A World of the Familiar
Ryan attests that "the appeal of the Harry Potter video games resides as much, if not more, in finding oneself in a favorite fictional world with beloved characters and familiar activities, such as Quidditch matches, as in solving the particular problems presented by the game.... computer games are an art of compromise between narrative and gameplay" (197-198).
Her statement resonates not just about our beloved Harry Potter scenarios but the fact that video games hone in on the familiar- in playing in worlds with which we have an expectation to how their parameters already exist, the hoops in Quidditch field and the flying brooms for instance, we adapt much more readily to these worlds and participate in them quite willingly.
In Morrowind, it took for a few days of playing to become familiar with the worlds within the game, traveling from land of the dark elves to the ugly goblins and orrs and so forth. I eventually adapted, but for some, this may be too long. The appeal of games based on existing narratives like Harry Potter is that we as the audience become willing participates to a world which we already have created mentally within our minds.
With the Harry Potter video game preview below, I ask this: Is this a narrative or a game, or this mixture of the both? The fact that this is a trailer for a game, what does this say about its potential as narrative?
Her statement resonates not just about our beloved Harry Potter scenarios but the fact that video games hone in on the familiar- in playing in worlds with which we have an expectation to how their parameters already exist, the hoops in Quidditch field and the flying brooms for instance, we adapt much more readily to these worlds and participate in them quite willingly.
In Morrowind, it took for a few days of playing to become familiar with the worlds within the game, traveling from land of the dark elves to the ugly goblins and orrs and so forth. I eventually adapted, but for some, this may be too long. The appeal of games based on existing narratives like Harry Potter is that we as the audience become willing participates to a world which we already have created mentally within our minds.
With the Harry Potter video game preview below, I ask this: Is this a narrative or a game, or this mixture of the both? The fact that this is a trailer for a game, what does this say about its potential as narrative?
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