Ludologists Unite
There are two schools of thought on the subject of narratives in games--ludology and narratology. The narratologists believe that games should have more narrative, and the ludologists say pure simulation, sans narrative, is the way to go, explains Mateas. He believes games can or should be both.
Game researcher and developer Gonzalo Frasca thinks that's an oversimplification. He works at the Center for Computer Games Research at the IT University of Copenhagen and represents a strong ludologist presence online. He has published a seminal game theory site, Ludology.org, for the past four years and is a cofounder and senior producer at Powerful Robot Games.
"Some argue that ludology only cares about abstract game mechanics and disdains narrative content," Frasca argues. "Of course, it doesn't make any sense. If I only cared about abstract mechanics, I wouldn't be making political games! Nothing is more concrete than politics!" Frasca credits the popularity of the belief that ludology favors simulation, while narratology favors narrative to the simplicity of the argument. "People like simple ideas," he says. "When I proposed the term 'ludology' in 1999, it was as a reaction against researchers who wanted simply to fit tools designed for film and literature into games. We all know how disastrous 'interactive film' has been. Ludology simply argues that we first must try to understand games as games. It is not the easiest path to take, and it goes against the established theories of narrative, so that's maybe why we are taking so many attacks from conservatives," Frasca says.
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Frasca suggests that players do not play games for the storytelling. "They are drawn because these games allow them to live an alternative life." He believes simulation allows players to safely experiment within environments that are "dangerous or impossible to access (Black Mesa, Vice City, Yoshi's Island, for example)." Narrative, he says, "is about what has happened. Stories are objects that are trapped within a book or a DVD. Games are about what could happen, about what-if scenarios, about experimentation."
The Web site Ludology.org attempts to make sense out of video game culture not by scrutinizing the industry buzz through sales performance figures but by examining the phenomenon from an academic or, daresay, critical viewpoint. Frasca believes games have come of age throughout the last 30 years and that finally, after decades of "harmless fantasy and sci-fi characters," game developers have discovered humans are fun characters to play as too. "We are leaving behind orcs and trolls while exploring the human condition in the suburbs (The Sims), within the couple (Singles), and even in the underworld (Grand Theft Auto 3)." Perhaps the ludologists and narratologists can agree on The Sims after all.
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Frasca started Ludology.org because he was tired of looking for a resource for people interested in researching games. "Since I couldn't find one, I started my own. During the last three years, there has been an explosion of interest in game studies, and I guess the site fulfilled a need for this growing community." Frasca hopes that the growth continues and spawns multiple resources and publications. Why? "So there will be no more need for Ludology.org (and therefore I can focus more on making games and doing research)."
While Frasca's earned his share of academic credentials, he exercises a practical approach to game criticism and theory. In his own game-review writing for Game Studies, he understands that an academic tone can "put readers off." "I have really worked hard to make the [reviews] accessible not only to academics but [also to] gamers in general... Personally, I think academics need to work harder to reach a wider audience, but, on the other hand, it is true that certain subjects need a more precise technical vocabulary that may not translate well to the general public."
The general public has no shortage of game theory, discussion, and actual gameplay Web sites at its collective fingertips. Notable sites include Frasca's other projects,WaterCoolerGames.org and Newsgaming.com (discussed later in this feature), and Gamegirladvance.com, erasmatazz.com/Library.html, terranova.blogs.com, memorycard.blogs.com, quantumphilosophy.net, seriousgames.org, and games.slashdot.org--just to name a limited few. As with any Net community, one discovery leads to another, so the best way to find them is to pick a starting point.
Frasca says anybody who has spent just a few minutes wondering why one game is better than another has the kind of curiosity that drives ludology. "A ludologist is somebody who wants to have a better understanding of games," he says. "So I think that everybody, hardcore or casual gamer, is a ludologist at heart."
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