, were given a brief overview on how the game starts by someone who knew it well. It was easy for myself to imagine because many of the environments in the game are the same as the settings in the film. This made me wonder if the game world was coherent, or whether players accepted it because of the film franchise. The Star Wars franchise is famous for being set in space, yet this environment is not necessary to the story, the narrative can be transferable to other worlds and times, another peer mentioned that the story was even based on old samurai tales. Therefore, it could be argued that the background is not functioning.

We then went on to discuss games set in the past and how these worlds are coherent.

L.A Noire is the game we discussed and managed to find the opening sequence to watch for those who had not played it. The game opens with a panoramic view of the city, followed by scenes of the people that live here and their lives. A voice over informs the player of how it’s a new age and times have changed, while detective, mystery style music plays. This combined with the attire of the people, style of cars and other such visuals immediately lets the player know it is set at the end of the second world war.