Games Britannia - Monopolies and Mergers, Joystick Generation

Games Britannia part 2 - Monopolies and Mergers 

Following part 1 of Games Britannia, Benjamin Woolley follows on to show us the historical influences of board games over the past 200 years on British society and how they became a key method of teaching morals to a wide audience over time.

We start off with a game many will not know of but has been a key influence on one of the most popular board games of all time and still is just as popular and successful today - Monopoly. The game that influenced this and many others like it is called The Landlord's Game. The premise of the game was to teach the players the values of fair play and also the advantages and disadvantages of 'Land Grabbing' and renting and how they worked back when the game was made. This was released in the U.K title Brer fox n' Brer Rabbit which was again the key influential point for the creation of Monopoly.

The versatility and playability of both games allowed the game to be re made and re distributed globally as all of the pieces and places could be re named and change so easily but would still follow the rules and have the same  game play and moral issues tied to it no matter the geographical location. Simply this game was so successful because you can play the same game, with the same rules, all over the world but with the simple change of street names and this is one of the reasons for monopoly being so successful over the years.

After this the family board games industries were focusing on creating games to help families through the great depression - Cluedo and Scrabble quickly became popular family games during this time, which then fully  influenced the start of one of the biggest games companies at the time and even today as they are producing the same games now and are just as successful. 

Nowadays however the board games popularity has drastically declined due to the rapid increase in technology and what people can now do with a computer and games consoles, but I personally bet that every person reading this article has a copy of Scrabble, Monopoly or Cluedo in their household or all three which still shows the influential characteristics of the board game and the joining of friends and family that they create. Board games in production nowadays are still sticking to premise of teaching the players about what is happening in the world as they originally started with but with 'Innovative' changes/improvements, such as War on Terror which is a board game designed, obviously to teach the players about the modern day battles and wars that are happening around us all like the board games that were created years ago to help the players get through the great depression these games are here to help us get understand the War on Terror, on a basic level. But due to the views and satirical nature of the game it is hard to find a store that will stock it.

From this I have learnt the influences that a board game has and how important they all are. Boards games are created for entertainment and to help the players join together and get through difficult times. With the increase of digital technology and digital gaming it is important to note board games and the influences they have and what they have done to the gaming world, because I believe that if there were no board games their would be modern day computer games but not to the standard that they are at now, at distracting the players from everyday life as a chance to escape, how to cope with everyday life and mainly as a method of joining people together in the community or just in the family home.

Games Britannia part 3 - Joystick Generation

In this instalment of Games Britannia Woolley follows on with his journey in history of the games in British society from board games to the first fantasy RPG and the progression from classic board games to the modern (at the time of the documentary) computer gaming world.

Woolley start off by talking about the influence of board games during The Winter of Discontent in the 1970's, linking back to part 2 where board games are used to help the players escape from the modern world. From the freezing colds and houses with no heat, electricity and mounds of rubbish being left in the streets a drastic distraction was needed. One such distraction from the modern world was found, Dungeons and Dragons, one of the most famous and influential RPG's ever created and is just as successful today as it was back then, due to its unique methods of play and narrative and the fact that the player could immerse themselves in this completely make believe world and choose their own paths of either fighting or avoiding conflicts and the consequences of the actions you took, again linking to the real world in a dramatised view.

From Dungeons and Dragons and the uniqueness of the game kicked off the creation of the computer game, I believe as it was from the unique method of play and control the players had compared to other board games. This lead to the creation of God games,  modern examples include The Sims and Roller Coaster Tycoon. These types of games gave the players more possibilities of what they could do and taught them the effects of what they do, the consequences of their actions and an escape from the modern world where you can create the perfect world or at least attempt to, when your world isn't so perfect. The player creates their own story and character meaning they can determine everything which was a very unique playing method for the time making these types of games extremely successful.

As the progression of technology and the skills used within games, the players have the highest emotional ties to games because of the narrative and skills learnt over the years starting with the basics from board games. This is why the influences and power of board games should not be discarded, as without board games we would not have the knowledge and capabilities that we now have within the gaming industry and I probably wouldn't even be sitting here typing this blog and studying a Computer Games Design course if they never existed or had the effect on the players that they so successfully did. 

Modern games allow you to make a deep connection with the characters which is directly linked to Dungeons and Dragons and the character you play. This gives the player the feeling of responsibility to the character as they will know their story, attitudes and have a greater connection with them and this is only my personal description and views but I believe this to only be a possible emotional response from games as you control the outcome and are effected by your every decision, much like the real world and because of this no other form of media can even come close to games.

Roger Caillois' Terminology

Here we have some very useful examples of terminology from Caillois's about games and their different types of play and how they link to the many different and vastly growing games out on the current market.


Agon is the competitive nature of play, and it is the form to which Huizinga gave the most attention. Agon depends on competition and oposition, so races, chess games, fencing, and any televised sport easily falls under this category. The point of agon is to have one’s superiority recognized, and this superiority maintains a culturally endowed significance outside of the space of the game. In physical conflicts, violence or harm is not the object, but simply superiority. Games of agon frequently require training and investment, to learn and master the rules, and master one’s own power within the game.


Alea is the element of chance, and in these games, it is destiny that governs the outcome. In games of alea, the player is passive, at least in terms of affecting the outcome. Partaking in games of alea is a sign of courage, as one invests and risks, and then waits anxiously for the outcome. The player in games of alea thus has none of the professionalism of the player of agon. The most prevalent forms of alea are games like roulette or lotteries. Card games where the player plays cards are a combination of alea and agon, because elements of competition and chance are predominant. Caillois explains “Agon is a vindication of personal responsibility; alea is a negation of the will, a surrener to destiny.” (p. 18)


Mimicry is about developing and participating in an imaginary universe. Both agon and alea enable a world where the rules of the game are sacred, within which the game is self contained. Mimicry is about becoming another, to participate within this illusory world. Mimicry is about becoming another character and behaving as that character, temporarily shedding one’s actual identity. Mimicry is found in animal behavior, but in animals (especially in insects), the alternate character is integrated into the body, is essentially a mask that presents the creature as something that it is not. Human mimicry is found in ritual and performance, as well as in make-believe. The simulated nature of make believe is the essence of spectacle, and lives on in the eyes of the witnesses in addition to the players. Agon is inherently spectacular (as to prove one’s superiority, there must be witnesses to acknowledge it), and thus players of agon become celebrities. Sports stars maintain a role as-player even outside of the game when dealing with fans. Mimicry exhibits all the formal characteristics of play except for the element of rules. It can be seen to have rules, but these are the rules of performance, which requires maintenance and cooperation of the imaginary world.


Ilinx is a topic described by Caillois that does not tend to have nearly as much attention as his other categories. This is the element of vertigo, and the pursuit of vertigo. Sports of pleasure, where the goal is the bodily experience, are derived from Ilinx. The kinds of examples given by Caillois are games of spinning, voladores, and are associated with vertigo, panic, and hypnosis. I think that this category could easily be seen to include skiing, bungee jupmping, skydiving, driving cars very fast, sex, rollercoaster rides, drug use, mountaineering, dancing, and so on. The pursuit of vertigo from a lucid state is extremely common. Unlike mimicry, where the goal is to don a mask and participate in an imaginary world, the goal of ilinx is to touch a trans-sensual world at the limits of human perception through a visceral and bodily experience. Ilinx and alea are common in that they involve a submission of oneself to forces outside of one’s control. Gamblers often describe their experiences as being totally intoxicating. This can also be seen as a common thread with mimicry, where, having donned a mask, one submits oneself to that masks power (as described by Johnstone). Ilinx can be easily compared to the joy of immersion, where the goal is a sensually captivating experience of being in a world, often being lost within it.


Paidia is defined with some reservation and difficulty. Paidia corresponds to the basic level of freedom within play. Rules and freedom have an antithetical relationship, because play is dependent on rules, but simultaneously is about freedom from rules. Paidia is that dimension of freedom. It is tied integrally to the feeling of pleasure and joy. Pidia is spontaneous and wrapped up in the experience of sensation and response. Developmentally, childrens’ play is paidia (as the word paidia itself implies), but gradually it moves to take on rules, to structure the experience of play, and in doing so play bifurcates from a single activity into the many forms of agon, alea, mimicry, and ilinx.


Ludus works very differently. As defined, it is a desire to find amusement in arbitrary obstacles. This is a definition that leads to the sense of what games are, but the definition alone does not imply it immediately. The existence of the obstacle is what is intrinsic to ludus. The intensity of ludus defines the significance and importance of the obstacle, which leads to more structure. Caillois stresses that agon and ludus are not the same thing, though they may have correlation. There are two things that must be stressed about ludus. The first is that it is wrapped up in the idea of amusement. The amusement in overcoming the obstacle is integral. The imposition of an obstacle is not enough to make ludus; there must be pleasure as well. The second thing is that the obstacle is arbitrary. This arbitrariness becomes surprising sometimes when the absurdities of some games are brought to attention, for instance the restrictions on what parts of the body can used to touch the ball in ball games, or the role of the costume in theatre, or the significance of the roulette wheel in gambling. Ludus is how importance and meaning is endowed onto the space of objects within the magic circle and the world of the game.


//This information was provided from the below website and is only used to display the different definitions of the terminology and not at all to claim it as my own or to be used other than for academic reference. http://www.icosilune.com/2009/03/roger-caillois-man-play-and-games/

la decima vittima

Hello,
Another short post talking about an Italian film called La Decima Vittima.
The film was created in 1965, so is dated with its special effects and as you can guess the film is subtitled. But it is a still a good watch as The 10th Victim (English translation, based on Robert Sheckley's short story "Seventh Victim" (1953)) starts with the introduction to a world of which is run by assassins and the better killer you are the more respected, feared and threatened you are by the other members of the assassin's guild. This guild started off as a game and quickly became a way of life for all who participated in it, which we can only hope to achieve in the games and productions that we will hopefully be creating in the future.

Again as I mentioned earlier it is a dated film but still a key study for anyone in the industry and I would personally love to see a English modern day re make as modern day technology and cinema would only emphasize the effectiveness of this film if done so correctly and could be a key candidate for Remediation in films.

My 1st year at University Campus Suffolk

Hello all,

This is just a quick blog entry to show you what I have managed to pull together somehow in one year at university. And believe me if I can do it any one can, I have had a lot of help from the tutors and other members of my class and have enjoyed it this far.

Below is a list of links and images of the work i have done so far including my 3D model of a IronMan helmet, my individual Flash game project, Earth Defence and my group project Caveman Chris. The links on the games will take you to Waterfrontgames.com which is the website dedicated to the students studying Computer Games Design at UCS, of which all the content is created souly by students, so please leave feedback as it will help us to make better more appealing games now and in the future.

3D Model

The 3D model that i have created is a basic model of Marvel's Iron Man helmet as i am a big fan of Marvel and Iron Man and thought this would be a good way to start my first real 3 Dimensional model using  3Ds Max. The last 4 images are of the final renders and the different materials i have used to give the model a metallic effect. Now the renders are done I will be importing this into UDK editor and get it set up for my presentation.


Individual Project - Earth Defence


http://www.waterfrontgames.com/game/index/26

My game is a top down shooter of which you control a space shuttle defending Earth from invading UFO's. You are Earth's last hope, and must survive for as long as you can so man kind can escape before the alien horde overruns Earth.

Group Project - Caveman Chris


http://www.waterfrontgames.com/game/index/12

Caveman Chris is a game of which you play a Caveman protecting his family from attacking prehistoric creatures. The aim of the game is to get as far into the game as possible. At the moment we have just revamped the game so is not a complete as we would all hope but will be fully completed by the end of the academic year, so follow on waterfrontgames.com for the latest versions of the game.

This is not all that i have done over this year but i believe it to be the parts of the course that the general public are able to give feedback and rate my work and generally look and take an interest in what us computer gamers actually do and hope provide inspiration to younger, aspiring games designers.

Many thanks again
Daniel Brown

remediation and games

Bolter and Grusin:-

"We call the representation of one medium in another remediation, and we will argue that remediation is a defining characteristic of the new digital media.  What might seem at first to be an esoteric practice is so widespread that we can identify a spectrum of different ways in which digital media remediate their predecessors."

Below is the spectrum of ways new media 'remediates' the older media.

IMMEDIACY                                                                          HYPERMEDIACY

Media that aspire to a condition of transparency.            Artefacts that are aware of and wish to

The aim is to make the viewer ‘forget’ that they               display their own constructed nature.

are watching a movie, for example, and be drawn          They call attention to their own constructed

in to the experience.                                                            nature all the time.

•Immersive virtual reality                                                     *WWW

•Photo realistic images                                                      *Video Game HUDS

•So remediation can refer to a whole range of conventions.For example we find examples of Aesthetic conventions being constantly traded between different media.

•‘Photorealism’ an example of ‘immediacy’ as it is not to preserve the medium of ‘photography’

•Similarly ‘Hypermediacy’ is not the aesthetic preserve of the world wide web, its conventions have been picked up by, for example, television rolling news.

The rules governing the `perspective` of 3D shapes on a flat surface that dominate contemporary computer games, were first worked out during the Renaissance.

                                                     The  Masaccio Trinity  circ 1430

Example of images made to look 3d in computer games below.

Why does remediation take place?

•It may take time for a new medium to develop unique forms of content.

•Similarly it is not so surprising that successful conventions end up being traded between different media. The ‘goal’ of computer games was to render into visual 3D the text based narratives of early computer games.

•Television programme makers took the successful format of ‘Variety’ programmes from radio, who had themselves taken the convention from the music halls.

Remdiation in films and games

Video Gaming and Film:

Bittanti (2003) looks at the history of video gaming in film and claims that there is a convergence taking place.

Bittanti claims that there are now a body of films that remediate, comment on, quote and adapt video games.

So much so these films are a genre of film in their own right. He calls them Technoludic Films. A combination of Technology and Ludus (Latin for play).

Technoludic Film as Commentary

Here, Bittanti says, the video game is subordinated to the film.  Film is used to

critique the other medium (the video game).  Film projects societies deepest

anxieties about the medium of the video game, especially in relation to the escape of the self and the body from `reality`.

Among the films that exemplify this are The Lawnmower Man (1991) eXistenZ (1999) The Matrix Trilogy (1999ff)

Technoludic film as quotation

Here video games appear in films for illustrative purposes. They are not the central theme of the film but form part of the fictional world that the film is attempting to create.

Films that exemplify this approach are Blade Runner (1982)  Clockers (1997) a modern example of this sort of film would be Inception (2010)

Technoludic film as remediation (1) adaptation

Brittanti uses remediation in its most straight forward form to refer to the direct adaptation of computer games as a source text for a film, not simply a theme. These are often translations or tie-ins of successful games however the films – as films – have often been critiqued for the low quality of the scripting and acting.

Films that exemplify this approach are Super Mario Brothers (1993) and Lara Croft : Tomb Raider (2001) Dead or Alive (2006)

Technoludic film as remediation (2)

We have seen that there is a broader conception of remediation which is about the incorporation of aesthetic and narrative codes from one form of media into another.

There are a number of films embody into their narratives and / or style some of the conventions that we usually find within video games.  Films that appear to exemplify this are Groundhog Day (1993)  Toy Story (1995) Run Lola Run (1998) 

Hello all again this has been a good reading and I didn't want to foul it with my rubbish so I have copied a majority of this from the source and added my own slight changes to it i.e. spelling and punctuation but that is it as i don't see a need to change something that conveys what they are trying to portray effectively already.

Many Thanks

-Dan