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I've always considered video games as an art form, but an art form I consciously ignored. Computer arts. Multiple narratives. Must be so difficult to programme and code! Too complicated for me. Too many rules and controller combinations to memorise. Too many hours needed to master each game. Not interested enough. Even the casual games: no Facebook games apps for me, nor cellphone games. I deleted solitaire and minesweepers from my laptop a long time ago. I didn't want them wasting my time, though I do indulge in a game of Sudoku or tetris from time to time. Or two or three...

Since I decided to take this course, I have tried a variety of games. Gran Turismo 4, Streetfighter 2, Little Big World, FIFA, Dance Battle, etc, etc. Always in a social environment, with a group of friends, and food and drinks on the side. Video games for me is definitely a social thing. Even though I have not played Starcraft or other MMORPGs, I have seen friends gathering together in halls of residences or Internet cafes to play together. So while I understand the general perception of gamers being loners, I know that that's not always the case.

As for spending many hours immersed in games, as long as the people are playing in moderation, with short breaks here and there, and are eating and exercising relatively healthily, not affecting their work lives... I actually admire gamers for having the dedication to delve into something and honing their skills, and being good at it. Especially since it's something that I don't really understand. Though now, after this course, I am beginning to understand a bit more, and even recognising gaming jargons. Like, XP, which flied by me at first in lectures, but now I know - experience points! Yay.

In comparing between games and film adaptations, I can only take people's words for it, for the moment. But I am guessing it must be like how film adaptations of books are always so disappointing, because they never seem to fully translate how I had imagined the narrative to be in my head. Which will be different for each reader. Is that kind of an alterbiography for reading books, I wonder? even if readers don't really have agency in how the narrative turns out.

To be honest, I didn't even realise Tomb Raider the movie had been based on the video game until many years after having seen the film. Not having played the game, I can't say how true to the game it was, but I quite enjoyed the movie, actually. One of the reasons for making a movie version of video games must be to attract more people to play the game, as well as to provide a different experience for the gamers who already have played the game, and I think with Tomb Raider it may have succeeded. I wouldn't mind trying it one day, to make my own comparisons between the two media forms, like Rose has done in the previous post here.

After having watched the clip Silent Hill in the lectures, I am also interested in both watching the movie and having a go at the game. I heard the beginning of Silent Hill 4 from a gamer friend, and it led me to having a weird dream that night. I was in the game. Pseudo situated immersion?! Thanks, D, for the experience.

It's always fun to be studying 'unusual' topics such as video games, and, as I did last year in Paris, mangas (I was on an exchange programme with 360' UoA). In the manga course I did, we learnt about the culture of manga in Japan, how the industry formed, and the 'soft power' behind the manga industry, as utilised by Japanese politicians, for example. I think it would be interesting to learn a bit more about the soft power of video games, too. Perhaps it could be added into the course in the future?

Anyway, it's time to sign off from this piece of ramblings. Good luck everyone for the last week and the exam!