Notebook
The Devil of Emotional Gameplay is in the Details. Microanalysis of Affective Complexity Scenarios in Video Games
Published 2021-01-30
Keywords
- Video games,
- Complexity,
- Emotion,
- Microanalysis,
- Experience.
Abstract
This article offers an exploration and conceptualisation of emotionally complex scenarios in video games, taking an approach based on the textual analysis of video games, the cognitive theory of the spectator’s emotional experience, and film microanalysis. From this theoretical and methodological perspective, emotionally complex scenarios in video games are examined as brief scenes or sequences in a given video game, which tend to elicit an affective experience characterised by unique emotional combinations or tensions. To explain this experience, I propose a micro-analysis of the ludic and narrative design of the scene and the interactions between these two dimensions, without overlooking the importance of the mise-en-scène and visual composition.
References
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Smith, M. (1995). <em>Engaging Characters. Fiction, Emotion and The Cinema</em>. Oxford: Clarendon Press.<br>
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Sicart, M. (2013). <em>Beyond Choices. The design of ethical gameplay</em>. Cambridge: MIT Press.<br>
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Wallner, G., Kriglstein, S. (2015). An Introduction to Gameplay Data Visualization. En P. Lankoski y S. Björk (eds.), <em>Game Research Methods </em>(pp. 231-250). Pittsburg: ETC Press.<br>
Zillmann, D. (2006). Dramaturgy for Emotions from Fictional Narration. En J. Bryant y P. Vorderer (eds.), <em>Psychology of Entertainment</em> (pp. 215-238). Londres: Routledge.<br>
Zunzunegui, S. (2016). <em>La mirada cercana. Microanálisis fílmico</em>. Santander: Shangrila.</p>
Anable, A. (2018). <em>Playing with Feelings</em>. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.<br>
Berlant, L. (2011). <em>Cruel Optimism</em>. Durham: Duke University Press.<br>
Bogost, I. (2006). <em>Persuasive Games</em>. Cambridge: MIT Press.<br>
Bordwell, D. (1996). <em>La narración en el cine de ficción</em>. Barcelona: Paidós.<br>
Buckland, W. (ed.) (2009). <em>Puzzle Films</em>. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.<br>
Deleyto, C. (2003). <em>Ángeles y demonios. Representación e ideología en el cine de Hollywood</em>. Barcelona: Paidós.<br>
Fernández-Vara, C. (2015). <em>Introduction to Game Analysis</em>. Nueva York: Routledge.<br>
Fullerton, T. (2008). <em>Game Design Workshop</em>. Nueva York: Morgan Kaufman.<br>
García-Catalán, S., Sorolla-Romero, T., Martín-Núñez, M. (2019). Reivindicar el detalle: sutilezas y catálisis barthesianas en la ficción televisiva. <em>Palabra Clave, 22</em>(3). http://doi.org/10.5294/pacla.2019.22.3.3<br>
Gregg, M., Seigworth, G. (2010). <em>The Affect Theory Reader</em>. Durham: Duke University Press.<br>
Grodal, T. (2009). <em>Embodied Visions. Evolution, emotion, culture and film</em>. Oxford: Oxford University Press.<br>
Hocking, C. (2007, 7 octubre). Ludonarrative dissonance in Bioshock: The problem of what game is about. Post de blog. http://clicknothing.typepad.com/click_nothing/2007/10/ludonarrative-d.html<br>
Hunicke, R., Leblanc, M., Zubeck, R. (2004). MDA: a formal approach to game design and game research. <em>Proceedings of the AAAI-04 Workshop on Challenges in Game AI.</em><br>
Igartua, J. J. (2007). <em>Persuasión narrativa</em>. Alicante: Ediciones ECU.<br>
Isbister, K. (2016). <em>How Games Move Us. Emotion by Design</em>. Cambridge: MIT Press.<br>
Iser, W. (1980). <em>The Act of Reading</em>. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.<br>
Jauss, H. R. (1986). <em>Experiencia estética y hermenéutica literaria</em>. Madrid: Taurus.<br>
Kirkpatrick, G. (2013). <em>Computer Games and the Social Imaginary</em>. Cambridge: Polity Press.<br>
Juul, J. (2019). <em>Handmade Pixels: Independent Video Games and the Quest for Authenticity</em>. Cambridge: MIT Press.<br>
Martín-Núñez, M. (2020). Encuadres. Diseñar la escritura audiovisual del videojuego. En V. Navarro (ed.), <em>Pensar el juego</em>. Santander: Shangrila.<br>
Martín-Núñez, M., García-Catalán, S., Rodríguez-Serrano, A. (2016). Sí, la vida es muy rara. La culpa y el tiempo en <em>Life is Strange</em>.<em> Anàlisi, 54</em>, 1-14. http://dx.doi. org/10.7238/a.v0i54.2908<br>
Mittell, J. (2006). Narrative Complexity in Contemporary American Television. <em>The Velvet Light Trap, 58</em>, 29-40.<br>
Mittell, J. (2015). <em>Complex TV. The Poetics of Contemporary Television Storytelling</em>. Nueva York: New York University Press.<br>
Muriel, D., Crawford, G. (2018). <em>Video Games as Culture</em>. Londres: Routledge.<br>
Navarro, V. (2016). <em>Libertad dirigida. Una gramática del análisis y diseño de videojuegos</em>. Santander: Shangrila.<br>
Navarro, V. (2020). Meditaciones. Modos Zen, contemplación y lentitud en el videojuego. En V. Navarro (ed.), <em>Pensar el juego</em>. Santander: Shangrila.<br>
N’Dalianis, A. (2004). Neo-Baroque Aesthetics and Contemporary Entertainment. Cambridge: MIT Press.<br>
Oatley, K. (1999). Why Fiction May be Twice as True as Fact: Fiction as Cognitive and Emotional Simulation. <em>Review of General Psychology, 3</em>(2), 101-117. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.3.2.101<br>
Oatley, K. (2011). <em>Such Stuff as Dreams. The Psychology of Fiction</em>. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell<br>
Pérez-Latorre, Ó. (2012). <em>El lenguaje videolúdico</em>. Barcelona: Laertes.<br>
Planells, A. (2015). <em>Videojuegos y mundos de ficción</em>. Madrid: Cátedra.<br>
Plantinga, C., Smith, G. (eds.) (1999). <em>Passionate views. Film, cognition, and emotion</em>. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.<br>
Plantinga, C. (2009). <em>Moving viewers. American film and the spectator’s experience</em>. Berkeley: University of California Press.<br>
Rollings, A., Morris, D. (2003). <em>Game architecture and design</em>. Berkeley: New Riders.<br>
Ruiz-Vargas, J. M. (ed.) (1997). <em>Claves de la memoria</em>. Madrid: Trotta.<br>
Ryan, M., Kellner, D. (1990). <em>Camera Politica: The Politics and Ideology of Contemporary Hollywood Film</em>. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.<br>
Smith, M. (1995). <em>Engaging Characters. Fiction, Emotion and The Cinema</em>. Oxford: Clarendon Press.<br>
Sicart, M. (2008). Defining Game Mechanics. <em>Game Studies, 8</em>(2).<br>
Sicart, M. (2013). <em>Beyond Choices. The design of ethical gameplay</em>. Cambridge: MIT Press.<br>
Stam, R., Burgoyne, R., Flitterman-Lewis, S. (1999). <em>Nuevos conceptos de la Teoría del Cine</em>. Barcelona: Paidós.<br>
Standing, G. (2013). <em>El Precariado. Una nueva clase social</em>. Madrid: Pasado y Presente.<br>
Wallner, G., Kriglstein, S. (2015). An Introduction to Gameplay Data Visualization. En P. Lankoski y S. Björk (eds.), <em>Game Research Methods </em>(pp. 231-250). Pittsburg: ETC Press.<br>
Zillmann, D. (2006). Dramaturgy for Emotions from Fictional Narration. En J. Bryant y P. Vorderer (eds.), <em>Psychology of Entertainment</em> (pp. 215-238). Londres: Routledge.<br>
Zunzunegui, S. (2016). <em>La mirada cercana. Microanálisis fílmico</em>. Santander: Shangrila.</p>