Week 5 - Dynamics of Mobile Gaming

            The practice of mobile gaming seem to be a particularly difficult subject to frame and situate because it itself is meant to be very flexible. However, it is possible to read this particular form of gaming through the framework presented by Ito in Mobilizing the Imagination in Everyday Play to understand part of it through the concept of hypersocialization―a form of socialization mediated by a common media-based knowledge economy.

            Cohen's text was very informative as it brought forward case studies of mobile game design experiments that gives us a clearer idea of what elements to consider while designing a mobile game for the Japanese market. He identifies the terms Personal (space of intimacy), Portable (mobility of the device) and Pedestrian (nagara gaming) as the main concepts that frames the experience of mobile phone entertainment in Japan, and there is no reason why we shouldn't look at portable console use in the same light. Indeed, from the dual-screen DS to the portable media device that was the PSP, mobile consoles in Japan have always been a save haven for gaming experiences that focus on the intimacy of the experience, the imaginary creation of a restricted relationship with the screen. Those comprise of visual novels, brain training games and role-playing games. Interestingly, those seem to also be the experiences that define the PC as a gaming space. Visual novels are often released on PC first, and then ported on mobile consoles. The PC in Japan also hosts a number of long-running franchises of real-time strategy games that are mostly unknown in the West. However, the mobile consoles have also given birth to completely different game genre, one of those―the kyotou games or collaborative combat games, sometimes called hunting games―requires thinking about the console as a vehicle for socialization in the same vein Ito talks about card games as hypersocialization tools.

Summer 2013. Kyoutou Sensei introduces television viewers to the joys of collaborative battle games.

    
           Indeed, on the other end of the spectrum we have games like Monster Hunter, Soul Sacrifice, Valhalla Nights and others that inspire strong community of players who meet in cafés with groups or random strangers. Even games like Puzzles and Dragons (by far the most popular mobile game) integrate a lot of social elements: players must be connected with other users in order to lean their strength to defeat difficult bosses. Such games are very customizable themselves and mobile game communities like the one associated with Valkyria Chronicle D is very intricate where players have developed hierarchical relationship with rights and duties in relation to what the game requires users to do in order to achieve something. There is plenty of space for remix and mediated but meaningful social encounters through mobile gaming from its most intricate form (Monster Hunter) to its most nagara (Puzzles and Dragons). However, I must differ from Ito's perspective when she identifies hypersocialization with contestation, there just doesn't seem to be actual rebellion against a given text in the media mix, only reinterpretation and adaptation.

        Also, brand is king.

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        I found an excerpt of the Video Game Music record that Aiden introduced last week. I am posting it here for everyone to see since this is a very important event in the culture of video game music in Japan. The excerpt is a remix of the sounds of Xevious in musical form. Enjoy!