Sweetjoni’s Weblog

http://www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/001/2/000010.html

This article discussed an IF called “All Hope Abandon.” In regards to IF in general, the article spoke of its strengths and weaknesses. One of the strengths of IF is that it has a puzzle feature. Because the computer can understand limited language, a player must figure out the puzzle of the situation, as well as figure out the correct commands to give the computer, in order to advance the plot. One of the weaknesses of IF is that, as previously mentioned, the computer can understand limited language. Because of this, a player’s immersion in the story/game could be limited.

The article also discussed the new Biblical IF “All Hope Abandon.” This game sounds very interesting, in that it attempts to turn the New Testament into a story/game (depending on the outlook of the player). It doesn’t preach to the player, which is unlike many contemporary religious games. Instead, it aims to educate players and poke fun at Biblical scholars. Although I haven’t played “All Hope Abandon,” it sounds like it achieves the goals of the creator without being blasphemous.

Its interesting that Christians can accept an interactive fiction about the Bible, but graphical videogames about Christ and Christianity are almost forbidden. Maybe its because, with IF, the player imagines everything. Nothing is visually depicted about the Bible to the player. But with graphical videogames, nothing is left to the imagination. The videogame is almost showing the player how the story really looked and what God really wants. Because nobody is supposed to know these things, the graphical videogames could almost seem sinful. Maybe the graphical videogames are unaccepted because, if one were to play the character of Jesus, how would one behave? Videogames are great because they often have endless possibilities of actions for the player to do. But, to quote a popular Christian phrase, “What would Jesus do?” Jesus wouldn’t wonder around the world of the game doing sinful things like killing, stealing, etc. But in order to keep a player interested in a game, the actions must seem limitless. Putting restrictions on what Jesus as a character could do would bore players and lessen their immersion in the game.

As this class continues, I realize more and more that the prime feature of videogames is the immserion factor. People like to be completely immersed in the game; that’s why they play videogames at all. That’s why people will spend $600 on a PS3; the graphics and the games are just so immersive. People like to experience different worlds, while remaining safely on their sofa. Their minds are immersed, while their bodies are not.

-Joni Sweet