Analyze Games Too

New media has added so much to the power of the narrative. Films added visual, then audio aspects. Television made the viewer become even more involved, adding the experience of the narrative to the weekly agenda of its viewers. Stories were able to be shared in ways never done before, where imagination was removed. The picture with the message, the sound of it too, were made one truth. Interpretation was removed in all but the actions of the characters.

However, the most influential media, I believe, is the video game, because it is by far the least limited and the most interactive. Video games can put the player (the receiver of the media and its messages) in any situation, no matter how impossible. Games take place in the future the past, the present, fictional places, real places, anywhere you could imagine. They create situations that feel real, no matter how impossible, and make the player commit the actions of the protagonists. This extra level of interactivity makes the message so much more powerful. The receiver is discovering the message on their own, through their own actions. This is especially true in games that give choices that impact the narrative. The player chooses which reality to accept.

Some games offer real-time communication as well, another aspect that is much harder to accomplish with other media. With films and television there is almost always a slight delay when discussing with the rest of the world, as tweets or statuses have to be composed and sent. Gaming, however, offers in-game live chatting during online multiplayer games. This allows people from all over to react to and interpret the messages they receive live, without really putting much thought into the delivery. It is the rawest form of analysis.

If we accept and discuss film and television as deep-meaning platforms for message sending, video games must be discussed as well. They are a growing influence in popular culture, and cannot be ignored.

People Watching

People watching is an interesting (albeit slightly creepy) way to pass the time. Of course, the best places to people watch are theme parks and other touristy locations because they put the subjects of your gaze in new and uncertain circumstances. They often stop, equally excited and panicked.

"Where are we going?" one will always ask.

"To [attraction here]," another will always reply. "It's this way."

You sit and chuckle softly on your bench because you know good and well that that particular point of interest is in the other direction, and you look forward to watching them pass again, this time bickering wildly.

"Why didn't you read the map?" one will always ask.

"I did, I just got confused!" another will always reply. "The print is small."

"It's not hard to read a map! Pay attention!" the first will most certainly chide back, regretting the family vacation location of choice.


We all people watch. It typically happens without our even realizing it, but it happens. We collect data on one another, even as complete strangers. You can tell a lot about a person by just watching them for a few seconds of their lives; you learn their race, gender, height and weight, sometimes their name or where they're from, other times what their plans are, or who they're with. We process all this without even realizing it, taking it as observations instead of information.

People Watching: Natural in daily life, terrifying on paper.

I May Never Trust Again

Sometimes one reads something and comprehends it, but wants to experience the information from a different angle or a different medium. Often a piece of literature is best understood when the visual text is paired with audio or discussion. This is not the case for Marshall McLuhan's The Medium is the Massage.

I read the first third of the book, and I comprehended the ideas McLuhan was presenting, at least on a basic level, but I will admit that it left me feeling slightly bewildered and somehow as if I were floating. So to try and help myself get a grasp on what I read, I searched YouTube for an audio version of the text. I was presented with the "audio book" linked below.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8YYM_7KUpw


I may never trust again.

It was as if I had opened a window to the mind of a schizophrenic. I understand that the purpose of such a random jumbling of sounds and dialogue and music was purposefully assembled to re-create the feelings the text brings, but it did nothing to aid my understanding. If anything, it left me more confused than I had been before.

Perhaps a quick re-reading of the material will be of more use.