1. What do you see as the Positives and Negatives around Copyright?

&

2. Is it possible to make anything new?

1

Personally I am very biased when it comes to Copyright, in favour of the positives. However, I will try to explain and justify both sides. First however, I will define copyright. Through court decisions and specific language, within the UK Copyright Act of 1988 (Archives, 1988), the scope of copyright has been limited to particular expression of an idea, not the idea that underlies that expression. In no form does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation or anything of the sort, embodied in such work. Copyright doesn’t preclude others from using the ideas or information revealed by the author’s work. It pertains to the literary, musical, graphic or artistic from in which the author expressed intellectual concepts. This means the physical outcome is the only part of which is under copyright protection.

Now I will list off what I agree to be the positives and negatives of Copyright:

Advantages

• Rights to Produce/Reproduce

Copyright gives the creator of a piece of intellectual property (including literary, musical, dramatic, or artistic work; not ideas) the sole right to produce and reproduce their work.

• Right to Authorise

These include the right to authorise others to produce or reproduce your work as well as the right to broadcast your work.

• Protection

Copyright prevents your work from being stolen or misused by others.

• Moral Rights

Copyright allows the holder of the copyright to object to uses of their work that they find morally objectionable.

Disadvantages

• Inability to Share Work

Copyrights key advantage can also be it’s downfall. Copyright doesn’t allow you to openly permit others to use your work or to distribute it, even if they are not doing it for profit.

• Authorship isn’t Ownership

You must own the copyright to be able to exercise the rights that it grants, and just being the creator of the work does not always guarantee ownership. In some cases the owner is actually the person who commissioned the work, or the company for whom the work was produced.

• Limited Duration

Copyright protection doesn’t last forever. The duration depends on several factors. Generally, copyright expires at the end of the period of 70 years from the end of the calendar year to which the creator dies, or which the work was made.

2

I believe we can be very pedantic with the term “new”, as we can create something new all the time but it can be influenced by other media or ideas. For example, everybody tends to believe that Star Wars paved the way for modern Sci-Fi, however be it not for the likes of Stanley Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ we wouldn’t have Star Wars either. Then to the argument that the story was nothing we had seen before, well actually, George Lucas was inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s ‘The Hidden Fortress’ (Barber, 2016).

Although, in a world of sequels and prequels, we can occasionally get something totally original like the beloved Netflix show, Stranger Things or Dontnod Entertainment/Square Enix game Life is Strange.

 (Strohman, 2016)

References

Archives, N. (1988). Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Retrieved from legislation: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/contents

Barber, N. (2016). The Film Star Wars Stole From. BBC. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20160104-the-film-star-wars-stole-from

Bomb, G. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.giantbomb.com/io-interactive/3010-3562/

Carroll, J. M. (n.d.). The Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction, 2nd Ed. Retrieved from Interaction Design Foundation: https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/book/the-encyclopedia-of-human-computer-interaction-2nd-ed/human-computer-interaction-brief-intro

CBSNews. (2013, February 9). Preview: The Last of US. Retrieved from CBS News: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/preview-the-last-of-us/

CItyofRapture246. (2015). All Console Commands (Fallout 4). Retrieved from http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=564770571

Clore, G. L. (2013). Psychological Construction in the OCC Model of Emotion.

D, B. (2017, June 20). Hitman Episode 1: ICA FAcility Free Download Available on PS4, PC, Xbox One. Retrieved from One Angry Gamer: https://www.oneangrygamer.net/2017/06/hitman-episode-1-ica-facility-free-download-available-on-ps4-pc-xbox-one/33425/

Ding, Y. Z. (2003). The Designing and Development of Game. People’s Traffic Press.

FrictionalGames. (2017). In the Games of Madness. Retrieved from http://frictionalgames.blogspot.co.uk/

Gohanssj2. (2013, Jun 27). Antics of the Whiterun Guards. Retrieved from Imgur: https://imgur.com/gallery/Ev9gF

Hudlicka, E. (2009). Foundations for Modelling Emotions in Game Characters: MOdelling EMotion Effects on Cognition.

Indie Game The Movie (2012). [Motion Picture]. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/ondemand/indiegamethemovie/25268139

Lebowitz, J. (2011). Interactive Storytelling for Video Games.

McMullin, K. (2014, April 24). Passive vs. Active Participants. Retrieved from Collegewise: http://wiselikeus.com/collegewise/2014/04/passive-vs-active-participants.html

Norman, D. (1988). The Design of Everyday Things.

Playstation. (n.d.). The Last of Us Remastered. Retrieved from Playstation: https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/games/the-last-of-us-remastered-ps4/

Smithsonian. (n.d.). Apple 2 Personal Computer. Retrieved from National Museum of American History: http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_334638

Strohman, D. (2016, October 20). One Year Later: “Life is Strange”. Retrieved from The Young Folks: https://www.theyoungfolks.com/review/86175/one-year-later-life-is-strange/

 

 

1. Select One Example to Outline the Key Concepts of Human-Computer Interaction. Reflect Upon the Role of the “Human”, the “Computer” and the “Interaction”.

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2. Discuss the Relationship Between Games Design and Human-Computer Interaction.

1

“Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is an area of research and practice” (Carroll, n.d.). HCI emerged in the 1980s, initially as a specialised area of Computer Science, embracing cognitive science and human factors engineering. HCI, has rapidly expanded since then, incorporating diverse approaches to further the research.

(Carroll, n.d.)

The key concept of HCI is to understand the factors that determine how people use technology, this could be the ease of learning, remembering how to use it, effective and efficient use, safe use and enjoyable use. A lot of everyday systems and products seem to be designed with little regard to usability.

Computing moving off of the desktop to be everywhere with ease, is one example. Computers are everywhere, phones, cars, meeting rooms, hotels and classrooms. The focus of HCI moved from the desktop and will continue to move. HCI is a technology area, and it is ineluctably driven to frontiers of technology and application possibility. This movement of HCI from desktop is a large-scale example of a pattern of development that is replicated through HCI at many levels of analysis. To be more specific, the adaptation of the unlock function on a mobile phone, initially beginning with the simultaneous press of ‘*+Enter’ on the Nokia 3310 to the now simple finger print scanner or facial recognition on the Samsung Galaxy S8.

The User

• This can be an arguable term as it could mean the individual or group working together. An appreciation of the way people’s sensory systems relay information, is vital. Also, different users form different conceptions of their interactions and have different ways of learning and keeping knowledge

The Computer

• This is referring to any technology ranging from computer systems to home computers. For example, if discussing web design, then the website itself would be referred to as “the computer”. Devices such as mobile phones can also be considered “computers”

Interaction

• There are clear differences between humans and machines. HCI, is the bridge between the two to ensure both work together fluidly. In order to achieve a usable system, you need to apply what you know about Humans and Computers, and consult with likely users throughout design processes.

2

At present the design area of HCI, within game holds a close connection: “Usability” is an important research of HCI within games, due to user feedback on gameplay, which is actually based on the usability of game software. At this point, gameplay is also called playability.

 (Ding, 2003)

According to the theory of human-computer interaction described by Don Norman, the principle of “Simple, natural, friendly and consistent” should be reflected in every aspect of the progress in the game design (Norman, 1988). Flexibly applying these principles to the design of the interactive game not only establish good communication between player and computer, but also achieve the entertainment value of games.

References

Bomb, G. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.giantbomb.com/io-interactive/3010-3562/

Carroll, J. M. (n.d.). The Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction, 2nd Ed. Retrieved from Interaction Design Foundation: https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/book/the-encyclopedia-of-human-computer-interaction-2nd-ed/human-computer-interaction-brief-intro

CBSNews. (2013, February 9). Preview: The Last of US. Retrieved from CBS News: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/preview-the-last-of-us/

D, B. (2017, June 20). Hitman Episode 1: ICA FAcility Free Download Available on PS4, PC, Xbox One. Retrieved from One Angry Gamer: https://www.oneangrygamer.net/2017/06/hitman-episode-1-ica-facility-free-download-available-on-ps4-pc-xbox-one/33425/

Ding, Y. Z. (2003). The Designing and Development of Game. People’s Traffic Press.

FrictionalGames. (2017). In the Games of Madness. Retrieved from http://frictionalgames.blogspot.co.uk/

Indie Game The Movie (2012). [Motion Picture]. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/ondemand/indiegamethemovie/25268139

Lebowitz, J. (2011). Interactive Storytelling for Video Games.

McMullin, K. (2014, April 24). Passive vs. Active Participants. Retrieved from Collegewise: http://wiselikeus.com/collegewise/2014/04/passive-vs-active-participants.html

Norman, D. (1988). The Design of Everyday Things.

Playstation. (n.d.). The Last of Us Remastered. Retrieved from Playstation: https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/games/the-last-of-us-remastered-ps4/

Smithsonian. (n.d.). Apple 2 Personal Computer. Retrieved from National Museum of American History: http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_334638

 

 

1. Behavioural Modelling is an important part of NPC development for games. Should emotive modelling be part of that development?

&

2. Consider your favourite video game. If it contains AI controlled agents how individualistic are they and their behaviours, and, how might you set about improving them?

1

In my opinion Game AI agents today, don’t reflect the affective aspects of human behaviour, outside of pre-rendered cut scenes. The importance of which is quite high, as the gaming community is more and more recognising the importance of emotion in the development of engaging games. “Affect plays a key role in user experience” (Hudlicka, 2009).

The use of emotion effects on in-Game characters, are to immerse the player in a believable setting, ideally these expressions are appropriate for their context. It also is then necessary to develop, dynamically generated emotions, within the NPCs, in the context of ongoing gameplay, and the user-NPC interactions. Even though these have been developed and through research I have seen are based on the OCC model of emotions (Clore, 2013). However, through my own experience, I believe than any NPC interaction outside of cut scenes, never truly express this to a full extent yet, and I do understand it is still relatively new. For example, within open-world games like Bethesda’s “Fallout” series or “Elder Scrolls” series, you may have very emotive voice acting, however the emotion is never truly portrayed within the facial expressions or body movements. I feel to get a more immersive gameplay, this is a big portion of these open-world but story driven games that needs to be worked on, so people can truly connect with the characters they are surrounded by throughout the world.

(CItyofRapture246, 2015)

 

 

2

One of my favourite games that does involve AI controlled Agents, is Bethesda’s “Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim”. Throughout the game everything other than items or environments, is controlled by AI. All of these NPCs are usually on set, rotational paths, when you are in rendering range. More often than not, I have witnessed a Whiterun Guard on its path, come across an object in its path and instead of walking around like a person would, instead retract their legs into their body and climb over the object.  This is common for the NPCs of Skyrim, if they interact with something that isn’t normally in their path, they tend to continue “through” it. Ideally I would work on these kinds of things, so if the NPC is on its path and does interact with an anomaly as such, it would react in altering its path by walking around or to even further improve, move the object, and display some emotion towards the situation if the player is in sight or nearby to hear. The aspect of realistic reactions would be an improvement for me, for example, in the image below you can see the player is able to place a jug over the guard’s head, although this is funny, I would prefer that if the player were to do such a thing, the guard can stop you by using his/her hands like any normal person would.

 (Gohanssj2, 2013)

References

Bomb, G. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.giantbomb.com/io-interactive/3010-3562/

Carroll, J. M. (n.d.). The Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction, 2nd Ed. Retrieved from Interaction Design Foundation: https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/book/the-encyclopedia-of-human-computer-interaction-2nd-ed/human-computer-interaction-brief-intro

CBSNews. (2013, February 9). Preview: The Last of US. Retrieved from CBS News: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/preview-the-last-of-us/

CItyofRapture246. (2015). All Console Commands (Fallout 4). Retrieved from http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=564770571

Clore, G. L. (2013). Psychological Construction in the OCC Model of Emotion.

D, B. (2017, June 20). Hitman Episode 1: ICA FAcility Free Download Available on PS4, PC, Xbox One. Retrieved from One Angry Gamer: https://www.oneangrygamer.net/2017/06/hitman-episode-1-ica-facility-free-download-available-on-ps4-pc-xbox-one/33425/

Ding, Y. Z. (2003). The Designing and Development of Game. People’s Traffic Press.

FrictionalGames. (2017). In the Games of Madness. Retrieved from http://frictionalgames.blogspot.co.uk/

Gohanssj2. (2013, Jun 27). Antics of the Whiterun Guards. Retrieved from Imgur: https://imgur.com/gallery/Ev9gF

Hudlicka, E. (2009). Foundations for Modelling Emotions in Game Characters: MOdelling EMotion Effects on Cognition.

Indie Game The Movie (2012). [Motion Picture]. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/ondemand/indiegamethemovie/25268139

Lebowitz, J. (2011). Interactive Storytelling for Video Games.

McMullin, K. (2014, April 24). Passive vs. Active Participants. Retrieved from Collegewise: http://wiselikeus.com/collegewise/2014/04/passive-vs-active-participants.html

Norman, D. (1988). The Design of Everyday Things.

Playstation. (n.d.). The Last of Us Remastered. Retrieved from Playstation: https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/games/the-last-of-us-remastered-ps4/

Smithsonian. (n.d.). Apple 2 Personal Computer. Retrieved from National Museum of American History: http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_334638

 

Why could you say that the “Indie” game scene is not a new thing and explain, give examples?

&

Has the Term “Indie” Become Meaningless?

Question One:

To look back at the earliest days of gaming, the only video games would be found in arcades, developed, published and distributed by the likes of Namco, Service Games and Atari. The size and expense of these cabinets meant that to produce a game for them you’d have to join one of the companies and hope to get your idea developed. However, in the late 1970s and 80s, things began changing, with the release of the inexpensive home computers like the ‘Apple 2’.   (Smithsonian, n.d.)

This gave hobbyist developers a way to get their hands on tools powerful enough and affordable enough to make their own games, without having to join a corporate company.

Indie game development, took a big blow in the latter half of the ‘80s, with the rise of the NES and the Sega Master System. In order to develop for these systems, developers needed to get official licensing, and the costs involved meant indie development would be confined to PCs. However, with the improvement of the home computer in terms of power, the development tools also progressed. By the late ‘90s, hobbyists had more tools than ever imaginable.

The 2000s would see the popularity rise of Indie games, with the explosive popularity of games like Mojang’s “Minecraft”, Team Meat’s “Super Meat Boy” or Behemoth’s Castle Crashers. With platforms like Flash, Unity or XNA Game Studio, this allowed more people to develop freely. These platforms began the march towards consoles for Indie Games. While most games released in this time were from major publishers, downloadable game stores made some room for Indie Games. The progress of which can be seen within Indie Game the Movie, through the struggles of the developers of Super Meat Boy and Phil Fish’s “FEZ”. (Indie Game The Movie, 2012).

 

Question Two:

To answer this question we need to look at where Indie Games are today. Currently, it is just as easy to find yourself an indie game that suits your taste, as it is to find AAA games. In actuality, a person may argue that there is an ever-expansive glut of indie games out there, being released consistently. Thanks to services like Humble Bundle or Steam Greenlight, you can find these with ease. They may not share the physical store sales that your AAA releases have, but they can often be just as successful.

The indie game genre, has become so strong and large, that some developers choose now to go independent to release games at a more rapid rate, instead of staying with big companies, for example IO Interactive has been reported to have broken away from Square Enix, to continue publishing Hitman games, solo (D, 2017). This is only one report of this, Developers from series like BioShock and Metal Gear Solid have also done similar moves.

(Bomb, n.d.)

It is clearer now, more than ever, that the indie game scene is not just another part of the regular gaming scene. Even though they did have a rocky start, they are now part and parcel of the community. Dominating entire markets, their sales trample some AAA titles. Breathing fresh life into a repetitive market.

References

Bomb, G. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.giantbomb.com/io-interactive/3010-3562/

CBSNews. (2013, February 9). Preview: The Last of US. Retrieved from CBS News: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/preview-the-last-of-us/

D, B. (2017, June 20). Hitman Episode 1: ICA FAcility Free Download Available on PS4, PC, Xbox One. Retrieved from One Angry Gamer: https://www.oneangrygamer.net/2017/06/hitman-episode-1-ica-facility-free-download-available-on-ps4-pc-xbox-one/33425/

FrictionalGames. (2017). In the Games of Madness. Retrieved from http://frictionalgames.blogspot.co.uk/

Indie Game The Movie (2012). [Motion Picture]. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/ondemand/indiegamethemovie/25268139

Lebowitz, J. (2011). Interactive Storytelling for Video Games.

McMullin, K. (2014, April 24). Passive vs. Active Participants. Retrieved from Collegewise: http://wiselikeus.com/collegewise/2014/04/passive-vs-active-participants.html

Playstation. (n.d.). The Last of Us Remastered. Retrieved from Playstation: https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/games/the-last-of-us-remastered-ps4/

Smithsonian. (n.d.). Apple 2 Personal Computer. Retrieved from National Museum of American History: http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_334638

 

 

Select One Example to Outline the Key Concepts of the Interactive Narrative Genre

&

Does the interactive narrative still have a role to play in video games today? Give exemplary examples?

The interactive narrative genre, is striving still today with the TellTale Games releases, Naughty Dog’s award winners or Quantic Dream’s immersive storytelling gameplay. To cover both of these questions I will be looking at “The Last of Us” by Naughty Dog, winner eleven different awards, including a BAFTA for Story and Best Game, to cover the genre’s role in video games today and the key concepts. However in terms of what makes the Interactive Narrative Genre, “If you were to ask a room full of writers, game designers, and English professors for the definition of “interactive storytelling,” you’d get quite a lot of different answers” (Lebowitz, 2011). So in reality there is no consensus as to what is or isn’t an interactive story, virtually everything is an interactive as long as there is interaction.

Storytelling

Unsurprisingly, an interactive narrative, should be designed to tell a story. This means, not to allow the key focal immersion to be shooting, looting or puzzle solving. Though the game could contain these, they shouldn’t be the focal point. The game’s existence must be to immerse the player inside a story driven universe. As mentioned prior, The Last of Us, not only did this but won awards and continues to be a favourite amongst many gamers, even a starting point for others: four years on. Using a heartfelt Father-Daughter connection between two mismatched characters, attempting to get through a world gone to hell, not only due to the infection that ravages the world, but also overbearing governments.

Thus the key aspect to this element, is that the story needs to be palpable. It must contain characters and settings identifiable to cause a connection between player and universe. As mentioned, the Father-Daughter connection between Joel and Ellie, within the game, portrays a story of two strangers landing in a situation that causes them to grow into a family, which is struck by haunting pasts and scarring current events that tug at the heart-strings with the growing dynamic between the two characters.

(Playstation, n.d.)

Interactions Need to make Narrative Sense

For true immersion in a narrative, a player’s actions must be connected to the important events within the game for example, any quick time events within the game which could be portrayed as any time a clicker or infected grabs you within The Last of Us.

(CBSNews, 2013)

Players must feel as though they have an active part to the story and not just being an observer. If none of the important story moments connect the player, they become ‘passive participants’ (McMullin, 2014). If the gameplay only consists of looting, then it doesn’t matter if the player spends 90% of their time interacting; they are not part of any of the key happenings, and their actions are then pointless. “Gameplay must be foundational to the narrative, not just a side activity while waiting for the next cutscene.” (FrictionalGames, 2017)

Also, players must be able to understand their role from their actions. If the player is supposed to be a detective, then this must be evident in the gameplay. Meaning you could still be swinging a sword and fighting demons, but as long as the story elements are there for you to know this is your role.

No Progression Blocks

Keeping players immersed within a narrative, they must be focused constantly on the story development. This doesn’t rule out making the game challenging, but it needs to be made sure that an obstacle doesn’t consume so much focus that the fluidity of gameplay ceases to continue. It must be remembered that the players are playing to embrace a story. If they get stuck at some point, focus can fade away from story and divert to progressing.

Overview

To look at it properly, even The Last of Us fails to do this sometimes, as do most Action based games. The closest to come to covering all of these major elements is Heavy Rain by Quantic Dreams or TellTale’s The Walking Dead. However, these games tend to fall flat on their Immersion into Narrative Sense. The only game I personally found to cover all aspects was Steve Gaynor’s ‘Gone Home’ even though your actions do tend to have little relevance to the core narrative.

References

CBSNews. (2013, February 9). Preview: The Last of US. Retrieved from CBS News: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/preview-the-last-of-us/

FrictionalGames. (2017). In the Games of Madness. Retrieved from http://frictionalgames.blogspot.co.uk/

Lebowitz, J. (2011). Interactive Storytelling for Video Games.

McMullin, K. (2014, April 24). Passive vs. Active Participants. Retrieved from Collegewise: http://wiselikeus.com/collegewise/2014/04/passive-vs-active-participants.html

Playstation. (n.d.). The Last of Us Remastered. Retrieved from Playstation: https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/games/the-last-of-us-remastered-ps4/

 

 

 

Question One: What are the Key Components of Postmodernism?

To begin with we must first define ‘Postmodernism’, which on its own isn’t easily defined, and to quote one of my sources “its roots aren’t easily traced.” (Anon., n.d.) Most commonly it is used to describe architecture, art, technology and literature among many other aspects.  From what I have discovered, there are ten key concepts to postmodernism that is widely acknowledged by those who strive by philosophy. I decided to use the same titles as in my first source, they to me stood out as a good roundup of each point. I thought also to only discuss those of the most importance.

1. Disillusionment with Modernist Thinking

Postmodernists seem to be unsatisfied with the world’s inability to achieve social advancement, acknowledgement and peace, so they challenge the conventional way of operating. Therefor the notion of truthful thinking is a “contrived illusion, misused by people and special interest groups to gain power over others”. (Anon., n.d.)

They challenge the unfulfilled promises of science, technology, government and religion.

 

2. Opposition to Traditional Authority

Overall, to the postmodernist, authority is a danger and isn’t to be trusted. Authority figures are to be an opposition, due to their loyalty and trust to the establishment and rigid beliefs in moral truths. In terms of the origin of Postmodernism, you could look at the New Testament in the west (1650-1800AD).                         (Wells, 2006)

3. Truth is relative

There are no objective truths. They are defined by groups of people who use them to attain power. One’s perception of reality doesn’t always match another person’s. For example, although you may view a person of the opposing sex as in a relationship based on their conventional indications of being taken, they may not see that themselves.

4. Morality is Relative

There isn’t a moral system that is accurate for everybody. Traditional beliefs that have been accepted for centuries, fall secondary when people believe that truth is relative.

 

Question Two: What Games do you think Exemplify this in Their Design Decisions?

The first of the mentioned key points that stood out as apparent within a game, is the relativity in Truth. Within any game produced by ‘TellTale Games’, you have the option to choose your own path, to which the story will travel down. To paraphrase what they say at the start of all their games, the decisions you make, determine the story you take. (Dutertre, 2014)

Then when looking at the relativity of Morality, if you think of the game series “Infamous” by Sucker Punch Productions, you had ‘Karma’ which was affected by the decisions made by main the player, which then would later impact that characters positively or negatively, depending on how drastic the decision is. This can affect the end result either in a large or small way. It ultimately changes the way in which their powers develop, their appearance changes and the successive chain of events that happen within the story. For example, within the third instalment, “Second Son” you can either sacrifice your entire tribe or turn yourself in to the government, after you for your powers. This is shown in the below image, your back patch would change colour dependant on the type of choice you make.

(Pressure, n.d.)

References

Anon., n.d. All About Philosophy. [Online]
Available at: https://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/characteristics-of-postmodernism-faq.htm

Anon., n.d. Web Designs School Guide. [Online]
Available at: http://www.webdesignschoolsguide.com/library/10-core-components-of-postmodernism.html

Dutertre, S., 2014. Morality and Ethic System in Video Game. [Online]
Available at: https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DUTERTRESimon/20140222/210687/Morality_and_ethic_system_in_videogame.php

Pressure, G., n.d. inFamous: Second Son Game Guide and Walkthrough. [Online]
Available at: https://guides.gamepressure.com/infamous3/guide.asp?ID=24793

Wells, D. F., 2006. Above All Earthly Pow’rs, Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co..

 

 

 

What do you see as the positives and negatives around copyright?

Copyright helps people to maintain their creative works such as videos and music. Almost all artist mediums are covered in copyright however copyright does have some negative aspects. The laws surrounding copyright can be very useful in helping people to maintain their own work. One advantage of copyright is that it gives the creator automatic copyright protection which means when work it originally created it automatically comes under copyright protection law meaning it belongs to you if it is original and not reproducing in any shape or form. Defending intellectual property rights is another advantage of copyright law. When you create a work, you don’t want someone else to steal it and claim it as their own this is where copyright law enables you to defend your own property. However, copyright right law is not always positive, it can have several negative effects such as the price of enforcing copyright law. Small businesses can suffer when they try to enforce copyright law on larger companies because it can be expensive to defend copyright cases. In addition, it can expensive to even register your product for copyright protection. All together this does not help small businesses who feel they are being down trodden on.

Is it possible to make anything new?

I think that it is possible to create something new using influences from outside of the medium being used, everyone is unique and has their own experiences that they can add to their art. Thereby nothing created will ever be the same. The term Avant Garde can be best used to describe a new wave of art that pushes the boundaries and norms. The Avant Garde movement is creating art that is unlike anything we have seen before, dada, cubism are examples of artists pushing boundaries and being creative. Every artist has their own approach and using this to create something new is not difficult with the amount of influences you can take from many mediums.

Sources

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/pros-cons-copyright-laws-52554.html

http://blog.stcloudstate.edu/nyesilevsky/2017/04/11/pros-and-cons-of-copyright-laws/

http://www.lawprofessor.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-obtaining-a-copyright/

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/a/avant-garde

http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/definitions/avant-garde-art.htm

References

Norman, D. (1988). The Design of Everyday Things.

Lebowitz, J. (2011). Interactive Storytelling for Video Games.

 

The most important thing I learned from this module is how to use a limited amount of word to represent my personal responses, and weekly question pairs do improve my writing skills and truly developed my thinking process, and now I start getting confident to do my own research and responses.

  However, all 6 topics helped me a lot on game making process, because they contain such a wide range content to do researches on. For example in week 5 ‘Human-Computer Interaction’ topic, I had a research on Tobii’s Eye tracking system (from Tobii Eyetracking, Assassin’s creed Origins page, Enemy Tagging) and it inspired me by the way of using the program to achieve the anticipation on player’s interests, (when a player is looking at something, the system will assume their intentions, and the data will be sent to the game designer to help them anticipate the player’s behavior)and this concept makes me want to learn more about how game designers collect pieces of information from the players. Also in week 4 ‘The history of Indie’, I understand how indie games were progressed, and the future of this area, which gives me a rough idea about how can I involve into the game industry and the problems that I should avoid during game development (This will be a tough circumstance for them, because of low recognition and user credibility).

  Because of these wide range topics, I start getting clearer about the history and details of the game industry, and I am not as diffident as the beginning of the semester 1.

  However, I think the main issue of my blogs are language problems which I need to improve on. Although I have a clear clue in the back of my mind, I still struggled a lot during writing them down; another thing about the language is that it takes longer time for me to read references in other languages. 

  Apart from Languages, there is also a problem with my blog, which is I always choose easy questions, and to answer invaluable responses. For example, in ‘Does the interactive narrative still have a role to play in video games today? Give exemplary examples?’ I used almost half of the answer to describe Witcher 3’s mechanic, and in my opinion, this is making up the word amount without valuable responses, which I have to amend. Link back to the game making process, I have to use the least amount of word to bring out the most valuable information of my game, and blogging is a good way to practice that.

Overview my blogs, I think the only advantage of my blog is well organized, and I tried my best to do them, even though it is not as good as what I expected, but this is just a kick off, what I will do is identify problems  and rectify them and hopefully after improving on my work, I can communicate more thoroughly, and make a right direction for myself.

References:

The history of indie:  http://blog.soton.ac.uk/rcs/2017/11/22/week-4-the-history-of-indie-2/

Human-Computer Interaction: http://blog.soton.ac.uk/rcs/2017/11/22/week-5-human-computer-interaction/

Interactive Narrative: http://blog.soton.ac.uk/rcs/2017/11/22/week-3-skill-sta…active-narrative/

Tobii’s Eye tracking technology: https://tobiigaming.com/games/assassins-creed-origins/

 

• What are some of the key milestones in copyright law?

  I will use the history of music copyright as the starting point as it gives a clear timeline of what happened in the history of copyright.

  The first copyright law called ‘Statue of Anne’ was appeared in 1710, Briton. The full title of this article is: ‘An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by vesting the Copies of Printed Books in the Authors or purchasers of such Copies, during the Times therein mentioned.’ ( from History of copyright law, Wikipedia). The promulgation of this law changes the way how people use sources and create origins.

  Although ‘Statute of Anne’ was the first official copyright law published in the history, but the concept of musical copyright has an older history than the former. In the reign of King Henry VIII of England who asked copies of all printed matters and offers protection to printers in the form of licenses. (From History of Music publishing, Wikipedia).

  However, what King Henry VIII has done was not effective, a lot of artists and musicians were still using each other’s resources by the time, however, most of them were not in the same countries or regions, therefore the law didn’t affect them that much. This phenomenon lasted until 1886.

  In 1886, Berne Convention was created and it was the first international agreement involving copyrights. The key point of this convention is that protection for works applies onto each of the contracting countries, this convention is still functioning today, and there are 165 countries had become parties to it by March 2012. (From Berne Convention, Wikipedia)

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_music_publishing#Copyright

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_copyright_law

• Give some examples where you see games being clearly influenced by other work?

  I will use Metal Gear Solid as an example to describe how it influences lots of other games.

  Metal Gear Solid is one of the core milestones in the stealth-type game, and one of the key principle mechanics in this game is ‘Hide and Seek’. This principle was inspired by ‘The Great Escape’ ( ‘He reversed the focus of the gameplay from shooting down the enemy to avoiding the capture’ from Metal Gear (Video game), Wikipedia). By the time, this principle starts getting more and more popular, here is an example:

  Splinter Cell 6 (Splinter Cell 6, steam page): This is a stealth game which is about an agent completing his missions in enemy bases, and the principle of this game is to stay in the dark and try to avoid enemies. Apart from ‘avoiding enemies’, there are other mechanics which clearly influenced by Metal Gear Solid: to have the lean against the wall playstyle. This is a stealth mode which helps the player to avoid enemies, provides wider sights and brings out tension. This mode was famous as one of the key mechanics in Metal Gear Solid. According to Hideo Kojima, this mechanic was inspired by playing Hide and Seek when he was still a child. (From Hideo Kojima, Baidu).

  An example that might be influenced by Metal Gear Solid is the game called ‘Crysis’ (From Crysis on steam). In the game, the player will get to wear a special gear called the ‘Nanosuit’. One of the function can be used is light bending which is also known as Cloak mode(Invisible mode). In Metal Gear Solid, the player is awarded a light bending camouflage when they complete the game. (From The Technological Alt-History of ‘Metal Gear Solid’)

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Gear_(video_game)

https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%B0%8F%E5%B2%9B%E7%A7%80%E5%A4%AB/645442?fr=aladdin

http://store.steampowered.com/app/235600/Tom_Clancys_Splinter_Cell_Blacklist/

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/ypwynm/the-metal-gear-solid-gadgetry-inspired-by-real-life-tech

http://store.steampowered.com/app/17300/Crysis/