Hi, hopefully this will post and read fine. It's not perfect scoring a 58 fo a BA dissertaion, but then again I'm trying to appeal to non-academics.
The Ties that Bind
Introduction
This dissertation argues that audience representation within a game is similar to that of a film. For example; a character within a film is not an audience member, but a possible representation of what an audience member may or may not experience within their lives. When controlling a character in a game, the player is not controlling themselves but a representation of what they may or may not be able to experience in their life, outside of the game.
I am suggesting that the player of a game is as passive as a film audience. The player is not able to represent themselves within a game in the same way that a film viewer is unable to put himself or herself on the screen so that the other members of the audience can see him/her play apart in the narrative onscreen. However the player is able to play the part of a character within a game, (like an actor playing Hamlet onstage) and as such there is not a representation of him, but a representation of the character that is displayed on screen. Furthermore I argue that the player‟s actions within the game are not only limited to the players ability to use the tools which he / she / they are given, but these tools otherwise known as game mechanics, serve to force the player to reach the narrative conclusion of a game.
Questions such as „How is the player involved in game world‟ and „What are the relationships between narrative and game mechanics?‟ are precursory to this discourse. By which I mean that in the preparation of forming this argument I have had to ask those questions in relation to my own engagement to games and films.
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