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Thoughts about the theory of Pervasive Gaming

Thoughts about the theory of Pervasive Gaming. Bo Kampmann Walther Center for Media Studies University of Southern Denmark walther@litcul.sdu.dk www.sdu.dk/hum/bkw/. Agenda. 1. A short ambition/topography of PG research 2. Portable, mobile, pervasive, and intelligent

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Thoughts about the theory of Pervasive Gaming

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  1. Thoughts about the theory of Pervasive Gaming Bo Kampmann Walther Center for Media Studies University of Southern Denmark walther@litcul.sdu.dk www.sdu.dk/hum/bkw/

  2. Agenda • 1. A short ambition/topography of PG research • 2. Portable, mobile, pervasive, and intelligent • 3. Time, space, and presence • 4. Four axes • 5. Rules, entities, and mechanics • 6. Is something new also something big?

  3. Ambition • To create a framework and provide categories and concepts for a LUDOLOGY OF PERVASIVE GAMING • To understand and reflect on the ’basics’ of pervasive gaming - as an underlying source of design, method, and analysis • To locate and discuss the philosophical consequences of mixing virtual and physical space • To specify and reflect on the relation between ficticious game world and the situated, physical setting of the PG game world • To identify and reflect on potential new rule structures in expanded game universes • To identify and speculate about the components of PG mechanics • To discuss constraints and potentials within the PG space paradigm

  4. 1. Clouds of stuff to do ... PG topography design Wifi-technology PG applications technology ludology PG methodology Game studies theory

  5. From simple to complex ... • Traditional computer games - hardware fixated in space • Portability • Mobility • Pervasivity

  6. 2. From simple to complex ... • Portable • Bring the game with you (Sony, cell-phones, GameBoy, etc.) • Mobile • Use cell-phones as gadgets within a physical gameworld • Pervasive • Surroundings + personal interfaces = extended gaming space (calibration, GPS + PDA’s = PG) • Pervasive Intelligence • Gaming environment, gameworld may change configuration as part of player interaction: gameworld and game mechanics as complex adaptive system

  7. 3. Time, space, and presence • ’Pervasiveness’ - what does it relate to? • Time • Omni-temporality: the game is always on (e.g. MMORPG’s) • Space • Mix of physical and virtual space/interface (from the extended use of game ’props’ to the deliberate mix of two ontologies) • Immersion • The psychological factor: the game always has a ’totalitarian’ impact

  8. 4. Four PG Axes • Distribution • Play everywhere • Mobility • Equip all players • Persistence • And play all the time • Transmediality • Across a variety of media

  9. The PG Possibility Space • Combining the four PG axes results in the PG possibility space - of technological development and cultural significance - that embraces • Networking (the connected world) • Freedom of device (the world of gadgets) • Non-closure (the world of open narratives and game worlds) • And circular storytelling (the world of media convergence)

  10. 5. Rules, entities, and mechanics • Traditional computer game: absolute rules • Pervasive gaming rules • absolute rules + dynamic rules, • i.e. rules that change relative to the variable relation between fixed game rules parameters and open physical encounters within the game world • The PG rule set-up: fixed rules + contingent rules • However, distinguish between • The algorithmic strsucture of a game (fixed) • The I/O engine (handling of interaction during gameplay)

  11. 5. PG Entities • The triadic object structure • An object within a pervasive game can be: • Game object • Human agent • Physical object

  12. 5. PG Mechanics • Any part of the rule system of a game that covers one, and only one, possible kind of interaction that takes place during the game • Physically embedded game mechanics • In screen based computer games virtual physics simulation represents real physics • In PG virtual simulation is physics • Input-output engine with a dual purpose • Maintaining the contingency of interaction with real-life objects; • And controlling the set of actions embedded in the state rules

  13. 6. New and big? • Next generation PG? • Wifi + mobile technology + adaptronics = mobile-context location-intelligent-adaptive games

  14. 6. Well, perhaps not so big ... • Players still want the ’limited experience’? • Gamers have an instinct for simulations, not real-life features? • Physics is physics because it is not physics ... • Why carry around clumsy equipment (look ma, no headset ...!) • The social scene of tomorrow’s gaming?

  15. ... and what about rules ...? Or, are we rule breakers ? • They limit and restrict player action. Thus they tell what can be done with the objects associated with the game (and the gameplay) • hey are unambiguous and explicit (which is why they are easily incorporated in computer algorithms) • All players of a game must share them • Rules are fixed, i.e. unchangeable (if they do change, we refer rather to ‘local’ or ‘house’ rules) • They are binding, i.e. non-negotiable • They can be repeated, that is, they are portable and work independent of e.g. technology platform or fictional representation.

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