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Literature and Games: 'Playing the Reader'
Posted by Maggie Greene at 7:40 AM on July 28, 2008
I really like the idea of turning classic literature into games, mostly in the form of parodies (but moderately thoughtful ruminations are welcome, too). Over at GameSetWatch, Emily Short looks at the literature/game combination in the one genre that churns out book-related games at an alarming pace: the dreaded hidden object game. She concedes that it sometimes works really well (as in the case of Agatha Christie novels, or Sherlock Holmes), but the disconnect between the narrative and gameplay in examples such as The Count of Monte Cristo is frustrating (she does offer the caveat that she's not a fan of the genre in general, but her criticisms still stand):
... I also find The Count of Monte Cristo frustrating because the mechanic is such a bad form of interaction for the storytelling that is supposedly going on in the game. I would be a little more patient (I think) if the object searches were a little more relevant to the game's supposed narrative, but in the case of the Cristo game, we get to search for absurd things in various settings around Marseille.
(To give credit where due, the settings themselves are designed to be period French rooms — but that doesn't quite excuse the fact that apparently one of the damning bits of evidence against the villain is, in fact, a pine cone.)
She breaks down more successful marriages of literature and game, which mostly centre on gameplay that actually seems to relate to the narrative. Personally, I find a lot of hidden object games to be the worst offenders in 'crappy casual games' — sure, there are some that are nicely put together, but many are eye-sores of poorly put together photographs that just look ... cheap — so I guess I fall into the same category as Short. And people are supposed to want to shell out money for these things? In any case, I'm always interested in Short's opinions on narrative design and applications to here-and-now games, and this article is worth a read. It's not enough to drape a mantle of 'classic literature' around a game — it's nothing but nice window dressing unless it's supported by gameplay (I would still love to see the FPS version of Wuthering Heights, however).
Playing the Reader [GameSetWatch]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
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phisheep
Posted 8:04 AM 28/7/08
A delight as always to read something by Emily Short, and I think she is (as usual) dead right about the hidden-object problem - it seems to me to be largely an attempt to simulate *knowledge* in gameplay.
You can't build gameplay around knowledge unless there's some action that the gamer has to do to show he's got whatever it is. Hidden objects is one, but I can't help feeling there must be subtler ways of doing this.
Plenty of room for creative speculation here.
phisheep
JoJaysius
Posted 8:03 AM 28/7/08
As much as I love PC games, I find it difficult to believe they could serve as an acceptable substitute to actually reading a work of literature. The paradox is that anyone who hasn't read the book won't fully appreciate the game, and those who have will be mortified by the treatment the work receives, as I am highly skeptical any game could do a work of literature justice. That being said, I'm tempted to try the Count of Monte Cristo game, as it's one of my favourite books.
JoJaysius
AlbenoEpiX
Posted 7:58 AM 28/7/08
George Orwell's Animal Farm would make an amusing game, however given that a lot of what happens in classic literature is symbolic, I'm not sure about the genre's adaptational viability.
AlbenoEpiX
Baka_Survivor
Posted 7:56 AM 28/7/08
Tolkien, Lovecraft. There are probably like a thousand games inspired by those two.
Baka_Survivor
EdRoivas333
Posted 1:27 PM 28/7/08
Since many great novels might not translate well as an entire piece, it might be interesting to see a Wario Ware style microgame collection:
help Holden Caufield lie to strangers,
help Mrs. Dalloway pick out flowers,
help Socrates trap opponents with logic,
help Oedipus gouge his eyes out,
help Hamlet kill Laertes.
And so on.
EdRoivas333
Lelouch
Posted 1:22 PM 28/7/08
Just as there are few faithful adaptations of classic novels on film, I can see even fewer ones for games. Much of the charm novels have come from allowing the reader to absorb the linear story at their own pace and visualize the story through the reader's imagination.
In order words, no two readers of the same book will likely read and interpret the story the exact same way.
In this day and age, our technological advances in visual design/presentation and storage capacity have made it possible to include realistic CG scenes and full voice acting in our games. While this does help flesh out the characters and story, this leaves the viewer with less and less of the story-telling as a product of their own imagination. Thus, diminishing the charm of the story and the it's symbolic elements present with-in the novel.
For me, creating a good game and writing a good novel are two entirely separate art forms.
Great read though :)
Lelouch
dArk_stAr
Posted 2:27 PM 28/7/08
@EdRoivas333: haha
Well, you could certainly help Captain Ahab catch Moby Dick...
But overall, me and my BA in English Studies say literature video games is a crappy idea. Just read a book.
dArk_stAr
2NinjasTapedTogether
Posted 2:56 PM 28/7/08
@dArk_stAr: Read... a... book?
Sounds evil.
But seriously! Outside of my fellow English Majors in college I can safely say I knew very few people who read boks for pleasure when I was in school.
Everyone who visited my room was surprised at my large collection of books. They always wondered a) how many classes I was taking and b) what class I was taking that was discussing Hunter S Thompson.
In regards to literary games... There are so many things that work well in books that probably wouldn't transfer well from passive to interactive... Though one thing that would be cool to see more of would be the "unreliable narrator" that shows up often in books.
For example, The Usual Suspects in film. Great use of unreliable narrator. In contemporary fiction, the first Odd Thomas book is also a good example. So is the narrator in Fight Club (both book and film).
That would be cool. Especially because you ARE the character instead of just reading about him\her from the first person perspective.
2NinjasTapedTogether