Q: What is the main difference between abstraction and representation and why is this so significant for the development of video games? What theories were brought about by the fundamental difference posed by these two concepts? (ijoshi)

A1:

Q: What is an example of a new game coming out that exemplifies abstraction in video games? (nwithers)

A1: Halo 3. I feel as if it is in an abstract place with features unlike that we deal with in society today. I cannot be for sure due to its release date in the fall.

Q: The idea of presence is quite remarkable in regards to video games. What determines the presence of a person in relation to a video game (2 things) and according to theorists, why are "virtual reality environments shown to be effective in the treatment of many sicknesses?" (ijoshi)

A1:

Q1:What was the “Golden Age” of the video game? This was also known as the “Golden Age of abstraction. Why? (Ty)

A1:"The Golden Age of the video game is generally considered to be the period from the rise of the video game in the early 1970s to 1984, the year of the great video game industry crash, which was brought on by a market glutted with game systems and their pale imitators. I twas also the Golden Age of abstraction in the video game because of all the technological limitations of the time." (Wolf & Perron, 53) (kmartinez)



Q2: Wolf draws a line between video games and interactive art because art focuses more on experience than on a set goal. This distinction forgets that games can also give a very rich and eye opening experience. Can games be art? Why or Why not? (Daniel)

A2:Videogames can be considered artwork. Wolf tells us about multiple types of art in this chapter. One kind is interactive art in which the audience is actually engaged in the piece they are analyzing. For example John Cage wrote a piano piece that “had no notes at all and consisted solely of the ambiance of the auditorium, including sounds made by the audience.”(Wolf, pg 48) Videogames are very similar to this piece of music written by Cage. It takes interaction and participation in order to fully appreciate the whole product. It is different from traditional art in that our interaction is directed down a path of some sort which leads to a common experience. Traditional art on the other hand consists solely of the experience. This experience is not necessarily directed or goal oriented. (Ty)



Q3: Why in early games was Horizontal movement favored over Vertical movement? What did this mean for games of the time? (Daniel)

A3: Vertical movement was actually favored of horizontal in early vieo games because horizontal movement was more difficult to program. This was because, " the position of objects on the horizontal axis was limited by the machine cycle and writing of registers [so] horizontal motion had to be further fine-tuned through a separate register that would fill in the resultant gaps in movement." (WP Pg. 55) (cellis)



Q4: Wolf defines abstraction as something that has been "simplified, [reduced] to a few essentials and basic forms instead of trying to reproduce it."(48) He then goes on to say that abstraction is "both a necessary and inevitable part of the video game-playing experience."(64) This seems to contradict the trend of today's games of being more realistic and more detailed, often taking hours to fully understand how to play a game successfully. How is Wolf justified in saying that abstraction can be used to "expand and explore the great potential" of future video games? (murban)

A4:



Q5: What is the main difference between abstraction and representation and why is this so significant for the development of video games? What theories were brought about by the fundamental difference posed by these two concepts? (ijoshi)

A5: Abstraction involves simplification of something in order to better understand something whereas as representation involves trying to reproduce or resemble something in order to better understand something. (nwithers)



Q6: What is action painting and how does it relate to video games? (kmartinez)

A6: “Action painting is a style of painting in which paint is spontaneously dribbled, splashed or smeared onto the canvas, rather than being carefully applied. The resulting work often emphasizes the physical act of painting itself as an essential aspect of the finished work or concern of its artist.” (wikipedia.com) This concept depicts art as an act and process rather than an object or product and demonstrates the action of the painter. For example, in Jackson Pollock’s paintings, cigarette stubs are often found. Supposedly, when he was painting he would enter into a different state of mind in which he had no control over himself. If during these times he felt the impulse to throw his cigarette on the floor he would substitute the canvas for the ground and the result was cigarette buds in a number of his creations.
According to Wolf (WP Pg. 48), Rosenberg describes the direction in which abstract art was developing as “time-based, interactive, and event-based” and this direction eventually found its way to video games. When video games appeared, audiences were drawn to them because they required interactivity. To fully enjoy a video game, one could not just see the result of the game; they had to experience the process of reaching the final stage, the playing of the game. Similarly, action painting was concerned with depicting and experiencing the process by which the art was created, and not just the finished product. (schilmeran)



Q7: Why does Wolf say that abstraction will always be an important part of video games even though representation is becoming ever more vital to video games' success among today's gamers? (schilmeran)

A7: Abstraction will always be an important part of video games because it can serve as an element within representational game graphics. Even though it is no longer a major feature of video games it can still serve such things as surface textures on three-dimensional objects.(p.61) It can provide the minor details in the big picture of the video game. (jstanley)



Q8: Even though the terms presence and immersion are often associated with eath other, what is the significant difference between them that results in them ultimately being two seperate sets of criteria for analyzing 3-D video game design? (schilmeran)

A8:in immersion “the user’s actions must have a non-trivial impact on the environment”. (Wolf, pg 69) Where in presence the user “accomplishes significant actions within the environment” and it has a repercussion effect with the social and the natural environment in the videogame. (Wolf, pg 73) Immersion gives us the feeling like one is actually in the game. Presence shows the environment that you are in the game by changing based on the player’s actions. In 3D videogame design they are separate problems. Immersion is basically the setting and the sounds and the graphics. Presence is the difficult part. Creating an interactive environment in which the environment will respond to the player’s actions. Example: a street light falls over because a player ran their vehicle into it. (daniel)



Q9: According to Mark J.P. Wolf, when was the “Golden Age of Abstraction” and what made this time period so significant? (cellis)

A9: The "Golden Age of Abstraction" started when video games began to rise in 1970s to 1984. It ended with the crash of the industry. The Golden Age was significant because it marked a time period when representational graphics were becoming more common and the video games and graphics were more detailed. (ijoshi)