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Understanding entertainment: story and gameplay are one

Published: 01 January 2005 Publication History

Abstract

Stories and games, which historically have been considered radically different experiences with different principles of construction, actually have many underlying commonalities. Although we view stories as passive and linear, and games as active and nonlinear, during both types of experience, a participant (or guest) is mentally active, and having a linear experience. The way to gauge the quality of the guest's experience is through a system of interest curves, which measure interest over time, and interest is shown to be made of three components: inherent interest, poetry of presentation, and psychological proximity. Finally, this paper introduces the idea of indirect control, which is a method of secretly controlling the desires of a guest, allowing a designer to imbue a non-linear interactive experience with structures typically used in traditional storytelling.

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    Published In

    cover image Computers in Entertainment
    Computers in Entertainment   Volume 3, Issue 1
    Theoretical and Practical Computer Applications in Entertainment
    Jan-March 2005
    93 pages
    EISSN:1544-3574
    DOI:10.1145/1057270
    Issue’s Table of Contents

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    Association for Computing Machinery

    New York, NY, United States

    Publication History

    Published: 01 January 2005
    Published in CIE Volume 3, Issue 1

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    Author Tags

    1. entertainment
    2. gameplay
    3. games
    4. interactivity
    5. software
    6. story

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    • (2023)Game Fun Prediction Based on Frequency Domain Physiological Signals: Observational StudySensors10.3390/s2316705123:16(7051)Online publication date: 9-Aug-2023
    • (2022)Examining theory use in design research on fantasy playInternational Journal of Child-Computer Interaction10.1016/j.ijcci.2021.10040032:COnline publication date: 1-Jun-2022
    • (2021)Heritage Thinking. Approaching Communities with Communication in the Venice CountrysideKnowledgescape Insights on Public Humanities10.30687/978-88-6969-542-1/007Online publication date: 6-Sep-2021
    • (2019)Exploring the Subtleties of Agency and Indirect Control in Digital Learning GamesProceedings of the 9th International Conference on Learning Analytics & Knowledge10.1145/3303772.3303797(121-129)Online publication date: 4-Mar-2019
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    • (2016)Using simulation games for teaching and learning discrete-event simulationProceedings of the 2016 Winter Simulation Conference10.5555/3042094.3042513(3375-3384)Online publication date: 11-Dec-2016
    • (2016)Rhythm and CuesProject Management10.4018/978-1-5225-0196-1.ch025(514-531)Online publication date: 2016
    • (2016)Interactive Narrative design for geolocated experiencesProceedings of the XVII International Conference on Human Computer Interaction10.1145/2998626.2998666(1-2)Online publication date: 13-Sep-2016
    • (2016)Using simulation games for teaching and learning discrete-event simulation2016 Winter Simulation Conference (WSC)10.1109/WSC.2016.7822368(3375-3384)Online publication date: Dec-2016
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