Music as temporal disruption in Assassin’s Creed

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-73
Author(s):  
Stephanie Lind
Keyword(s):  
Video Game ◽  
Real World ◽  
Time Travel ◽  
Travel Narrative ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Narrative Functions ◽  
Geographic Setting ◽  
Physical Distress ◽  
Musical Elements ◽  
Music Effects

The Assassin’s Creed video game series incorporates real-world historical elements. While some historically derived musical elements are referenced from the time period and geographic setting of the game, in the first game of the series, Assassin’s Creed 1 (2007), these historical snippets are subsumed within a modern musical setting emphasizing digital sound. The effect is a bleeding-over of ancient with modern that mirrors the plot of the game. This new spin on the time travel narrative creates a disconnect for the player and invokes disruption in a number of ways: through plots, visual distortions and sound/music effects. Musically, disruptions invoke a sense of aural discomfort in the player, which mimics aspects of the game narrative such as the protagonist’s physical distress. In order to better understand the interrelationship between these components, this article uses graphic transcriptions to categorize the musical, visual and narrative functions into fiction, interface and hypervisual/hypersonic components.

Only problem gamblers spend less money when loot boxes are removed from a game: A before and after study of Heroes of the Storm

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Zendle
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Problem Gambling ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Real World ◽  
Complex Pattern ◽  
Problem Gamblers ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Gambling Severity ◽  
Reliable Correlation ◽  
Before And After Study

Loot boxes are items in video games that may be paid for with real-world money, but which contain randomised contents. There is a reliable correlation between loot box spending and problem gambling severity: The more money gamers spend on loot boxes, the more severe their problem gambling tends to be. However, it is unclear whether this link represents a case in which loot box spending causes problem gambling; a case in which the gambling-like nature of loot boxes cause problem gamblers to spend more money; or whether it simply represents a case in which there is a general dysregulation in in-game spending amongst problem gamblers, nonspecific to loot boxes.The multiplayer video game Heroes of the Storm recently removed loot boxes. In order to better understand links between loot boxes and problem gambling, we conducted an analysis of players of Heroes of the Storm (n=112) both before and after the removal of loot boxes.There were a complex pattern of results. In general, when loot boxes were removed from Heroes of the Storm, problem gamblers appeared to spend significantly less money in-game in contrast to other groups. These results suggest that the presence of loot boxes in a game may lead to problem gamblers spending more money in-game. It therefore seems possible that links between loot box spending and problem gambling are not due to a general dysregulation in in-game spending amongst problem gamblers, but rather are to do with specific features of loot boxes themselves.

Waltzing on Rooftops and Cobblestones

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 34-55
Author(s):  
Ailbhe Warde-Brown
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Real World ◽  
World History ◽  
Interaction Model ◽  
Virtual Space ◽  
Open World ◽  
Integrated Approaches ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between music, sound, space, and time plays a crucial role in attempts to define the concept of “immersion” in video games. Isabella van Elferen’s ALI (affect-literacy-interaction) model for video game musical immersion offers one of the most integrated approaches to reading connections between sonic cues and the “magic circle” of gameplay. There are challenges, however, in systematically applying this primarily event-focused model to particular aspects of the “open-world” genre. Most notable is the dampening of narrative and ludic restrictions afforded by more intricately layered textual elements, alongside open-ended in-game environments that allow for instances of more nonlinear, exploratory gameplay. This article addresses these challenges through synthesizing the ALI model with more spatially focused elements of Gordon Calleja’s player involvement model, exploring sonic immersion in greater depth via the notion of spatiotemporal involvement. This presents a theoretical framework that broadens analysis beyond a simple focus on the immediate narrative or ludic sequence. Ubisoft’s open-world action-adventure franchise Assassin’s Creed is a particularly useful case study for the application of this concept. This is primarily because of its characteristic focus on blending elements of the historical game and the open-world game through its use of real-world history and geography. Together, the series’s various diegetic and nondiegetic sonic elements invite variable degrees of participation in “historical experiences of virtual space.” The outcome of this research intends to put such intermingled expressions of space, place, and time at the forefront of a ludomusicological approach to immersion in the open-world genre.

Accidental Pilgrims

2018 ◽  
pp. 77-114
Author(s):  
Karin Vélez
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Time Period

This chapter describes how some Catholic pilgrims tried to reconcile the Jesuit official advice of mental self-discipline with their first intense encounters with the Madonna of Loreto. The pilgrims' stories involve both contemplative quests for spiritual improvement and transformative run-ins with the material manifestations of Catholicism. Yet they flip the order recommended by Richeòme of contemplation first and real world next. The first pilgrims considered are the Jesuits who loom large behind the good-pilgrimage rubrics of this time period. Then, the Jesuit template for pilgrimage is tested against the reported experiences of two non-Jesuit travelers to Loreto, Nicolà Albani and Pierre Chaumonot.

Grey Paints: Using Earnings Quality Concepts to Clarify the Earnings Measurement Process

2002 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 431-445
Author(s):  
Jerry G. Kreuze ◽  
Jack M. Ruhl
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Real World ◽  
Correct Answer ◽  
Earnings Quality ◽  
Measurement Process ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
The Real ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Inherent Ambiguity

This case uses the concepts of earnings quality and earnings management to illustrate the inherent ambiguity in the earnings measurement process. Accounting students are often uncomfortable with ambiguity. Students want faculty to provide them with a single correct answer, such as the precise earnings for a given time period. Accounting textbooks rarely address this perception; we have yet to find a textbook that illustrates a range of acceptable amounts. This case demonstrates that earnings can be, and often are, ambiguous in the real world.

Coelacanth History: Uncle Buddy’s Phantom Funhouse and the Cybertext of Things

Traversals ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Moulthrop
Keyword(s):  
Video Game ◽  
Time Travel ◽  
Digital Culture ◽  
Time Machine ◽  
Authoring System ◽  
Game World

This chapter reflects on John McDaid’s author traversal of his 1993 hypermedia novel, Uncle Buddy’s Phantom Funhouse, a groundbreaking work not just for its comprehensive exploration of Apple’s HyperCard authoring system, but also because of its principle of “modally appropriate” presentation, involving non-digital artifacts as well. Built around the science-fictional notion of time travel and multiverses, the Funhouse thus invites consideration of his own curious history, in which it figures as a kind of broken time machine. Comparing McDaid’s work with later, similar projects from the video game world, the chapter argues for an understanding of digital culture that moves beyond the harsh binaries of obsolescence. As McDaid says: “We win by losing.”

Applicability of Lehman Laws on Open Source Evolution

2015 ◽  
pp. 199-224
Author(s):  
Nisha Ratti ◽  
Parminder Kaur
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Real World ◽  
Software Maintenance ◽  
Software Evolution ◽  
Object Oriented ◽  
User Requirements ◽  
Continuous Change ◽  
Essential Characteristic ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Object Oriented Metrics

Software evolution is the essential characteristic of the real world software as the user requirements changes software needs to change otherwise it becomes less useful. In order to be used for longer time period, software needs to evolve. The software evolution can be a result of software maintenance. In this chapter, a study has been conducted on 10 versions of GLE (Graphics Layout Engine) and FGS (Flight Gear Simulator) evolved over the period of eight years. An effort is made to find the applicability of Lehman Laws on different releases of two softwares developed in C++ using Object Oriented metrics. The laws of continuous change, growth and complexity are found applicable according to data collected.

Music versus Sound Design

2020 ◽  
pp. 91-102
Author(s):  
Noah Kellman
Keyword(s):  
Video Game ◽  
Sound Design ◽  
Visual World ◽  
Sound Effects ◽  
History Of ◽  
Musical Elements ◽  
Different Levels

Each video game has its own unique, visual aesthetic, and it’s up to the composer to complement this visual world by creating a sonic atmosphere. Many of the greatest games have incorporated musical elements into their sound effects and ambiences. As the field of game music continues to grow, so does the importance of sound design as part of the composer’s skill set. This chapter explores how music and sound effects have interacted throughout the history of game music, defining these relationships for the reader in understandable terms with clear distinctions and accessible examples. This chapter explores FEZ (2012) as an example, along with a variety of other examples in which the music and sound effects were conceived with different levels of interconnectivity.

Live Long and Prosper: Rebooting Star Trek and Reimagining Fandom

Film Reboots ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 33-46
Author(s):  
Erin Hanna
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Time Travel ◽  
Star Trek ◽  
First Century ◽  
Travel Narrative ◽  
Narrative Strategies ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
The Way

This chapter looks to Star Trek, a reboot that employed a time travel narrative to simultaneously cast the Star Trek universe as a new continuity and strategically recast iconic characters in a parallel timeline. The chapter asserts that the reinvention of Star Trek property as a twenty-first-century blockbuster required an investment not only in its narrative strategies, but also in a discursively reimagined audience, one that included both pre-existing and future fans. It demonstrates the way in which Star Trek highlights the intersecting logics of the film reboot and the mainstreaming of fandom in popular culture, both of which grow out of serial strategies designed to exploit new and established markets.

Categorisation of New Classes of Digital Interaction

Leonardo ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tack Woo ◽  
Kwangyun Wohn ◽  
Nigel Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Real World ◽  
Digital Culture ◽  
Physical Interaction ◽  
Interactive Installation

This article introduces a new concept, digital interactivity, through examining local digital culture; and video game culture is employed as a metaphor to interpret local digital culture. As a result, ‘control-’ and ‘communication’-based interaction are initiated, based on ‘user to media’ relationships. Based on the degree of physical interaction, ‘liminal’ and ‘transitive’ interactions are initiated. Less physical digital interaction is described as ‘liminal’ interaction and more physical digital interaction is described as ‘transitive’ interaction. These new classes of digital interaction can be applied to real-world examples, such as digital interactive installation artworks and video games.

scholarly journals Gamecloud - A Platform for Connecting Video Games

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Janne Parkkila ◽  
Kati Järvi ◽  
Timo Hynninen ◽  
Jouni Ikonen ◽  
Jari Porras
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Real World ◽  
The Real ◽  
Platform Architecture ◽  
Mobile Market ◽  
Digital Nature ◽  
Interactive Medium

The growing video game markets, especially the mobile market, have caused problems in terms of new game products being found by players. Cross-promotion and in-game advertising have been used to promote video games inside each other. However, the digital nature of video games as an interactive medium enables deeper collaboration between video games, and could be used in a more profound manner. We interviewed Finnish video game companies to understand if they were interested in creating deeper collaboration between their game products, and how such collaboration could take place. Based on the results, we built a platform called Gamecloud for connecting games together. We present the platform architecture and demonstrate it in use, with examples of connecting games with other games and connecting games with the real world, alongside an example of physical exercising.

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