{"id":1112,"date":"2012-11-26T16:43:32","date_gmt":"2012-11-26T23:43:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/lled368\/?p=1112"},"modified":"2012-11-26T17:06:35","modified_gmt":"2012-11-27T00:06:35","slug":"1112","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/lled368\/2012\/11\/26\/1112\/","title":{"rendered":"Video games, hypersurface, and the greatest freak out ever"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last year in a seminar class on contemporary theatre I wrote a paper comparing Sarah Kane\u2019s postdramatic play 4:48 Psychosis <\/em>to the theoretical ideas of an avatar\/internet theatre. What I was particularly interested in was the idea of how we as living, breathing human beings can become consumed by the virtual world of video games. Personally I\u2019ve always had a love for The Sims franchise, while other people are committed to games such as World of Warcraft, or any RPG games. In my paper I asked myself whether it would be possible for there to be an \u2018avatar theatre\u2019 where as audience members we can become so invested in a virtual theatre performance that we physically react to the happenings of the virtual world in the same way that we do in the living theatre.<\/p>\n

In Gabriella Giannachi\u2019s book Virtual Theatres <\/em>she calls the new virtual stage a<\/p>\n

\u2018hypersurface\u2019:<\/p>\n

The hypersurface is where the real and the virtual meet each other. It is materiality and textuality, real and representation. It is also the site of virtual performance. Through hypersurface, the viewer can enter the work of art, be part of it, as well as interact with it. (Giannachi, 95)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As I was reviewing this paper the above quote stood out to my for this course in particular. Multiliteracies seem to allow us to \u2018enter the works of art\u2019, if we consider graphic novels, e-literature, and now video games\u2026 these multimodal \u2018hypersurfaces\u2019 allow us to enter an alternate dimension of learning. Video games allow us an application of strategy, inquiry, and interactive modes of multidimensional learning. If I think back to some of the video games I\u2019ve played in my many years I could have clocked enough hours to master ad new skill, like playing the piano. But I also think back to games like Sim City where you have to think like an urban developer as you create a sustainable city with all the proper amenities such as schools, police departments, and shopping centers. I also think back with joyous memories to games like \u201cMath Circus\u201d, or the wide range of Magic School Bus games. Since these video games offered an integration of facts, applied skills, and entertainment I think back to those video games happy with what I learned.<\/p>\n

Since I personally am no technical wiz and could not put together a video game specific to my own lessons I wonder if anyone knows of any games that already exist which would help assist popular texts. I remember seeing a trailer for a game about Dante as he travels though hell\u2026 but it was very convoluted and based around other topics we discussed earlier in the course; the character of Beatrice for example was over sexualized and the goal of the game, to save her\u2026 I believe that all literary merit went straight out the window and was traded for how gory can the monsters in hell be. I think that video games would make an interesting example for students to relate plots of stories too, however. Huck Finn? Brotherly companionship? Mario and Luigi?<\/p>\n

Also, if you haven\u2019t seen this YouTube video it was one of my points of inspiration about ways in which we have become consumed by the online world and how visceral our feelings may be. The kid in the video had his World of Warcraft account deleted by his mother\u2026 this is his reaction:
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