Game Aesthetics (Week 7, Class 12) Today’s Agenda Art Gallery Expansion Project Aesthetics Game Design Game Aesthetics

UC Merced Art Gallery Expansion Cynthia Romero UCM Art Gallery Student Curator

So what does the word mean? Aesthetics So what does the word mean? How do you use it? How have you used it?

Aesthetics - Dictionary

Aesthetics - Dictionary Beauty Taste Art

Aesthetics – Keyword mid 18th C - Baumgarten - Beauty as phenomenal perfection; sensible (material) as opposed to imagined (immaterial)

Aesthetics – Keyword mid 18th C - Baumgarten - Beauty as phenomenal perfection; sensible (material) as opposed to imagined (immaterial) mid 18th C – Kant – sensuous perception (not about beauty, as such)

Aesthetics – Keyword mid 18th C - Baumgarten - Beauty as phenomenal perfection; sensible (material) as opposed to imagined (immaterial) mid 18th C – Kant – sensuous perception (not about beauty, as such) early-mid 19th C – high/low battles (non-English word and elitism)

Aesthetics – Keyword mid 18th C - Baumgarten - Beauty as phenomenal perfection; sensible (material) as opposed to imagined (immaterial) mid 18th C – Kant – sensuous perception (not about beauty, as such) early-mid 19th C – high/low battles (non-English word and elitism) 20th C-present – subjective vs. objective (both individually and culturally)

ngram : beauty, taste, aesthetic, aesthetics

ngram : beauty, taste, aesthetic, aesthetics, art, culture

Game Design “Iterative Design is a play-based design process… a rough version of the game is rapidly prototyped as early in the design process as possible. This prototype has none of the aesthetic trappings of the final game, but begins to define its fundamental rules and core mechanics. It is not a visual prototype, but an interactive one.” (Salen and Zimmerman 2003, p. 11)

Game Design “Iterative Design is a play-based design process… a rough version of the game is rapidly prototyped as early in the design process as possible. This prototype has none of the aesthetic trappings of the final game, but begins to define its fundamental rules and core mechanics. It is not a visual prototype, but an interactive one.” (Salen and Zimmerman 2003, p. 11)

Game Design Rules are fundamental Mechanics are the core of the game Aesthetics are added on audio, visual, and haptic trappings

Game Design – MDA Mechanics Dynamics Aesthetics

Game Design – MDA (Hunicke et al. 2004, p. 2)

Game Design – MDA (Hunicke et al. 2004, p. 2)

Dynamics: means through which specific emotions are brought out Game Design – MDA Aesthetics: “fun”; player emotion; player engagement; what the player should feel/experience Dynamics: means through which specific emotions are brought out Mechanics: specific actions, behaviors and controls that enable the dynamics

Game Design – MDA Example

Game Design – MDA Example Aesthetics: challenge; memorization Hidden Aesthetics: active learning Dynamics: challenge comes from competition; must remember readings in order to win and in order to vote; active learning comes from voting and speaking Mechanics: rhetorical battle with opponent; can change game card to help with drive and memory; class pays attention to decide winner; drive to play comes from extra credit for winning and participating

Game Design – MDA Example 2 Aesthetics: ??? Dynamics: ??? Mechanics: ???

Game Design – MDA (Hunicke et al. 2004, p. 2)

Game Design – MDA Mechanics Dynamics Aesthetics The way the industry approaches these is, however, flipped

Game Design – MDA Aesthetics Dynamics Mechanics

Game Design – MDA Aesthetics Dynamics Mechanics (surface level) (underlying core)

Game Design – MDA Aesthetics Dynamics Mechanics (surface level) (underlying core) For the game industry, the mechanics drive the aesthetics; for the player, the aesthetics are critical

Niedenthal thinks that players are important Game Aesthetics Niedenthal thinks that players are important Niedenthal thinks that the industry and academics focus too much on “core” mechanics

Niedenthal thinks that players are important Game Aesthetics Niedenthal thinks that players are important Niedenthal thinks that the industry and academics focus too much on “core” mechanics Niedenthal thinks “it is undeniable that games can give rise to an aesthetic experience” (Niedenthal 2009, p. 4)

Game Aesthetics – meta review Game aesthetics refers to the sensory phenomena that the player encounters in the game (visual, aural, haptic, embodied). Game aesthetics refers to those aspects of digital games that are shared with other art forms (and thus provides a means of generalizing about art). Game aesthetics is an expression of the game experienced as pleasure, emotion, sociability, formgiving, etc (with reference to ”the aesthetic experience”). (Niedenthal 2009, p. 2)

Niedenthal’s Conclusion “The core of formal meaning of a game, according to many current approaches, radiates out from the procedural nature of games, through rule sets and mechanics to sound, graphics and the controller; the core of experienced game meaning radiates out from the brain and cognitive awareness towards the senses and hands… Where hands, senses, bodies and the tangible qualities of games meet, the aesthetic meaning of games emerges.” (Niedenthal 2009, p. 7)

Niedenthal’s Conclusion “The core of formal meaning of a game, according to many current approaches, radiates out from the procedural nature of games, through rule sets and mechanics to sound, graphics and the controller; the core of experienced game meaning radiates out from the brain and cognitive awareness towards the senses and hands… Where hands, senses, bodies and the tangible qualities of games meet, the aesthetic meaning of games emerges.” (Niedenthal 2009, p. 7) Aesthetics are experienced bodily; the player’s body in play is where we should be studying games

Designers and Players (Hunicke et al. 2004, p. 2)

Authors and Readers Reader Author (Hunicke et al. 2004, p. 2)

Artist and Experiencer (Hunicke et al. 2004, p. 2)

Roland Barthes – “The Death of the Author” (6 pages) Next Up… Readings: Roland Barthes – “The Death of the Author” (6 pages) Reading Tips What does he mean by the “death” of the author? Are “authors” and “writers” the same thing? What is the relationship between “author” and “artist”? Who matters if the “author” is dead?