COM257: Media History and Theory

Juul's "Introduction" is by far the most interesting reading we've been assigned so far, in my opinion. Juul discusses a wide variety of topics concerning gaming, art, and play. He covers the evolution and categorization of video games for much of his writing, and sheds new light on the meaning behind the popular entertainment source.

The labels games can have are either emergence or progression. Emergence refers to the simplistic type of games like cards and checkers and tic tac toe. The rules and game objectives are the same every time one plays, however, due to infinite variability in the way one plays, the game is always interesting and new to the player. Progression refers to the more complex game style in which the player performs actions to complete the game in a progression fashion. This is found in adventure games, allowing for storytelling and more intricate plotlines that parallel the actual gameplay.

Juul also discusses the "classic game model" that includes six requirements based on three levels. The six requirements are fairly loose and have the potential to include a vast number of games. This flexible definition allows games to be "transmedial," meaning they cross over several different and unique types of media. He continues in this vein to conclude that video games are so unique and different from older games, and challenging the "classic game model" so harshly that it seems that their purpose is to break the model.

Another point he considers is the parts of a game. He sites Caillois in his four categories: competetion, chance, simulation/make believe, and vertigo. Caillois states that these are mutually exclusive, while Juul disagrees. The four pieces are present in every game to some degree. There is chance involved in every game we play, some more than others, and to have any context surrounding a game, one must make believe at least a little bit. That's what games do, in Juul's opinion; they "provide context for actions." He continues in his writings onto a loftier subject: art. Video games are considered lowbrow by many, as he says, but is this the truth of the matter? Video games and fine art are not so dissimilar. Just because video games are played by the masses and are available for consumption by a huge number of people, as opposed to the protected works of art in museums, doesn't mean they are any less creative, valuable, or artistic. He dreams of a day when these popular games are considered high art as they should be, to conclude our reading.

   There are an endless number of things that we take for granted. We, meaning the current generation of technology-using adults, tend to rely on and expect the technologies we've grown up with: the internet, cellular phones, portable music devices, even calculators. These things affect our daily lives so much that we would be devastated without them. Anyone who has temporarily lost their phone, broken an iPod, etc., can attest to this. But what is even more influential, what would be an even more debilitating loss, is what Hobart and Schiffman talk about in their piece entitled "Printing and the Rupture of Classification."

  Even with the amount of time the two authors spend explaining the history and influence of printing, I can't imagine anyone today can grasp how much we rely on this incredible invention. For so many years, printing has been how we transferred information. Personal messages, financial reports, mail, business transactions, an countless other valueable information needed to be printed. The exchange of ideas, research and plans needed to be printed to be reviewed, corrected, or surveyed. Any great invention or techonological breakthrough needed to be thought up, planned, experimented, tried, and all this happened with the help of printed information. Also, how the printing itself has evolved has really changed how we transfer information. The small innovation of switching from a papyrus roll to a codex seems so simple and obvious to today's readers, but imagine referring to something 30 pages previous in a book, and now imagine doing that same thing with rolls of paper instead. It's amazing what that kind of simple change will do to a form of technology.

Manovich shares his thoughts on what he refers to as "augmented spaces" in his essay "The Poetics of Augmented Space." The main characteristic of augmented spaces is how quickly they change. Manovich discusses the most effective ways to transfer and trade information. He covers several different new technologies that have been changing in recent years including video surveillance,  cellspace
technologies, and computer displays. He sited examples varying from LCD screens used in a Prada store in New York, to virtual reality in the 1990s. He also looked back at the less complex, but equally as pioneering and important technologies of the past. 

We are extremely visual creatures. The subjects Manovich covers relate to many things, though his words about display and presentation of information seems to connect with advertising today the most. I myself am very interested in this field, and the idea that everything is moving toward electronic displays and online information is very exciting. This revolution will consolidate the buying market and sellers' target audiences. The advertising industry is always going to be around, and how their techniques and strategies change with the incredible amount of new technology available to them  is going to be very exciting to watch.

Kellerman's "Technologies" is mainly about
mobility. He describes spatial mobility by citing several influential and
important technologies including telephones, automobiles, internet, etc. The
effectiveness of these new types of personal technology is discussed at length.
The automobile was invented after the telephone, and mass produced 30 years
after the telephone as well, however the telephone was not a significant part
of American households until 1946, when the first automobile achieved that
status 21 years earlier. Kellerman explains that the car is a stand-alone
object, while the telephone requires extensive installation, which may have
hindered the sales. Also, the internet’s development came along much later,
though it was adopted in American households rapidly. As for Kellerman’s next
subject of discussion, structure, he refers to the way technology travels. Roads
accommodate cars of almost all varieties, though maintenance and growth is
required often to keep up with society. Other technology-transferring
structures are more flexible, and some may not even need a tangible track, like
cars do. Operation is the next topic in the text, and in which the networks of
each technology and their contents are discussed.

Individuals, society, and space are included in the next
section. Kellerman explains the contrast between transportation forms of walking,
cycling, and driving. Though it is outdated, and not as convenient as driving,
walking provides its own positives that driving does not offer. Plus,
automobility is expensive. However, this form of transportation is powerful,
fast, and accessible. Kellerman continues this discussion by pondering a "post-car
system." 

After all that, the use of each of these technologies comes
up. Comparisons between them finish out the text.

The section that intrigued me most in Kellerman’s work was
the production and selling of the main four technologies described in the text.
The fact that the automobile was developed and produced after the telephone, at
least 30 years after, but was still accepted by the American public as a
household necessity, was a little surprising. Reading this made me consider what other technology people were using before telephones. They must have been adequate and trustworthy enough to stave off the influence of telephones for so long. Also, the quick distribution of cell phones seems generational. We have come to rely on the mobility of our cell phones, though that technology is continuously changing as well. I wonder, as does Kellerman, what technology will replace the ones that are in place now.