Ted Talks:It was interesting to finally see Spore in action.  I have been meaning to check it out.  I wonder how Spore Origins differs for the iPhone and the DS – my two gaming systems.  Besides the originality of the game, I like how evolution servers as a narrative that holds that game together and is representational of the narrative humans are a part of throughout history.  The game has lots of elements of a simulation, but there are definite rules.

Discussing games and narratives and Spore further, Charles Onyett reviews a talk Will Wright gave at GDC 2008. Charles reviews Wrights thoughts on branding and narrative in games and toys and how Spore will play out. Charles quotes Wright often, but one that struck me was, “For Wright the best games, and presumably Spore, exemplify these qualities. “The whole point of this process is model‐building. In some sense…all these different worlds that I’m experiencing I’m pulling into this model‐building process and from them I’m pulling out of these toy worlds the schema, patterns and strategies that I can apply back to the real world. I’m learning lessons in an entertaining way.”  This really brings gaming, narrative and transfer together.

Chapter 25-26 of Rules of play offered an outline of meaning and representation in games.  It also fused some of the cognitive elements we have discussed the past year.  As with any design, games create meaning through the experience they provide for the player.  This meaning is created through representation of objects in reality as well as in a player’s imagination.  Chapter 26 defines narratives of games with the same elements stories have: Character, situation/plot, plot, conflict and smaller elements of narrative that players create as they move through the game.

Jenkins details in “Games Design as Narrative Architecture,” that games have narrative qualities but tell and are intertwined with stories in different ways. Game designers create worlds – settings – and players can write the narrative through gameplay inside these evocative spaces. Narrative also creates broadly defined goals. Narratives are also left embedded for the gamer to discover.