Lauwaert
M. Lauwaert
University of Maastricht
Faculty of Arts and Culture, Department of History
M.Lauwaert@History.unimaas.nl
In search of a "fifth dimension"
For the last two years I have been studying computer games from all kinds of different angles. One of the major focus points of my past research however, has been traditional theories on games and playing, as for example outlined by Roger Caillois (Les Jeux et les Hommes, 1958) and Johan Huizinga (Homo Ludens, 1938), and how these theories can help us in getting a better and firmer grip on the phenomenon of the digital game. It became clear that these theories are helpful in the sense that they provide a vocabulary, a certain way to speak and write about games. However, there appears to be something missing in these traditional theories, a vital element or term that can account for that which makes digital games so different from traditional games. For example, Caillois' classification of games into four distinct dimensions - competition, chance, vertigo, and simulation - is very helpful and useful, even in relation to digital games, but it seems that a "fifth dimension" will be necessary in order to make Caillois' classification suitable for analyzing digital games. This "fifth dimension" should explain and give account of the fact that in a digital game the player is not only subject to competition, chance, vertigo, and simulation, but also to discovery, narrative, and progression.
I am not the first in trying to formulate such a "fifth dimension" that will enable us to analyze digital games. Jesper Juul, for example, writes in his article The Open and the Closed: Games of Emergence and Games of Progression (in: Computer Games and Digital Cultures Conference Proceedings, edited by Frans MŠyrŠ, 2002) on 'progression' as a defining characteristic of digital games. Progression, "the historically newer structure that entered the computer game through the adventure genre" (2002, p. 324), is contrasted by 'emergence', a characteristic that we know from more traditional games. 'Emergence' is "the primordial game structure (...) found in card and board games and in most action and all strategy games" (ibid.). In a progression game "the player has to perform a predefined set of actions in order to complete the game" (ibid.). A typical example of a progression game would be the Final Fantasy series. The term 'progression' is very useful since it implies the time aspect of digital games, the fact that one has to go through a whole lot more than in a traditional game will one ever reach the end.
I would suggest however, conducting comparative conceptual analysis of those terms that have been used to get a grasp on the specific characteristics of digital games, such as 'progression' in the work of Juul, 'discovery' in the work of LeBlanc, and 'narrative' in the works of numerous authors dealing with digital games. The central question of my research therefore will be, whether it is possible to articulate such a "fifth dimension" (be it with or without any subdivisions) that together with or complementary to, Caillois' four dimensions will enable us to describe and analyze digital games. At the conference I will present the findings of my quest for this "fifth dimension".
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