CrimsonScribe's blog

Is it possible to tell a story completely without narrative or discourse? Basically, the question I am presenting is; can a story be told with just images and pictures? Another way of presenting it would be to ask, can a video game tell a story without narrative or discourse? We have seen comic books in the past and rudimentary games that are played without narrative like pong and other related games. Unlike Interactive fiction that relies entirely on narrative there are surprisingly few games without narrative or discourse. Even pac-man has a story that is played out by the yellow dot without narrative or discourse but it seems to me that games of today must rely on a story in order to be successful.  read more »

In my life I have read a lot of books. All throughout High school and even middle school I was an avid reader of fantasy and Science fiction (Sci fi). I think that is what drove me to the genre of first-person shooter games in the first place. The ability of the game gives the player the opportunity to experience the fantastical no matter how far removed from reality the game is. That is why I like most first-person shooters games. Doom is ultimately the game that started it all. It had blood and gore and everything an action movie had only it took much longer and the viewer acquired the ability to participate in the story. Unfortunately I don’t have as high of an opinion for text games that have only one ending that is inevitable no matter how hard you run from it. In my opinion the single endings are for people who probably should be reading a good book, but that is only if there is one manufactured ending. If the interactive artist who puts the story together is able to create multiple conclusions depending upon the actions of the player then that makes the entire difference.  read more »

Since I am currently working on my mid-term this will be short…but, oh so sweet. I did go to the seminar. It only lasted an hour but I learned that to connect the areas of study of literature, computer programming, philosophy and a host of other subjects to understand what she was talking about you have to be very, very, very, smart. There were a few things that I was able to wrap my mind around. She explained that there were some books that in order read and fully comprehend you had to learn to read in a different way. The content of the lecture left me a few pages of notes and more questions than when I came in. I must admit I was only able to understand 90% of what she said and I could only comprehend 50% of the subject itself (or less). I know that I will never be able to fluently understand all of those subjects like our speaker but I did like the fact she spoke with conviction and she tried to interact with the audience. She spoke about several books all of which that I have not read but vaguely knew a little bit about. Her speech about the order and correct citing of work is very important to her and many others.  read more »

When an artist doesn't have all of his supplies or when a director is working with a new crew for the first time the work is arduous at the best of times. When gaming first came out designers knew what they wanted to produce but because of technological restraints and lack of knowledge current game designers are equipped with, they couldn’t attain the level of gaming we enjoy today. For example, the game I grew up on was Mario. The duck hunter game came with Mario and I easily spent all of my free time shooting at fake ducks. Telling a story with Mario by rescuing a princess was a story but just shooting at ducks so the beagle dog could laugh at your futile attempts to hit ducks every time you missed eventually ensured that I would never have the desire to play that particular game, ever again. Though it was a challenge minor games and even stories could be depicted if the designers were creative enough. I would say the greatest console of the nineties was the Nintendo console. Although Atari made an attempt to tell stories through space invaders and pong games in my opinion they lacked the ability to go as far as they wished.  read more »

The written word was created to record stories and keep track of accounts and money exchanges. Ever since then we have used it in every aspect of our lives. With the invention of penmanship then typewriters then computers the demand for fonts has increased tenfold.
It is an irony that the companies wanted Helvetica because it was neutral and clean therefore every company would employ it turning it into conformity instead of an ideal of individualism.
Designers spend years and years working endlessly on fonts that we take for granted every day. Helvetica is a monumental success only succeeded by its monumental failure to be what the designers originally intended it to convey. I don’t think that is what the original designer fells toward Helvetica though. When you put years of work into an object or work then it becomes a part of you and whether good or bad you are invested in it. In the end I think the designer is very proud of Helvetica as he should be. It has surpassed all other fonts to become the norm and one of the most used fonts in business, marketing, computer companies, movies, batteries and countless other outlets.  read more »

When viewing one of these wacky brain teasers I am pretty sure that something inside my brain snapped. When viewing the duck rabbit it is easier for me to see the duck rather than the rabbit but this is nothing like young woman and the crone. The lighting on the beak makes and the contrast of the darkness around the bunny's mouth make it easier for me to see the duck. When I look at young woman and the crone I usually see the young woman first. Most people in high school could only see the old crone. This is very much like the books where you have to screw up your eyes before you can see the picture behind the picture. I have never been very good with complex puzzles and some of these pictures that I googled honestly made my eyes hurt. But I enjoy the challenge and when you can find the alternate view of the picture it is rewarding when you can force your brain to think in alternate perspectives ( I know, it really is the small things of life...). The crone and the young woman for some reason is slightly startling. To see such a great contrast of two people inhabiting the same body is just odd.  read more »

At first I didn’t like passage and I have tried to set aside my bias towards it. I recently lost a friend of ten years, and a week later looking back I know that life will go on; I just have to keep moving forward. We can never truly replace the ones we love but time does heal all wounds. Now how do we relate this to what we have been discussing in class?  read more »

I must say that passage was a passing game, for its time. Unfortunately I judge every game on my favorite game, Halo. I played passage once and didn't look deeper into the story mainly because of the poor graphics. I know that we are not supposed to judge a book by its cover; but sometimes if you want to find the diamond in the rough being selective is necessary. I enjoy video games very much and usually use them for therapy. If I ever have a terrible day I know that the trusty X-box will give me a few minutes to unwind. I am more than willing to play video games but in order for them to make me perk up and pay attention I have to have something a little more in depth. Not a bad game, it just doesn't give me the adrenaline rush that I crave.
I was able to read the first chapter but it will take me a while to get used to the text. It is obviously structured, written and very well thought out. I like the way he constructs his wording and I have to admire him just for finishing his book. I attemted my own book and only made it to page 50. Instead, now I'm working with short stories based in Science Fiction.