Getting a little closer but the conclusion stinks as usual. Some of the stuff is the same, but I have tried to make it flow better and get some of those ideas tighter. Hopefully the final version is within sight.
Star Wars has had a pervasive impact on the modern human psyche and has left its mark on directors, fans and video game designers. It is responsible for several changes in popular culture, the rise of the blockbuster, the franchise movie, the use of computer generated special effects and for leaving an indelible mark on popular lexicon. (Emerson n.d; Jenkins 2005) Countless references from the series have been used in commercials, video games, books and other mediums.
For those born after the inception of Star Wars, they have accepted it as a site of shared cultural knowledge. (Booker 1997) Peter Krämer (2001) cites during a class, he asked students the role of Star Wars had in their lives and was surprised by the response. They recounted that as children; they inhabited a 'Star Wars universe' and still felt that was still applied even as adults. "... the saga's characters, stories and catch phrases had been a primary reference point for their peer group and also within their families." (Kramer 2001)
Star Wars has a video game industry has spawned over 100 video and computer commodities. Much of the series continuing popularity and perpetuation of Star Wars over our society is due to the production of video games. (ref) Video games have offered a way for Star Wars to continue their dominance of popular culture; this spread also has had an effect on video games as a source of inspiration, reference and parody.
The biggest game in the industry that Star Wars has inspired is Tomohiro Nishikado's Space Invaders. Nishikado recalls that he was inspired by news of the American movie that was coming to Japan. He had felt that setting the game in space and having aliens as opponents would be less immoral than shooting human enemies. "Human movement would have been easier, but I felt it would be immoral to shoot humans, even if they were bad guys." (Nishikado cited in The Creation of Space Invaders 2005)
Space Invaders is considered to one of the seminal arcade games which launched an industry. The influence on the games industry can still be felt today. It pushed video games culture into mainstream consciousness; it created the genre of games known as top-down shooters and became a historical icon of video games. (Edwards n.d)
Its conception could not have happened without Star Wars' interpretation of space as an adventure. It paved the way for space opera and aliens to be acceptable serious topics for movies and video games. (Edwards n.d) While Star Wars is considered the quintessential space adventure movie, it has also created the archetypal video game moment.
`Star Wars' didn't create video games but it totally influenced them... The Death Star trench run in the original `Star Wars' is the archetypal video game climax: Fire a missile, hit a weak spot and everything gets destroyed. (Schneider cited in Caro 2005)
The battles set in space have been an inspiration to game designers Ted Michon and David Rolfe who in 1979 released the arcade game Star Fire. Due to licensing and publishing issues the game never bore the Star Wars brand but players have made connections between Star Fire and its muse.
David Rolfe admits that Michon wanted to create a game in the same genre as Star Wars. The graphics created for the game attracted Star Wars fans through their similarity to the original product. It has been described by some to be a digital equivalent to piloting a vehicle from the movies. (Thomasson 2006; Minter 2003) The sheer volume of fan media is overwhelming; the desire for others to relive and recreate the experiences of Star Wars and its characters is not limited to fans. (Jenkins H 2005; Caro 2003)
Star Wars and Star Fire would later lead to an unusual game inspired by an official Star Wars product.
The review in question described the Walkers as “giant mechanical camels”. “And that just got me thinking about giant camels in general,” says Minter. (The Making Of: Attack of The Mutant Camels 2009)
Drawing inspiration from a review of The Empire Strikes Back, Minter created an imaginative experience which pitted the player against shielded camels that could fire lasers. (The Making Of: Attack of The Mutant Camels 2009) With an aesthetic borrowed from the Parker Brother's game, Minter's game could be seen as a parody but also as a retelling of the original game.
It is difficult to imagine a cultural landscape without Star Wars, much of it has become ingrained into our communicated media such as films, books and video games. It has remained one of the most popular space operas, a prime example of man's obsession with adventure and the unknowns of space. Space Invaders and its space themed game play originate with Star Wars; this little seed of inspiration gave rise to one of icons of video game culture.
Conclusion is not finished, again. I will get around to it once I figure out just how to sum this essay up.
Following the rise of Space Invaders and Lucas' films, video games, aliens, space operas became pop culture standards. The thrill of exciting frontiers opened by digital media continues today. Scenarios, characters and lines from the films have often been referenced in different mediums and still provide stimulus for developing works.
Showing posts with label text adventure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label text adventure. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Episode II - The Waffle starts now
Another slightly re-jigged draft of yesterday's entry, it's starting to get better. Who knows I may have something by Thursday that actually looks like an essay.
How does a space opera from the 1970's influence contemporary gaming? Yeah, yea, I know this line is getting old. I'll come up with something better.
Star Wars has had a pervasive impact on the modern human psyche and has left its mark on directors, fans and video game designers. It is responsible for several changes in popular culture, the rise of the blockbuster, the franchise movie, the use of computer generated special effects and for leaving an indelible mark on popular lexicon. (Emerson n.d; Jenkins 2005) Countless references from the series have been used in commercials, video games, books and other mediums.
The biggest game in the industry that Star Wars has inspired is Tomohiro Nishikado's Space Invaders. Nishikado recalls that he was inspired by news of the American movie that was coming to Japan. He had felt that setting the game in space and having aliens as opponents would be less immoral than shooting human enemies. "Human movement would have been easier, but I felt it would be immoral to shoot humans, even if they were bad guys." (Nishikado cited in The Creation of Space Invaders 2005)
Space Invaders is considered to one of the seminal arcade games which launched an industry. The influence on the gaming industry can still be felt today. It pushed video games culture into mainstream consciousness; it created the genre of games known as top-down shooters and became a historical icon of video games. (Edwards n.d)
Its conception could not have happened without a fairy tale sent in space known as Star Wars. Star Wars paved the way for space opera and aliens to be acceptable serious topics for movies and video games. (Edwards n.d) While Star Wars is considered the quintessential space adventure movie, it has also created the archetypal video game moment.
`Star Wars' didn't create video games but it totally influenced them... The Death Star trench run in the original `Star Wars' is the archetypal video game climax: Fire a missile, hit a weak spot and everything gets destroyed. (Schneider cited in Caro 2005)
The battles set in space have been an inspiration to game designers Ted Michon and David Rolfe who in 1979 released the arcade game Star Fire. Due to licensing and publishing issues the game never bore the Star Wars brand but players have made connections between Star Fire and its inspiration.
David Rolfe admits that Michon wanted to create a game in the same genre as Star Wars. The graphics created for the game attracted Star Wars fans through their similarity to the original product. (Thomasson 2006 ; Minter 2004)
Star Wars and Star Fire would later lead to an unusual game inspired by an official Star Wars product.
The review in question described the Walkers as “giant mechanical camels”. “And that just got me thinking about giant camels in general,” says Minter. (The Making Of: Attack of The Mutant Camels 2009)
Drawing inspiration from a review of The Empire Strikes Back, Minter created an imaginative experience which pitted the player against shielded camels that could fire lasers. With an aesthetic borrowed from the Parker Brother's game, Minter's game could be seen as a parody but also as a retelling of the original game. (The Making Of: Attack of The Mutant Camels 2009)
For those born after the inception of Star Wars have accepted it as a site of shared cultural knowledge. (Booker 1997) Peter Krämer (2001) cites during a class, he asked students the role of Star Wars had in their lives and was surprised by the response. They recounted that as children, they were inhabiting a 'Star Wars universe' and still felt that was still applied even as adults.
"... the saga's characters, stories and catch phrases had been a primary reference point for their peer group and also within their families." (Kramer 2001)
More to come so don't winge that it's not going anywhere.
23rd March Edit: No, changed part of it so this is an unfinished draft
Bibliography
Booker W 1997, 'New Hope: The Postmodern Project of Star Wars' in S Redmond(ed), Liquid Metal The Science Fiction Film Reader, Wallflower Press, London, pp. 289 - 307.
Brown J 2005, The impact of the Star Wars trilogy, viewed 10th March 2010, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/jan-june05/star_wars_5-19.html.
Caro M 2005, The power of the dark side, viewed 10th March 2010, http://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-0505080390may08,0,5154795.story?page=1.
Ebert R 1999, Great Movies: Star Wars, viewed 11th March 2010, http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19990628/REVIEWS08/906280301/1023.
Edwards B n.d., Ten Things Everyone Should Know About Space Invaders Celebrating 30 Years of Shooting at Sushi, viewed 5th March 2010, http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=1&cId=3168373.
Emerson J n.d, How Star Wars Shook the World, viewed 10th March 2010, http://movies.msn.com/movies/starwars/?GT1=7701&.
Jenkins H 2005, Quentin Tarantino's Star Wars?: Digital Cinema, Media Convergence, and Participatory Culture, viewed 12th March 2010, http://web.mit.edu/cms/People/henry3/starwars.html.
Kramer P 2001, 'It's Aimed At Kids - The Kid in Everybody: George Lucas, Star Wars and Children's Entertainment', in Y Trasker(ed), Action and Adventure Cinema, Routledge, Oxen, pp. 358 - 370.
Minter J 2004, The Joy of ZX & Hex, viewed 20th March 2010, http://www.llamasoft.co.uk/lshistory4.php.
Rickey, C 2005, Debate brews about cultural impact of 'Star Wars', viewed 10th March 2010, http://media.www.the-telescope.com/media/storage/paper749/news/2005/05/09/StarWars/Debate.Brews.About.Cultural.Impact.Of.star.Wars-953413.shtml.
The Creation of Space Invaders 2005, Edge Online, viewed 12th March 2010, http://www.edge-online.com/news/the-creation-space-invaders.
The Making Of:Attack of The Mutant Camels 2009, Edge Online, viewed 14th March 2010, http://www.edge-online.com/magazine/the-making-of-attack-of-the-mutant-camels.
Thomasson M 2006, Interview with David Rolfe, viewed 13th March 2010, http://www.gooddealgames.com/interviews/int_rolfe.html.
How does a space opera from the 1970's influence contemporary gaming? Yeah, yea, I know this line is getting old. I'll come up with something better.
Star Wars has had a pervasive impact on the modern human psyche and has left its mark on directors, fans and video game designers. It is responsible for several changes in popular culture, the rise of the blockbuster, the franchise movie, the use of computer generated special effects and for leaving an indelible mark on popular lexicon. (Emerson n.d; Jenkins 2005) Countless references from the series have been used in commercials, video games, books and other mediums.
The biggest game in the industry that Star Wars has inspired is Tomohiro Nishikado's Space Invaders. Nishikado recalls that he was inspired by news of the American movie that was coming to Japan. He had felt that setting the game in space and having aliens as opponents would be less immoral than shooting human enemies. "Human movement would have been easier, but I felt it would be immoral to shoot humans, even if they were bad guys." (Nishikado cited in The Creation of Space Invaders 2005)
Space Invaders is considered to one of the seminal arcade games which launched an industry. The influence on the gaming industry can still be felt today. It pushed video games culture into mainstream consciousness; it created the genre of games known as top-down shooters and became a historical icon of video games. (Edwards n.d)
Its conception could not have happened without a fairy tale sent in space known as Star Wars. Star Wars paved the way for space opera and aliens to be acceptable serious topics for movies and video games. (Edwards n.d) While Star Wars is considered the quintessential space adventure movie, it has also created the archetypal video game moment.
`Star Wars' didn't create video games but it totally influenced them... The Death Star trench run in the original `Star Wars' is the archetypal video game climax: Fire a missile, hit a weak spot and everything gets destroyed. (Schneider cited in Caro 2005)
The battles set in space have been an inspiration to game designers Ted Michon and David Rolfe who in 1979 released the arcade game Star Fire. Due to licensing and publishing issues the game never bore the Star Wars brand but players have made connections between Star Fire and its inspiration.
David Rolfe admits that Michon wanted to create a game in the same genre as Star Wars. The graphics created for the game attracted Star Wars fans through their similarity to the original product. (Thomasson 2006 ; Minter 2004)
Star Wars and Star Fire would later lead to an unusual game inspired by an official Star Wars product.
The review in question described the Walkers as “giant mechanical camels”. “And that just got me thinking about giant camels in general,” says Minter. (The Making Of: Attack of The Mutant Camels 2009)
Drawing inspiration from a review of The Empire Strikes Back, Minter created an imaginative experience which pitted the player against shielded camels that could fire lasers. With an aesthetic borrowed from the Parker Brother's game, Minter's game could be seen as a parody but also as a retelling of the original game. (The Making Of: Attack of The Mutant Camels 2009)
For those born after the inception of Star Wars have accepted it as a site of shared cultural knowledge. (Booker 1997) Peter Krämer (2001) cites during a class, he asked students the role of Star Wars had in their lives and was surprised by the response. They recounted that as children, they were inhabiting a 'Star Wars universe' and still felt that was still applied even as adults.
"... the saga's characters, stories and catch phrases had been a primary reference point for their peer group and also within their families." (Kramer 2001)
More to come so don't winge that it's not going anywhere.
23rd March Edit: No, changed part of it so this is an unfinished draft
Bibliography
Booker W 1997, 'New Hope: The Postmodern Project of Star Wars' in S Redmond(ed), Liquid Metal The Science Fiction Film Reader, Wallflower Press, London, pp. 289 - 307.
Brown J 2005, The impact of the Star Wars trilogy, viewed 10th March 2010, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/jan-june05/star_wars_5-19.html.
Caro M 2005, The power of the dark side, viewed 10th March 2010, http://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-0505080390may08,0,5154795.story?page=1.
Ebert R 1999, Great Movies: Star Wars, viewed 11th March 2010, http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19990628/REVIEWS08/906280301/1023.
Edwards B n.d., Ten Things Everyone Should Know About Space Invaders Celebrating 30 Years of Shooting at Sushi, viewed 5th March 2010, http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=1&cId=3168373.
Emerson J n.d, How Star Wars Shook the World, viewed 10th March 2010, http://movies.msn.com/movies/starwars/?GT1=7701&.
Jenkins H 2005, Quentin Tarantino's Star Wars?: Digital Cinema, Media Convergence, and Participatory Culture, viewed 12th March 2010, http://web.mit.edu/cms/People/henry3/starwars.html.
Kramer P 2001, 'It's Aimed At Kids - The Kid in Everybody: George Lucas, Star Wars and Children's Entertainment', in Y Trasker(ed), Action and Adventure Cinema, Routledge, Oxen, pp. 358 - 370.
Minter J 2004, The Joy of ZX & Hex, viewed 20th March 2010, http://www.llamasoft.co.uk/lshistory4.php.
Rickey, C 2005, Debate brews about cultural impact of 'Star Wars', viewed 10th March 2010, http://media.www.the-telescope.com/media/storage/paper749/news/2005/05/09/StarWars/Debate.Brews.About.Cultural.Impact.Of.star.Wars-953413.shtml.
The Creation of Space Invaders 2005, Edge Online, viewed 12th March 2010, http://www.edge-online.com/news/the-creation-space-invaders.
The Making Of:Attack of The Mutant Camels 2009, Edge Online, viewed 14th March 2010, http://www.edge-online.com/magazine/the-making-of-attack-of-the-mutant-camels.
Thomasson M 2006, Interview with David Rolfe, viewed 13th March 2010, http://www.gooddealgames.com/interviews/int_rolfe.html.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Episode I - Rough Start
This is a pretty rough draft of my essay about Star War's impact on modern gamimg. A lot of things need to sorted like references, ideas, flow and a conclusion. More will come as I rework it.
Star Wars is responsible for several changes in popular culture, the rise of the blockbuster, the franchise movie, the use of computer generated special effects and for leaving an indelible mark on popular lexicon. (Emerson n.d ; Jenkins 2005) Countless references from the series have been used in commercials, video games, books and other mediums.
How could a space opera from the 70's influence contemporary gaming?
Star Wars has had a pervasive impact on the modern human psyche and has left its mark on directors, fans and video game designers. This essay will look at the impact Star Wars had on people as a cultural phenomena and at the video games it has inspired.
Peter Krämer (2001) cites during a class, he asked students the role of Star Wars had in their lives and was surprised by the response. He recounts that as children, many of his students felt they been inhabiting the Star Wars universe and still do as adults.
"... the saga's characters, stories and catch phrases had been a primary reference point for their peer group and also within their families." (Kramer 2001)
The appeal of Star Wars has many facets, its creator George Lucas has been cited that it is a portrayal of faith and innocence triumphing over cynicism and despair. (Levin cited in Brooker 1997) Critics have panned and praised the series approach to capture the "inner child". (Kramer 2001) Simular parallels can seen in the number of games that offer the player a similar experience.
"`Star Wars' didn't create video games but it totally influenced them... The Death Star trench run in the original `Star Wars' is the archetypal video game climax: Fire a missile, hit a weak spot and everything gets destroyed." (Schneider cited in Caro 2005)
It is moments like these that have inspired games such as Space Invaders, Star Fire, Attack of the Mutant Camels and countless others. Entering a world where Star Wars, some of these products prove that Star Wars is an inspiring force that spans a lifetime.
The 1979 arcade game Star Fire owes its creation to Star Wars. Ted Michon was inspired by the movies to create a game in this genre, he created graphics that were extremely close to the designs of Star Wars. (Thomasson 2006) Star Fire is noted for emulating the experience of flying a TIE fighter from the movies. (Minter 2003)
One of the strangest video games to claim influence from Star Wars is Jeff Minter's Attack of the Mutant Camels.
The review in question described the Walkers as “giant mechanical camels”. “And that just got me thinking about giant camels in general,” says Minter. (The Making Of: Attack of The Mutant Camels 2009)
Drawing inspiration from a review of The Empire Strikes Back, Minter created an imaginative experience which pitted the player against shielded camels that could fire lasers. With an aesthetic borrowed from the Parker Brother's game, Minter's game could be seen as a parody but also as a retelling of the original game.
The biggest game in the industry that Star Wars has inspired is Tomohiro Nishikado's Space Invaders. Nishikado recalls that he was inspired by news of the American movie that was coming to Japan. He had felt that setting the game in space and having aliens as opponents would be less immoral than shooting human enemies.(The Creation of Space Invaders 2005)
Space Invaders is considered to one of the seminal arcade games which launched an industry. The influence on the gaming industry can still be felt today. It pushed video games culture into mainstream consciousness, it created the genre of games known as top-down shooters and it's conception could not have happened without a fairy tale sent in space known as Star Wars. Star Wars paved the way for space opera and aliens to be acceptable serious topics for movies and video games.(Edwards n.d)
Video games would not be a dynamic cultural force without the influence of Star Wars whether it's the need to emulate scenes from the movies or as a jumping platform for game development. The excitement of pretending to be a Jedi Knight as a child to engaging hyper-speed as an adult gamer, these moments could only have come from a world where Star Wars exists.
From the late 70's, Star Wars has been the one cultural force that has eclipsed other trends and inducted generations of people into its fold. Few can imagine life without its presence, even the uninterested are aware of its influence over their lives. If the force with you?
Bibliography
Booker W 1997, 'New Hope: The Postmodern Project of Star Wars' in S Redmond(ed), Liquid Metal The Science Fiction Film Reader, Wallflower Press, London, pp. 289 - 307.
Brown, J 2005, The impact of the Star Wars trilogy, viewed 10th March 2010, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/jan-june05/star_wars_5-19.html.
Caro, M 2005, The power of the dark side, viewed 10th March 2010, http://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-0505080390may08,0,5154795.story?page=1.
Ebert, R 1999, Great Movies: Star Wars, viewed 11th March 2010, http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19990628/REVIEWS08/906280301/1023.
Edwards B, n.d., Ten Things Everyone Should Know About Space Invaders Celebrating 30 Years of Shooting at Sushi, viewed 5th March 2010, http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=1&cId=3168373.
Emerson, J n.d, How Star Wars Shook the World, viewed 10th March 2010, http://movies.msn.com/movies/starwars/?GT1=7701&.
Jenkins H 2005, Quentin Tarantino's Star Wars?: Digital Cinema, Media Convergence, and Participatory Culture, viewed 12th March 2010, http://web.mit.edu/cms/People/henry3/starwars.html.
Kramer P 2001, 'It's Aimed At Kids - The Kid in Everybody: George Lucas, Star Wars and Children's Entertainment', in Y Trasker(ed), Action and Adventure Cinema, Routledge, Oxen, pp. 358 - 370.
Rickey, C 2005, Debate brews about cultural impact of 'Star Wars', viewed 10th March 2010, http://media.www.the-telescope.com/media/storage/paper749/news/2005/05/09/StarWars/Debate.Brews.About.Cultural.Impact.Of.star.Wars-953413.shtml.
The Creation of Space Invaders 2005, Edge Online, viewed 12th March 2010, http://www.edge-online.com/news/the-creation-space-invaders.
The Making Of:Attack of The Mutant Camels 2009, Edge Online, viewed 14th March 2010, http://www.edge-online.com/magazine/the-making-of-attack-of-the-mutant-camels.
Thomasson M 2006, Interview with David Rolfe, viewed 13th March 2010, http://www.gooddealgames.com/interviews/int_rolfe.html.
Star Wars is responsible for several changes in popular culture, the rise of the blockbuster, the franchise movie, the use of computer generated special effects and for leaving an indelible mark on popular lexicon. (Emerson n.d ; Jenkins 2005) Countless references from the series have been used in commercials, video games, books and other mediums.
How could a space opera from the 70's influence contemporary gaming?
Star Wars has had a pervasive impact on the modern human psyche and has left its mark on directors, fans and video game designers. This essay will look at the impact Star Wars had on people as a cultural phenomena and at the video games it has inspired.
Peter Krämer (2001) cites during a class, he asked students the role of Star Wars had in their lives and was surprised by the response. He recounts that as children, many of his students felt they been inhabiting the Star Wars universe and still do as adults.
"... the saga's characters, stories and catch phrases had been a primary reference point for their peer group and also within their families." (Kramer 2001)
The appeal of Star Wars has many facets, its creator George Lucas has been cited that it is a portrayal of faith and innocence triumphing over cynicism and despair. (Levin cited in Brooker 1997) Critics have panned and praised the series approach to capture the "inner child". (Kramer 2001) Simular parallels can seen in the number of games that offer the player a similar experience.
"`Star Wars' didn't create video games but it totally influenced them... The Death Star trench run in the original `Star Wars' is the archetypal video game climax: Fire a missile, hit a weak spot and everything gets destroyed." (Schneider cited in Caro 2005)
It is moments like these that have inspired games such as Space Invaders, Star Fire, Attack of the Mutant Camels and countless others. Entering a world where Star Wars, some of these products prove that Star Wars is an inspiring force that spans a lifetime.
The 1979 arcade game Star Fire owes its creation to Star Wars. Ted Michon was inspired by the movies to create a game in this genre, he created graphics that were extremely close to the designs of Star Wars. (Thomasson 2006) Star Fire is noted for emulating the experience of flying a TIE fighter from the movies. (Minter 2003)
One of the strangest video games to claim influence from Star Wars is Jeff Minter's Attack of the Mutant Camels.
The review in question described the Walkers as “giant mechanical camels”. “And that just got me thinking about giant camels in general,” says Minter. (The Making Of: Attack of The Mutant Camels 2009)
Drawing inspiration from a review of The Empire Strikes Back, Minter created an imaginative experience which pitted the player against shielded camels that could fire lasers. With an aesthetic borrowed from the Parker Brother's game, Minter's game could be seen as a parody but also as a retelling of the original game.
The biggest game in the industry that Star Wars has inspired is Tomohiro Nishikado's Space Invaders. Nishikado recalls that he was inspired by news of the American movie that was coming to Japan. He had felt that setting the game in space and having aliens as opponents would be less immoral than shooting human enemies.(The Creation of Space Invaders 2005)
Space Invaders is considered to one of the seminal arcade games which launched an industry. The influence on the gaming industry can still be felt today. It pushed video games culture into mainstream consciousness, it created the genre of games known as top-down shooters and it's conception could not have happened without a fairy tale sent in space known as Star Wars. Star Wars paved the way for space opera and aliens to be acceptable serious topics for movies and video games.(Edwards n.d)
Video games would not be a dynamic cultural force without the influence of Star Wars whether it's the need to emulate scenes from the movies or as a jumping platform for game development. The excitement of pretending to be a Jedi Knight as a child to engaging hyper-speed as an adult gamer, these moments could only have come from a world where Star Wars exists.
From the late 70's, Star Wars has been the one cultural force that has eclipsed other trends and inducted generations of people into its fold. Few can imagine life without its presence, even the uninterested are aware of its influence over their lives. If the force with you?
Bibliography
Booker W 1997, 'New Hope: The Postmodern Project of Star Wars' in S Redmond(ed), Liquid Metal The Science Fiction Film Reader, Wallflower Press, London, pp. 289 - 307.
Brown, J 2005, The impact of the Star Wars trilogy, viewed 10th March 2010, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/jan-june05/star_wars_5-19.html.
Caro, M 2005, The power of the dark side, viewed 10th March 2010, http://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-0505080390may08,0,5154795.story?page=1.
Ebert, R 1999, Great Movies: Star Wars, viewed 11th March 2010, http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19990628/REVIEWS08/906280301/1023.
Edwards B, n.d., Ten Things Everyone Should Know About Space Invaders Celebrating 30 Years of Shooting at Sushi, viewed 5th March 2010, http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=1&cId=3168373.
Emerson, J n.d, How Star Wars Shook the World, viewed 10th March 2010, http://movies.msn.com/movies/starwars/?GT1=7701&.
Jenkins H 2005, Quentin Tarantino's Star Wars?: Digital Cinema, Media Convergence, and Participatory Culture, viewed 12th March 2010, http://web.mit.edu/cms/People/henry3/starwars.html.
Kramer P 2001, 'It's Aimed At Kids - The Kid in Everybody: George Lucas, Star Wars and Children's Entertainment', in Y Trasker(ed), Action and Adventure Cinema, Routledge, Oxen, pp. 358 - 370.
Rickey, C 2005, Debate brews about cultural impact of 'Star Wars', viewed 10th March 2010, http://media.www.the-telescope.com/media/storage/paper749/news/2005/05/09/StarWars/Debate.Brews.About.Cultural.Impact.Of.star.Wars-953413.shtml.
The Creation of Space Invaders 2005, Edge Online, viewed 12th March 2010, http://www.edge-online.com/news/the-creation-space-invaders.
The Making Of:Attack of The Mutant Camels 2009, Edge Online, viewed 14th March 2010, http://www.edge-online.com/magazine/the-making-of-attack-of-the-mutant-camels.
Thomasson M 2006, Interview with David Rolfe, viewed 13th March 2010, http://www.gooddealgames.com/interviews/int_rolfe.html.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Text Adventure - Finding a torch
I'm still drafting the essay in my head and on the computer so here's where it stands at the moment. This is rough and rambling so nothing will make much sense, this post is another launching point.
Main point - Star Wars is cultural phenomena
Arguments:
It is cultural icon
Star Wars is one, it has pervaded the world like a virus. There are generations who have not seen the films and yet still have a vague understanding of scenarios, quotes and characters. The influences of this series can still be felt today.
Considered to be responsible the "Hollywood blockbuster effect"
Jaws and Star Wars: A New Hope are considered to be the movies that made the "summer movie blockbuster" a ritual. These type of film is associated with fast-paced action and a "thrill factor" that made repeat viewings enjoyable.
Set standard for movie franchises
Rule of threes? A double edged sword topic where hearsay is rampant. Given the number of film franchises and trilogies... who knows. Star Wars did prove that trilogies could be successful and marketable.
Has huge fan base
I will be mentioning this but not writing in great detail about how influential this is.
Use of computer generated graphics
In the 1970s, Star Wars presented an innovation in using computer generated special effects for the first film. Lucas' need for cutting edge visual effects spawned the genus for Industrial Light & Magic but also inspired geeks to do more with their computers.
Main point - Star Wars is cultural phenomena
Arguments:
It is cultural icon
Star Wars is one, it has pervaded the world like a virus. There are generations who have not seen the films and yet still have a vague understanding of scenarios, quotes and characters. The influences of this series can still be felt today.
Considered to be responsible the "Hollywood blockbuster effect"
Jaws and Star Wars: A New Hope are considered to be the movies that made the "summer movie blockbuster" a ritual. These type of film is associated with fast-paced action and a "thrill factor" that made repeat viewings enjoyable.
Set standard for movie franchises
Rule of threes? A double edged sword topic where hearsay is rampant. Given the number of film franchises and trilogies... who knows. Star Wars did prove that trilogies could be successful and marketable.
Has huge fan base
I will be mentioning this but not writing in great detail about how influential this is.
Use of computer generated graphics
In the 1970s, Star Wars presented an innovation in using computer generated special effects for the first film. Lucas' need for cutting edge visual effects spawned the genus for Industrial Light & Magic but also inspired geeks to do more with their computers.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Episode VI - What's my line?
Here's a bunch of quotes on the cultural impact of Star Wars.
Emerson, J n.d:
"For 22 years, between the release of the original "Star Wars" film ("Episode IV: A New Hope") and the release of the first prequel ("Episode I: The Phantom Menace"), the "Star Wars" phenomenon had an impact on American popular culture like nothing else before, or since."
"The "Star Wars" phenomenon wasn't really so much about "content," though. It was more about capturing zeitgeist-lightning (or hyperspace star fields) in a bottle."
Hunter, S in Brown, J 2009:
"And that moment, I think, it's just one of the most treasured moments I have in a life of movie going. I mean, it promised so much, it was so romantic, it was so revitalizing, it was so much a sense of reinventing the genre, that it's a very powerful emotional moment."
"Well, for better or for worse, it spawned a host of imitators. Not imitators in the sense that they -- I'm not talking about cheesy imitations or parodies, but what it did was it made -- it sort of made the summer movie blockbuster. "
Pollock, T in Caro, R 2005:
"These are coming into a vastly different cultural world," Pollock said. "That not only includes the `Star Wars' movies but so many other large, long trilogies, Asian movies, epic movies. . . . Did `Lord of the Rings' have the impact that `Star Wars' had? No -- not because it isn't as good. I loved it dearly. But it came into a world where `Star Wars' existed and so many other things too."
Bach, S in Rickey, C 2005:
"Star Wars' transformed Hollywood from a moviemaking town into a synergized marketing town,"
Shyamalan, MN in Rickey, C 2005:
"He created a religion," says Shyamalan. "No other filmmaker has ever done that."
Ealy, C 1999:
"...they're trying to understand the cultural significance of the Star Wars saga, and in turn, discover clues about how a story captures the imagination of a society. It's too easy to dismiss Star Wars as unworthy of critical attention, they say. It's quite another matter to attempt to understand its resonance."
Biskard, P in Ealy, C 1999:
"Star Wars legitimized comic-book movies, where the endings are happy. It took serial formulas, B-movie formulas of the 1930s, and used modern technology to pump up those formulas and reinvent them. I call it the gentrification of the B movie. . . . It paved the way for the blockbuster syndrome of the '80s."
Jenkins, H 2005:
"The rich narrative universe of the Star Wars saga provided countless images, icons, and artifacts that could be reproduced in a wide variety of forms and sold to diverse groups of consumers."
"The action figures provided this generation with some of their earliest avatars, encouraging them to assume the role of a Jedi Knight or an intergalactic bounty hunter, enabling them to physically manipulate the characters and props in order to construct their own stories."
Lucas, G in Sibley 2007:
The success of the Star Wars series would not be possible if it did not possess an abiding cultural resonance. After the release of The Empire Strikes Back in 1980, Mr. Lucas told an interviewer that "this is the kind of movie we need. There needs to be a kind of film that expresses the mythological realities of life -- the deeper psychological movements of the way we conduct our lives."
References:
Brown, J 2005, The impact of the Star Wars trilogy, viewed 10th March 2010,
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/jan-june05/star_wars_5-19.html .
Caro, M 2005, The power of the dark side, viewed 10th March 2010,
http://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-0505080390may08,0,5154795.story?page=1.
Ealy, C 1999, Understanding Star Wars, viewed 10th March 2010,
http://delrio.dcccd.edu/mhenry/UnderstandingStarWars.htm.
Emerson, J n.d, How Star Wars Shook the World, viewed 10th March 2010,
http://movies.msn.com/movies/starwars/?GT1=7701&.
Jenkins, H 2005, Quentin Tarantino's Star Wars?: Digital Cinema, Media Convergence, and Participatory Culture, viewed 12th March 2010,
http://web.mit.edu/cms/People/henry3/starwars.html.
Rickey, C 2005, Debate brews about cultural impact of 'Star Wars', viewed 10th March 2010,
http://media.www.the-telescope.com/media/storage/paper749/news/2005/05/09/StarWars/Debate.Brews.About.Cultural.Impact.Of.star.Wars-953413.shtml.
Sibley, R 2007, How George Lucas created a cultural force, viewed 17th March 2010,
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=c782db39-0f36-4ad1-bdf2-27a115ecb422
Emerson, J n.d:
"For 22 years, between the release of the original "Star Wars" film ("Episode IV: A New Hope") and the release of the first prequel ("Episode I: The Phantom Menace"), the "Star Wars" phenomenon had an impact on American popular culture like nothing else before, or since."
"The "Star Wars" phenomenon wasn't really so much about "content," though. It was more about capturing zeitgeist-lightning (or hyperspace star fields) in a bottle."
Hunter, S in Brown, J 2009:
"And that moment, I think, it's just one of the most treasured moments I have in a life of movie going. I mean, it promised so much, it was so romantic, it was so revitalizing, it was so much a sense of reinventing the genre, that it's a very powerful emotional moment."
"Well, for better or for worse, it spawned a host of imitators. Not imitators in the sense that they -- I'm not talking about cheesy imitations or parodies, but what it did was it made -- it sort of made the summer movie blockbuster. "
Pollock, T in Caro, R 2005:
"These are coming into a vastly different cultural world," Pollock said. "That not only includes the `Star Wars' movies but so many other large, long trilogies, Asian movies, epic movies. . . . Did `Lord of the Rings' have the impact that `Star Wars' had? No -- not because it isn't as good. I loved it dearly. But it came into a world where `Star Wars' existed and so many other things too."
Bach, S in Rickey, C 2005:
"Star Wars' transformed Hollywood from a moviemaking town into a synergized marketing town,"
Shyamalan, MN in Rickey, C 2005:
"He created a religion," says Shyamalan. "No other filmmaker has ever done that."
Ealy, C 1999:
"...they're trying to understand the cultural significance of the Star Wars saga, and in turn, discover clues about how a story captures the imagination of a society. It's too easy to dismiss Star Wars as unworthy of critical attention, they say. It's quite another matter to attempt to understand its resonance."
Biskard, P in Ealy, C 1999:
"Star Wars legitimized comic-book movies, where the endings are happy. It took serial formulas, B-movie formulas of the 1930s, and used modern technology to pump up those formulas and reinvent them. I call it the gentrification of the B movie. . . . It paved the way for the blockbuster syndrome of the '80s."
Jenkins, H 2005:
"The rich narrative universe of the Star Wars saga provided countless images, icons, and artifacts that could be reproduced in a wide variety of forms and sold to diverse groups of consumers."
"The action figures provided this generation with some of their earliest avatars, encouraging them to assume the role of a Jedi Knight or an intergalactic bounty hunter, enabling them to physically manipulate the characters and props in order to construct their own stories."
Lucas, G in Sibley 2007:
The success of the Star Wars series would not be possible if it did not possess an abiding cultural resonance. After the release of The Empire Strikes Back in 1980, Mr. Lucas told an interviewer that "this is the kind of movie we need. There needs to be a kind of film that expresses the mythological realities of life -- the deeper psychological movements of the way we conduct our lives."
References:
Brown, J 2005, The impact of the Star Wars trilogy, viewed 10th March 2010,
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/jan-june05/star_wars_5-19.html .
Caro, M 2005, The power of the dark side, viewed 10th March 2010,
http://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-0505080390may08,0,5154795.story?page=1.
Ealy, C 1999, Understanding Star Wars, viewed 10th March 2010,
http://delrio.dcccd.edu/mhenry/UnderstandingStarWars.htm.
Emerson, J n.d, How Star Wars Shook the World, viewed 10th March 2010,
http://movies.msn.com/movies/starwars/?GT1=7701&.
Jenkins, H 2005, Quentin Tarantino's Star Wars?: Digital Cinema, Media Convergence, and Participatory Culture, viewed 12th March 2010,
http://web.mit.edu/cms/People/henry3/starwars.html.
Rickey, C 2005, Debate brews about cultural impact of 'Star Wars', viewed 10th March 2010,
http://media.www.the-telescope.com/media/storage/paper749/news/2005/05/09/StarWars/Debate.Brews.About.Cultural.Impact.Of.star.Wars-953413.shtml.
Sibley, R 2007, How George Lucas created a cultural force, viewed 17th March 2010,
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=c782db39-0f36-4ad1-bdf2-27a115ecb422
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Text Adventure - You wake up...
I'm planning the flow of the essay while still trying to research. Don't do it that way, it is fraught with perils and distractions.
My initial plan for the essay was:
Intro:
Map out where essay is headed and briefly state what each segment is about.
Star Wars and Video Games:
Write about which games have claimed direct influence from Star Wars and which could have had some influence from the work. I would also look at the Star Wars gaming franchise as well.
Archetypes and the Quest:
This section would look at the archetypes in Lucas' work and compare and contrast it with video games.
The Blockbuster Effect:
Since the release of Episode IV, Star Wars is considered to be the model for movie franchise. Here I would write about how the blockbuster influenced the video game industry.
Conclusion:
Rinse and repeat cycle, it's a summary of all the points on why Star Wars and Lucas are influential to the video game industry.
The main problem with this outline is that there are too many points to cover in 800 words. I'm thinking of compressing into 2 sections, Video Games and The Blockbuster Effect seem the easiest in terms of substantial evidence and access.
I'd love to do Archetypes and the Quest but I think all the evidence would be circumstantial at best. It's a little fantastic to try and prove that the Master Sword is indeed the Zelda analog of a lightsaber.
My initial plan for the essay was:
Intro:
Map out where essay is headed and briefly state what each segment is about.
Star Wars and Video Games:
Write about which games have claimed direct influence from Star Wars and which could have had some influence from the work. I would also look at the Star Wars gaming franchise as well.
Archetypes and the Quest:
This section would look at the archetypes in Lucas' work and compare and contrast it with video games.
The Blockbuster Effect:
Since the release of Episode IV, Star Wars is considered to be the model for movie franchise. Here I would write about how the blockbuster influenced the video game industry.
Conclusion:
Rinse and repeat cycle, it's a summary of all the points on why Star Wars and Lucas are influential to the video game industry.
The main problem with this outline is that there are too many points to cover in 800 words. I'm thinking of compressing into 2 sections, Video Games and The Blockbuster Effect seem the easiest in terms of substantial evidence and access.
I'd love to do Archetypes and the Quest but I think all the evidence would be circumstantial at best. It's a little fantastic to try and prove that the Master Sword is indeed the Zelda analog of a lightsaber.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Episode V - Dominating the Pixels
Let's take a look at the published Star Wars gaming commodities. Currently there are approximately 138 games with the brand name.
Starting from the 1982 Atari 2600's The Empire Strikes Back, the Empire has spread from console to console, PC and even mobile phones. Where does the Star Wars and video gaming relationship begin? Let's start at the beginning and what came before.
This is not a definitive list, it is a retrospective of games that have similar themes/style to Star Wars.
1960s
1970s
Above: Biggs in the X-Wing cockpit
Below: Cover art for the video game Epic, look familiar?
Left: Cover art for Star Fire
Middle and Right: Ships from the Star Wars movies
During the early 80's, a toy company called Parker Brothers convinced Lucasfilms to let them produce games based on Star Wars for any platform. Quickly getting together a small team of operatives, the team set out to reverse engineer the Atari VCS and produce the first Star Wars game.
In general, the Atari[VCS] was so limited that we weren't so grandiose to say: 'Oh, we're going to recreate the experience of the move here'. It was clearly going to be a limited experience, something at best would remind you of the movie, evoke a little bit of the emotion and most importantly be a fun game to play. (Bradford, B in Edge, 2009)
Fun doesn't describe the results, over a million copies were sold and Parker Brothers would go on to make three more titled games. The Empire Strikes Back would prepare the world for the mass of Star Wars games that would arrive during the 80s and resurge in the new millennia.
One of the strangest video games to claim influence from Star Wars is Jeff Minter's Attack of the Mutant Camels.
Top: The Empire Strikes Back
Below: Attack of the Mutant Camels
“Normal camels aren’t that big, and so if they weren’t to be robot camels then they must be mutant camels. And thus was born a very silly game sequence indeed.” (Minter, J in Edge 2009)
Drawing inspiration from a review of the Parker Brothers' game, Minter created an imaginative experience which pitted the player against shielded camels that could fire lasers. With an aesthetic borrowed from The Empire Strikes Back, Minter's game could be seen as a parody but also as a retelling of the original game. The strangeness continued when Minter produced a sequel where the player assumes the role of a mutant camel flying its captors and evading the space ship from the original game.
Henry Jenkins(2005) writes that creative rewriting of science fiction, movies and television are now considered acceptable in main stream culture. With this in mind, the creation of Star Fire is not a subject of copyright infringement but a work of appreciation.
The industry increasingly refers to Star Trek or Star Wars as "franchises," using a term that makes clear the commercial stakes in these transactions. This new "franchise" system actively encourages viewers to pursue their interests in media content across various transmission channels, to be alert to the potential for new experiences offered by these various tie-ins.(Jenkins, H 2005)
When nascent technologies become more readily available, publishers and promoters are able to provide extensions of popular narrative to its fans. (Jenkins, H 2005) Star Fire places the player in a virtual cockpit of a spaceship which is modelled heavily off the x-wing fighters from Star Wars. Star Wars as a cultural phenomena seems to incite a desire to recreate the experiences in the movies.
In 1977, the movie "Star Wars" came out, and Ted(Michon) thought it was the best movie ever, and he wanted to develop a game in this genre... Ted and his wife prepared the graphics, which had a "Star Wars" look to them. He figured that either we would license the rights or we would make whatever changes were necessary to avoid legal infringements... So the succinct answer to your question is that Exidy had very little input into the game play, and Ted was responsible for the Star Wars look. (Rolfe, D in Good Deal Games 2006)
From this, one could argue that several of the x number of space games have been attempts to emulate the experience of Luke Skywalker and Rebel Army to reclaim their piece of the universe from the hand of the evil Empire.
References:
Backwards Compatible - Star Wars 2008, Good Game, ABC1, 28 September 2008.
Edge Magazine 2009, The Making Of:Attack of The Mutant Camels
http://www.edge-online.com/magazine/the-making-of-attack-of-the-mutant-camels.
Edge Magazine 2009, 'The Making Of... Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back', Edge Magazine, col 209, pp. 112 - 115.
Gametrailers.com 2008, The Star Wars Retrospective Episode I, viewed 13th March 2010, http://www.gametrailers.com/video/episode-i-star-wars/31944.
Good Deal Games 2006, Interview with David Rolfe
http://www.gooddealgames.com/interviews/int_rolfe.html.
Jenkins, H 2005, Quentin Tarantino's Star Wars?: Digital Cinema, Media Convergence, and Participatory Culture, viewed 12th March 2010,
http://web.mit.edu/cms/People/henry3/starwars.html.
'History of Video Games', Wikipedia, viewed 5th March 2010,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_video_games.
Starting from the 1982 Atari 2600's The Empire Strikes Back, the Empire has spread from console to console, PC and even mobile phones. Where does the Star Wars and video gaming relationship begin? Let's start at the beginning and what came before.
This is not a definitive list, it is a retrospective of games that have similar themes/style to Star Wars.
1960s
- Spacewar!: Pitted two spaceships against each other while trying to combat the gravity well of a star.
- Space Travel: A player operated ship would attempt to land on various planets and other space bodies.
- Lunar Lander: A early text based game that also went under the names of Rocket, Lunar, LEM and Apollo.
1970s
- Computer Space: Considered one of the world's first commercial coin-operated machine, this had you avoiding and returning fire from a pair of flying saucers.
- Star Trek: A text game adventure where the player took command of the Enterprise and destroyed Klingon ships.
- Space Attack & Space Battle: Due to a licensing hitch, these Battlestar Galactica games are a tiny dot in the Galactica franchise.
- Space Invaders: Defend the world from aliens in one of the world's popular game.
- Asteroids: Clear space of asteroids and pesky aliens in this famous game.
- Star Fire: Heavily inspired from Star Wars, this game came with innovations like lock on, sit-down cock pit and allowed the player to enter their initials in the high score.
- Star Raiders: A game that inspired the X-Wing series of the Star Wars franchise, it featured FP view in '3D' space and hyper space travelling.
Above: Biggs in the X-Wing cockpit
Below: Cover art for the video game Epic, look familiar?
Left: Cover art for Star Fire
Middle and Right: Ships from the Star Wars movies
During the early 80's, a toy company called Parker Brothers convinced Lucasfilms to let them produce games based on Star Wars for any platform. Quickly getting together a small team of operatives, the team set out to reverse engineer the Atari VCS and produce the first Star Wars game.
In general, the Atari[VCS] was so limited that we weren't so grandiose to say: 'Oh, we're going to recreate the experience of the move here'. It was clearly going to be a limited experience, something at best would remind you of the movie, evoke a little bit of the emotion and most importantly be a fun game to play. (Bradford, B in Edge, 2009)
Fun doesn't describe the results, over a million copies were sold and Parker Brothers would go on to make three more titled games. The Empire Strikes Back would prepare the world for the mass of Star Wars games that would arrive during the 80s and resurge in the new millennia.
One of the strangest video games to claim influence from Star Wars is Jeff Minter's Attack of the Mutant Camels.
Top: The Empire Strikes Back
Below: Attack of the Mutant Camels
“Normal camels aren’t that big, and so if they weren’t to be robot camels then they must be mutant camels. And thus was born a very silly game sequence indeed.” (Minter, J in Edge 2009)
Drawing inspiration from a review of the Parker Brothers' game, Minter created an imaginative experience which pitted the player against shielded camels that could fire lasers. With an aesthetic borrowed from The Empire Strikes Back, Minter's game could be seen as a parody but also as a retelling of the original game. The strangeness continued when Minter produced a sequel where the player assumes the role of a mutant camel flying its captors and evading the space ship from the original game.
Henry Jenkins(2005) writes that creative rewriting of science fiction, movies and television are now considered acceptable in main stream culture. With this in mind, the creation of Star Fire is not a subject of copyright infringement but a work of appreciation.
The industry increasingly refers to Star Trek or Star Wars as "franchises," using a term that makes clear the commercial stakes in these transactions. This new "franchise" system actively encourages viewers to pursue their interests in media content across various transmission channels, to be alert to the potential for new experiences offered by these various tie-ins.(Jenkins, H 2005)
When nascent technologies become more readily available, publishers and promoters are able to provide extensions of popular narrative to its fans. (Jenkins, H 2005) Star Fire places the player in a virtual cockpit of a spaceship which is modelled heavily off the x-wing fighters from Star Wars. Star Wars as a cultural phenomena seems to incite a desire to recreate the experiences in the movies.
In 1977, the movie "Star Wars" came out, and Ted(Michon) thought it was the best movie ever, and he wanted to develop a game in this genre... Ted and his wife prepared the graphics, which had a "Star Wars" look to them. He figured that either we would license the rights or we would make whatever changes were necessary to avoid legal infringements... So the succinct answer to your question is that Exidy had very little input into the game play, and Ted was responsible for the Star Wars look. (Rolfe, D in Good Deal Games 2006)
From this, one could argue that several of the x number of space games have been attempts to emulate the experience of Luke Skywalker and Rebel Army to reclaim their piece of the universe from the hand of the evil Empire.
References:
Backwards Compatible - Star Wars 2008, Good Game, ABC1, 28 September 2008.
Edge Magazine 2009, The Making Of:Attack of The Mutant Camels
http://www.edge-online.com/magazine/the-making-of-attack-of-the-mutant-camels.
Edge Magazine 2009, 'The Making Of... Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back', Edge Magazine, col 209, pp. 112 - 115.
Gametrailers.com 2008, The Star Wars Retrospective Episode I, viewed 13th March 2010, http://www.gametrailers.com/video/episode-i-star-wars/31944.
Good Deal Games 2006, Interview with David Rolfe
http://www.gooddealgames.com/interviews/int_rolfe.html.
Jenkins, H 2005, Quentin Tarantino's Star Wars?: Digital Cinema, Media Convergence, and Participatory Culture, viewed 12th March 2010,
http://web.mit.edu/cms/People/henry3/starwars.html.
'History of Video Games', Wikipedia, viewed 5th March 2010,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_video_games.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Episode IV - Why Star Wars?
Who's or what is the most influential person/item in modern gaming? Out of a list of 17 possible entries, it's boiled down to writing about George Lucas and Star Wars. How does a space opera from the 70's lead to the development of contemporary games? It's a good question, I hope I can find the answer as I look into this cultural phenomena.
[I will be adding more to this as the days go by. This is a very rough bouncing board where thoughts don't connect yet.]
General Points about Star Wars:
Star Wars is BIG business but sales figures and graphs don't give us a clear picture as to why it is such a cultural icon, much less how it's influenced modern gaming. Much of the information about Star Wars is either Star Wars trivia (facts from the fictional universe) or heavily opinionated discussion on a number of topics, cultural, religious, cinematic or economic.
What do we know about Star Wars and video gaming? During the creation and development of Space Invaders, creator Tomohiro Nishikado was having trouble coming up with a design that would work with the limitations of the technology.
Then I heard about a movie called Star Wars released in the U.S. which was coming to Japan next year, so I came up with a game based in space which had space aliens as targets.(Nishikado in Edge, 2005)
Fast forward some years and to some people, it is evident that the Force did have a role to play in the development of video games.
"`Star Wars' didn't create video games but it totally influenced them," says Peer Schneider, senior publisher of IGN.com, a Web site for video gamers. "The Death Star trench run in the original `Star Wars' is the archetypal video game climax: Fire a missile, hit a weak spot and everything gets destroyed."(Rickey, C, 2005)
Ironically this would later become the plot of a Star Wars arcade game, suggesting that there are some facets of pop culture do come full circle.
References:
Edge 2005,The Creation of Space Invaders, viewed 12th March 2010, http://www.edge-online.com/news/the-creation-space-invaders.
Edwards, B, n.d., Ten Things Everyone Should Know About Space Invaders Celebrating 30 Years of Shooting at Sushi., viewed 5th March 2010,
http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=1&cId=3168373.
Ebert, R 1999, Great Movies: Star Wars, viewed 11th March 2010,
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19990628/REVIEWS08/906280301/1023.
Rickey, C 2005, Debate brews about cultural impact of 'Star Wars', viewed 10th March 2010,
http://media.www.the-telescope.com/media/storage/paper749/news/2005/05/09/StarWars/Debate.Brews.About.Cultural.Impact.Of.star.Wars-953413.shtml.
'Space Invaders' 2010, Wikipedia, viewed 5th March 2010,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Invaders.
'Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, 2010, Wikipedia, viewed 10th March 2010,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Episode_IV:_A_New_Hope.
Stuff to be analysed:
- Edge Magazine 2006, A Short History of LucasArts
http://www.edge-online.com/features/a-short-history-lucasarts
- Jenkins, H 2005, Quentin Tarantino's Star Wars?:
Digital Cinema, Media Convergence, and Participatory Culture
http://web.mit.edu/cms/People/henry3/starwars.html
[I will be adding more to this as the days go by. This is a very rough bouncing board where thoughts don't connect yet.]
General Points about Star Wars:
- It is considered a cultural unifier
- Has had a significant impact on American pop culture
- Scenes, characters and quotes are part of popular lexicon (lingo)
- Early example of film pastiche (combination of genre)
- Introduced advances in computer generated special effects
- Generated model for movie trilogies and franchises
- Help establish big budget blockbuster industry
Star Wars is BIG business but sales figures and graphs don't give us a clear picture as to why it is such a cultural icon, much less how it's influenced modern gaming. Much of the information about Star Wars is either Star Wars trivia (facts from the fictional universe) or heavily opinionated discussion on a number of topics, cultural, religious, cinematic or economic.
What do we know about Star Wars and video gaming? During the creation and development of Space Invaders, creator Tomohiro Nishikado was having trouble coming up with a design that would work with the limitations of the technology.
Then I heard about a movie called Star Wars released in the U.S. which was coming to Japan next year, so I came up with a game based in space which had space aliens as targets.(Nishikado in Edge, 2005)
Fast forward some years and to some people, it is evident that the Force did have a role to play in the development of video games.
"`Star Wars' didn't create video games but it totally influenced them," says Peer Schneider, senior publisher of IGN.com, a Web site for video gamers. "The Death Star trench run in the original `Star Wars' is the archetypal video game climax: Fire a missile, hit a weak spot and everything gets destroyed."(Rickey, C, 2005)
Ironically this would later become the plot of a Star Wars arcade game, suggesting that there are some facets of pop culture do come full circle.
References:
Edge 2005,The Creation of Space Invaders, viewed 12th March 2010, http://www.edge-online.com/news/the-creation-space-invaders.
Edwards, B, n.d., Ten Things Everyone Should Know About Space Invaders Celebrating 30 Years of Shooting at Sushi., viewed 5th March 2010,
http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=1&cId=3168373.
Ebert, R 1999, Great Movies: Star Wars, viewed 11th March 2010,
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19990628/REVIEWS08/906280301/1023.
Rickey, C 2005, Debate brews about cultural impact of 'Star Wars', viewed 10th March 2010,
http://media.www.the-telescope.com/media/storage/paper749/news/2005/05/09/StarWars/Debate.Brews.About.Cultural.Impact.Of.star.Wars-953413.shtml.
'Space Invaders' 2010, Wikipedia, viewed 5th March 2010,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Invaders.
'Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, 2010, Wikipedia, viewed 10th March 2010,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Episode_IV:_A_New_Hope.
Stuff to be analysed:
- Edge Magazine 2006, A Short History of LucasArts
http://www.edge-online.com/features/a-short-history-lucasarts
- Jenkins, H 2005, Quentin Tarantino's Star Wars?:
Digital Cinema, Media Convergence, and Participatory Culture
http://web.mit.edu/cms/People/henry3/starwars.html
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