Project 1 - Pinball

For Project 1 I was initially interested in bridging the gap between non-game actions and game actions in an attempt to demonstrate the similarities, rather than the differences, between the two.  This was going to be an attempt to show how, although occurring in analog and digital spaces, the two events and experiences produce the same reactions and fulfill some of the same desires.  However, given the already existing work on the topic, I decided to shift my focus.

The interplay between the analog and digital was something that immediately interested me, and became a theme that I have carried through this project.  As I began to regroup and refocus on a new subject, we began to read and discuss Wark’s Gamer Theory in class.  This text provided two pieces of inspiration and interest for this project. 

The first area of interest was that of the game and the cave.  Within the game as cave, only the game is real, everything else is ephemeral.  This is a product of not only where and how games are played, but also how people interface with them.   Wark describes the cave and games as being capable of producing caves within caves, meaning that they can operate on a multitude of different levels of play.  Also of note was that while playing a game, it becomes the real, rather than reality.

The second piece that of Gamer Theory that interested me was how the strict defined rules of the game attract people to play.  The rules provide guidance and clarity lacking in the real world.  These rules pull people into an experience which is easily comprehended due to the clear goals and rewards presented by the game, two things which are lacking in the complexity of the real world.

While dealing with these two issues and considering the interplay of the analog and the digital I began playing pinball, specifically The Adams Family, and became interested in how pinball fit into these ideas.  Pinball provides an interesting look at all of these notions.

Firstly, pinball operates on both analog and digital principles.  The player and board operate on an analog level, interfacing through bumpers, plungers and flippers.  This analog input is then processed digitally by the game, which then responds in an analog manner by manipulating the playing field.  This analog to digital feedback loop is something that I became very intrigued by.  Rather than the straight analog to digital transition seen in video games, pinball creates a loop that continually processes digitally and responds in the analog.  This aspect of pinball is something that video gaming lacks, due to its one way transference.

Secondly, pinball operates just like a videogame in that it forms a cave that usurps reality.  The game becomes the real.  However, pinball is a game formed of multiple sub-games.  As one plays, new objectives reveal themselves, pushing and pulling the player in new directions depending on their previous actions.  This ties into to previously discussed analog/digital loop.  In fact, pinball promotes this sub-games in much the same manner as mini-games in videogames.  These multiple objectives and sub-games play the role of drawing the gamer deeper into the caves.

Thirdly, I was interested in how the rules of pinball interact with the player.  Pinball operates on rules, although those rules are not spelled out for the player, but must be discovered.  The algorithm of rules which dictate how pinball operates is similar to those of videogames.  The player must discover the algorithm that controls the actions of the game to achieve victory.  However, unlike most modern videogames, pinball harkens back to old arcade games where true victory is unachievable, and that the only form of victory possible is to survive as long as possible and dominance is shown through one’s high-score.

Lastly, pinball provided an interesting avenue of exploring the notions of agon and alea.  Pinball combines these two forms of games extraordinarily well.  Pinball demonstrates the attributes of agon in that it presents each player with a level playing field to begin with along with rules that are applied equally.  Dominance is demonstrated by one’s skill and mastery of the game.  Alea appears in the game due to its analog nature.  Chance influences the reaction of the game.  Bumpers, ramps, and triggers all impact the game.  These acts of chance influence the game outside of the rules and bring in unknowable variables that impact the outcome.

Overall I find that pinball acts as an intriguing lens with which to examine gaming and the concepts put forth by Wark.  Pinball stands as a bridge between the old forms of gaming and play found in the real world and the new forms found in the digital.