Links:
1. OGN.com, http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/704/704806p1.html
2. Wikipedia, http://wikipedia.org/
3. InformIT, http://www.informit.com/
4. Contemporary aesthetics, http://www.contempaesthetics.org/
5. Department of Computer database, http://www.cs.unc.edu/
6. Telepresence, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telepresence

Key quotes:
1. “The first-person shooter is a sub-genre of shooter games. Many other shooter genres, such as on-rails shooters, are viewed from a first-person perspective, while flight simulators frequently involve the use of weapons; however, these are not considered FPSs. In the early 1990s, the term came to define a more specific type of game with a first-person view, where the main character's gun and part of his/her hand is shown, almost always centered around the act of aiming and shooting handheld weapons, usually with limited ammunition.” The explanation of first-person shooter genre, form wikipedia, retrieved from, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-person_shooter
2. “Virtual reality (VR) is a technology which allows a user to interact with a computer-simulated environment, be it a real or imagined one. Most current virtual reality environments are primarily visual experiences, displayed either on a computer screen or through special stereoscopic displays, but some simulations include additional sensory information, such as sound through speakers or headphones.” The definitation of virtual reality, form wikipedia, retrieved from, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_reality
3. Event
The Event quests are an online-only feature. Every week, a new Event quest is available to hunters of any rank. These quests vary in style and difficulty. Some of the rarer weapons can be made only through Event quest rewards (such as the GMR "Chrome Heart," a rare great sword). Event quests are not vital to a hunter's success in the game, but are a useful way to gain experience and to obtain some rare items. Contract fees and time limits vary. The event quest is unique in that its need for caution is higher than any other quest type. Not one death is allowed during event quests, as one player death concludes the quest in failure.
All other quests allow two deaths, but the third death marks the failure of the quest. Regardless which player actually dies, three deaths will still fail the quest. An item that is particularly useful in avoiding player death is the "farcaster" which covers the player in a veil of smoke before transporting the player safely to the base camp, where no harm can be done to the player.
One chactactistic of video game, , form wikipedia, retrieved from, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_hunter


4. “Role-playing games are a form of interactive and collaborative storytelling. Like novels or films, role-playing games appeal because they engage the imagination. Interactivity is the crucial difference between role-playing games and traditional fiction. Whereas a viewer of a television show is a passive observer, a player at a role-playing game makes choices that affect the story. Such role-playing games extend an older tradition of storytelling games where a small party of friends collaborate to create a story.” Wikipedia, 2007, why RPG so appealing, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_game

5. “For developers, to improve the games of the future, they must understand the right and wrong of the present, and seek lessons from the past. The videogame medium isn't an island unto itself. In fact, in a way, it's a symbiotic creature that thrives on other entertainment successes; it's also a shiny junkyard of rehashed, reshaped, and re-invented ideas re-forged for a powerful new medium still going through growing pains.” Douglass C. Perry, May 17, 2006 ,
“The Influence of Literature and Myth in Videogames”, IGN.com, http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/704/704806p1.html

A bibliography
1. “First-person shooter”, Wikipedia, 23 Oct, 2007, retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-person_shooter

2. “The first of Video game”, Brookhaven History, 2007, retrieved from, http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/history/higinbotham.asp

3. “A history of home video game consoles”, InformIT, 2007, retrieved from, http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=378141&seqNum=1

4. Smuts, Aaron (2005). Are Video Games Art?., Contemporary aesthetics, retrieved from http://www.contempaesthetics.org/newvolume/pages/article.php?articleID=299
5. Virtual Reality Medical Centre, 2007, retrieved from http://www.vrphobia.com/

6. Brooks Jr., F. P. (1999)., “What’s real about virtual reality”, IEEE Computer Graphics And Applications, retrieved from, http://www.cs.unc.edu/~brooks/WhatsReal.pdf
7. “Bioshock”, Wikipedia, 2007, retrieved from, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BioShock

8. “Role playing game”, Wikipedia, 2007, retrieved from, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_game

9. “The Attacks on Role-Playing Gameshttp”, http://www.rpgstudies.net/cardwell/attacks.html

10. “Definition of Role-playing game” , Labor Law Talk Dictionary, Retrieved on 14 Sept, 2007, http://dictionary.laborlawtalk.com/Role-playing_game

Research questions:

1. How/ why the game make player substitute in psychological aspect?

2. Those games can also be connected with other player via computer, what the different with online-game?

3. Why those game tends to be virtual reality, like wii, if player play the tennis game, we need to move like playing real tennis but not only button, what is the game company purposed?

4. How virtual reality influence human lives, good or bad?

5. How they affect to human perspective/behavior/future?

Why this topic particularly interests me?

I discover that some of the digital games are highly interactive, and even attempt to give players a sense of being in a virtual reality.

First, most of the games have narrative story structure, for example, one of the game named “Bioshock”, once you start to open the game, it started a Computer Graphics trailer (CG) to tell game’s story, in 80’s, main character fall into the undersea city that most citizens have become monsters. After the trailer, player have got the basic concepts of “the world”, than, the game started to allow players taking control the character movement through the buttons.

Indeed, I found interacting that this kind of Computer Graphics fragment (CG) not only appear in the beginning and ending, but throughout the whole game while players arrived to certain place or under certain condition; sometimes the decision making of player would lead to an alterative plot or ending. For example, under certain condition, player will meet “little sister”, the game will ask a question about kill her of not which actually is a key condition to alter the ending.

In this case, players are not only empower to control the persona action, but, in certain extended, game allows player make decision to alter the story, like reality.

On the other hands, bioshock is a first-person shooter video game which we don’t see the main character but only his hands (and players can change the tools by buttons), it invites players engage to the game world. Indeed, very shoots, attack action are similar as act as reality; and this kind of characteristics are highly substitution with player.

Or, some of the games like “Mosterhunter”, player can choose the appearance of the persona, sexes, race, hair style, etc. Indeed, I think it helps players to create virtual identity, which help player to substitute in the game world.

Therefore, in certain extends, those digital games make player highly substitution in the game identity, which in a higher degree than film and book, because player can choose, can control and interact with the narrative. This is a totally different experience to read a story.

So, I wanted to explore more about through this blog.