The debate whether to locate the narrative of digital games a) as part of the code or b) as part of the performance will be the starting point for an analysis of two roleplaying games: the single-player game ZELDA: MAJORA’S MASK and the Korean MMORPG AION and their respective narrative logics. When we understand games as abstract code systems, then the narrative logic can be understood as embedded on the code level. With a focus on the player’s performance, the actualization of the possibilities given in the code system is central. Both logics, that of code and that of performance, are reflected in players’ narratives based on the playing experience. They do reflect on the underlying code and rules of the game system as they do reflect on the game world and their own performance within. These narratives rely heavily on the source text – the digital game –, which means that they give insights into the underlying logics of the source text. I will discuss the game structure, the players’ performance while playing the game and the performance of the player after playing the game producing fan narratives. I conceive the narrative structure and the performance of the player playing as necessarily interconnected when we discuss the narrative logics of a game. Producing fan narratives is understood as a performance as well. This performance is based on the experience the players made while playing and refers to both logics of the game they use as their source text.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:Potsdam/oai:kobv.de-opus-ubp:4275 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Wenz, Karin |
| Contributors | Atkins, Barry (Response) |
| Publisher | Universität Potsdam, Philosophische Fakultät. Institut für Künste und Medien |
| Source Sets | Potsdam University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Article |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Digarec Series, 4 (2010), S. 146 - 164 |
| Rights | http://opus.kobv.de/ubp/doku/urheberrecht.php |
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