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Game Analysis - DDR
Since the inception of video games, several theorists have included the word “narrative” in the definition of a video game. What some analysts are now realizing is that video games may not be able to be listed under the category “narrative” any longer. Gonzalo Frasca states that as opposed to narrative, “a form of structuring representation”, video games used something more like what can be called simulation, a model of a “system through a different system which maintains some of the behaviors of the original system” (Wolf & Perron, 223). He also states that there is a spectrum that extends from the idea of paidia, or play, and ludus, or game. I am going to make the claim that the video game Dance Dance Revolution is a good example of a simulation and an extreme case of ludus. Dance Dance Revolution is a game in which the player stands on a sensor pad and steps on specific parts of it at certain times. The player wins when the steps correspond with the computer’s “steps” in a timely manner. The game, once started, does not stop for any reason (other than pressing pause) until the song or dance is over. Frasca states, “[a] simulator allows the player to perform actions that will modify the behavior of the system in a way that is similar to the behavior of the actual [system]” (Wolf & Perron, 224). Dance Dance Revolution does this and only this exact action. The whole point of the game is to get the player to do a specific dance move by moving your feet in the same fashion as if actually dancing. The game is meant for the player to simulate a dance move. There is no other objective or purpose; no narrative exists. If video games were to be defined only by using the word narrative, this game would not be able to be labeled a video game. Another reason Dance Dance Revolution can considered a simulator instead of a narrative is because the representation that is given to the player is not one that could be interpreted or read as a story, plot, or, more specifically, as a dance. The only way to see or understand how it is a dance is to participate and go through the motions that the computer asks the player to perform. Only until a player begins following the requests can an observer or participant actually understand the arrow signs as body movements and so, a dance. Frasca’s other idea of ludus, on the paidia-ludus spectrum, applies quite perfectly to Dance Dance Revolution as well. “Ludus represents games with social rules (chess, soccer, poker)” and “ludus …incorporates rules that define a winner and a loser” (Wolf & Perron, 230). Dance Dance Revolution is a perfect example of a ludus game. Frasca says ludus games follow the same three-act rule: “Ludus sessions go through a first act in which the rules are acknowledged, a second act in which players perform, and, finally, a third act that concludes the game and draws the line between victors and losers” (Wolf & Perron, 230). Dance Dance Revolution has a beginning introduction where the rules are specified and example games are shown on the screen; this is the first act. Then the player selects which song to dance to. This is the extent to which the player is given a choice in the whole game. Once a selection has been made, the game begins racing arrows across the screen that the player is supposed to match with and keep pace with the computer. This is the second act of the player performing the tasks the game has asked him/her to carry out. Finally, the computer rates the player on how accurately he/she hit the buttons and whether they corresponded with the timing of the computer. A player must “pass” to move on to another song, otherwise, the game has ended with the player being a loser. This is the third act and the game follows it quite closely. Dance Dance Revolution is almost a literal example of what could be labeled a ludus game. In Frasca’s article, he lists several concepts that can be labeled characteristics of a video game. Ruling out “narrative” as being a necessary part of “video games” definition, Dance Dance Revolution can then fall under the category of a video game. Defining a spectrum with paidia on one side and ludus on the other helps advance the debate on how to categorize video games. Dance Dance Revolution might be in question as to whether it could be considered a video game based on older, less accurate definitions. Because of the game’s lack of narrative and strict rules, Dance Dance Revolution is a good example of what could be Frasca’s concept of a ludus video game.
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, Mar 15 2007, 1:55 AM EDT
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