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Design Game as Narrative Architecture
Henry Jenkins
The relationship betweengamesand story remainsa divisivequestionamong game fans,designers, and alike. a recentacademic scholars At GamesStudies conference, example, blood feud threatenedto for a erupt betweent}e self-proclaimed ludologists, who wanted to seethe focus shift onto the mechanics of game play,and the narratologists, who were interested in studyinggamesalongside other storytellingmedia.r Considersomerecentstatementsmadeon this issue, Interacti 'rity almostthe opposite is of narrative;narrativeflows under the directionof the author,while interactivity depends the playerfor motive power. on (Adams1999) Thereis a &rect, immediateconflict betweenthe demandsof a story and the demandsof a game.Divergence from a
storys path is likely to make for a less satisfyingstory; restrictinga player 's freedom of action is likely to make for a lesssatisfyinggame.(Costikyan2000,
44-s3)
Computer games not narratives.... are Rather the narrative tends to be isolated lrom or evenwork against the computergame-ness the game.(Juul f gg8)z of Outsideacademic theory peopleare usuallyexcellent making distinctions at betweennarrative,drama and games. I If throw a ball at you I don 't expect you to drop it and wait until it starts telling (Eskelinen stories. 2001) I find myself responding to this perspectivewith mjxed feelings. the one hand, I understandwhat these On writers are arguing against - various attempts to map traditional narrative structures ("hypertext," "lnteractiveCinema," "nonlinearnarrative")onto games at the expense ofan attention to their specificityas an emergingmode of entertainment.You say"narrative" to the average gamer and what they are apt to imagine is somethingon the order of a choose-your,own
Response Jon McKenzie by
The model of creativityoften associated with digital mediais not that of originality and uniqueness but recombination and multiplicity, a model hardwired to the computer 's
Design Game as Narrative Architecture
Henry Jenkins
The relationship betweengamesand story remainsa divisivequestionamong game fans,designers, and alike. a recentacademic scholars At GamesStudies conference, example, blood feud threatenedto for a erupt betweent}e self-proclaimed ludologists, who wanted to seethe focus shift onto the mechanics of game play,and the narratologists, who were interested in studyinggamesalongside other storytellingmedia.r Considersomerecentstatementsmadeon this issue, Interacti 'rity almostthe opposite is of narrative;narrativeflows under the directionof the author,while interactivity depends the playerfor motive power. on (Adams1999) Thereis a &rect, immediateconflict betweenthe demandsof a story and the demandsof a game.Divergence from a
storys path is likely to make for a less satisfyingstory; restrictinga player 's freedom of action is likely to make for a lesssatisfyinggame.(Costikyan2000,
44-s3)
Computer games not narratives.... are Rather the narrative tends to be isolated lrom or evenwork against the computergame-ness the game.(Juul f gg8)z of Outsideacademic theory peopleare usuallyexcellent making distinctions at betweennarrative,drama and games. I If throw a ball at you I don 't expect you to drop it and wait until it starts telling (Eskelinen stories. 2001) I find myself responding to this perspectivewith mjxed feelings. the one hand, I understandwhat these On writers are arguing against - various attempts to map traditional narrative structures ("hypertext," "lnteractiveCinema," "nonlinearnarrative")onto games at the expense ofan attention to their specificityas an emergingmode of entertainment.You say"narrative" to the average gamer and what they are apt to imagine is somethingon the order of a choose-your,own
Response Jon McKenzie by
The model of creativityoften associated with digital mediais not that of originality and uniqueness but recombination and multiplicity, a model hardwired to the computer 's
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