Rebecca R. Tews shows how Jungian archetypes may be applied to computer games in order to understand the psychology of computer game players. She has got some insights on how different games are based on different kinds of archetypes. However, the approach sure needs further examination.

Today, I bought two books: The Medium of the Video Game edited by Mark J. P. Wolf and The Hero With A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell.
It turns out George Lucas was only inspired by his book when writing the script for Star Wars IV. Later, Joseph Campbell met with George Lucas and was thrilled about his work.

The Narnia scenario went well. Luckily, my party consisted of five good roleplayers and they were not afraid of method acting. We succeeded in following the footsteps of prof. C. S. Lewis. The players were especially fond of the characters which were exceptionally long and carefully described in order to get the right Narnian feel.

This weekend I'm going to game master a Narnia scenario at a little roleplaying convention here in Aarhus. I'm looking forward to this. Because the works of C. S. Lewis has been teribly overlooked in the roleplaying community.

I'm pleased to hear Gonzalo Frasca is coming to Denmark mid-november. Hopefully, I will be able to meet him.

In order to understand the characters in computer games we may turn towards Joseph Campbell. George Lucas based the Luke Skywalker hero in the movie Star Wars on Joseph Campbell's work The Hero With A Thousand Faces. This is a Jungian approach to the art of storytelling. But it might be useful in computer game worlds as well. Timothy O'Neil's The Individuated Hobbit shows how Jungian psychology may be applied to the works of Tolkien. The results are much more fruitful than any Freudian analysis I have ever seen.

Do we dare follow this track?

The delirium.
That no
rock chasm. Later, met and hideous were shaken
into a local source. was likely
to something
very softly and a prodigiously body
of which, they said,
that seeped down from
social visibility, and
futurism is dead. Cthulhu
fhtagn.

(Based on The Call of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft)

The land of
lions and sweet blossoms, and at
dusk. Nor did not meet
the princes and thereafter those whereon the shore,
they cast scented waters
about in pavilions without the men indeed had
descended one day discovered fire, and
went, thither, and
hurrying slaves. There was always spring. There were
the border of polished marble and
joined in the tower they scarce less
than the streets, from which no more. hardy
than any in the
princes and soft as indeed
are no kin to behold.

(Based on The Doom That Came to Sarnath by H. P. Lovecraft)

By way of Torill Mortensen:
Rob's amazing poem generator:


Ludologica as you get it.
was an Overview of Tolkien.
The
way of books
and the more a secret Dúnadain ranger
brotherhood trying to be
5 Narrative not
trained as something about hypertext
narratives. The legacy of the more privileged, when I put
together with intelligent people who
all YOUR
BASE ARE
talking about hypertext format
to much
to play Notes on this ad |
advertise here Ludologica
as a formal paradigm:
THE financial support to arrange a MATCH
the deep
play the best way of virtual
worlds
inspired by way think of Modern
Traditions of Copenhagen. The less an economic
and
presentations.

Marie-Laure Ryan explained to me, the reason behind the making of Symbol Rock as a hypertext instead of a TV documentary:

"I do not have the financial support to do a TV documentary. I am not trained as a filmmaker. All I have is a text to edit and some visual documents. I want to present this story the best I can. The hypertext format to me is a compromise between the timelessness of books and the forward movement of movies/TV. So, the question to ask is not: what is the ultimate best way to present this story, but: what is the best way within the economic situation that the author is confronted with."
Mari-Laure Ryan

Henry Jenkins & Kurt Squire:
The Art of Contested Spaces

"Most often, critics discuss games as a narrative art, as interactive cinema or participatory storytelling. Perhaps, we should consider another starting point, viewing games as a spatial art with its roots in architecture, landscape painting, sculpture, gardening, or amusement park design."
Jenkins & Squire

They are talking about the digital gameboard, spatial exploration, realistic space, the legacy of romanticism, surreal spaces, athmospheric design, and social spaces. They are right on the track towards a poetics of virtual worlds. Still, not quite there yet!

On the 3rd and 4th of october I joined a lecture-seminar by Marie-Laure Ryan at the IT-University of Copenhagen. The theory of digital aesthetics which Marie-Laure presented was brilliant, but I have to admit that her hypermedia example Symbol Rock was all I disliked about hypertext narratives. The application had a very interesting story, you were supposed to investigate. However, the media came in between and simply took over, forcing the user/reader to be lost in hyperspace. It was indeed a problematic combination. Fortunately, she was our guide through her application. I would have preferred to learn about this story in an ordinary media using an ordinary genre like e.g. a television documentary.

Anyway, the seminar was a pleasant chance to meet fellow researchers in the field. Just to meet and discuss is the most fruitful I know of. I feel privileged to come and join such a seminar; being together with intelligent people who all want to study further into the computer media. I felt even more privileged, when I got the chance to talk about computer game criticism and my latest passion subcreation of virtual worlds inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. Still, Marie-Laure Ryan and Lisbeth Klastrup have much to say about this issue too. I simply must write some articles on this matter.