MAS110 Week 8 Tutorial Activity

Video games are an experiential medium which provide its players with a sense of agency. This is a major factor in differentiating the medium from films, which rely on an objective point of view. Our flowchart of "Tomorrow, When the War Began" (2010) displays this characteristic of video games, emphasized by the use of the first-person perspective. This perspective shapes the player's perception of the game space, allowing them to "act within the game as an extension of themselves." (Taylor, 2002) This also creates realism within the game, giving the player an experience left unfulfilled by films and movies. The first person perspective allows the player to become involved within the world of the game, thus underlining its "interactivity" and "participatory" nature. (Taylor, 2002). By selecting the option of the first person perspective, we capitalize on the experiential nature of video games, providing the player a sense of achievement at the completion of challenges. The feedback we have been given suggests emphasizing the first-person perspective component of the video game by adding more decisions determining the progress of the character.

Source: 

Taylor, L (2002). Perspective, Point-of-View, and Immersion. University of Florida, Florida. pp. 1-31.

Available from: <http://www.laurientaylor.org/research/taylor_l.pdf> (Accessed 30th April 2012).