Para/Intertextuality with a focus on Video Games

The TextIt is commonly thought of within media theory that everything is a text…Text = A series of coherent sentencesText = A cultural object or media artefact that meaning can be extracted from.…because of this shift we can deconstruct and study any medium or object as a series of signs which meaning can be extracted from.

Intertextuality“An intertext is one or more texts which the reader must know in order to understand a work of literature in terms of its overall significance (as opposed to the discrete meanings of its successive words, phrases and sentences)”Riffaterre, M. Compulsory Reader Response: The Intertextual Drive in Worton, M. And Still J. [ed], (1990). Intertextuality: Theories and Practices, Manchester University Press The Simpsons., Dog of Death (2003). United States Fox, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment,

IntertextsIntertexts are works which inform or help construct a text. They can be from any medium but the main text relies on them to help construct meaning.Intertextality was first coined by the post-structuralist Julia Kristeva in the late 1960’sAn intertext connects the studied text to media as a whole and stops the text from being an island.

Intertextuality and Videogames

“Seeing games as ‘intertextual’ reminds us that no game or instance of gameplay is an island; like literary texts, every game extends outward from itself in many directions. The relationship of text to context and intertext has after all been at the center of modern literary theory for decades”Jones, S.E., 2008. The Meaning of Video Games: Gaming and Textual Strategies 1st ed., Routledge. Jones’ book works as a series of case studies, using specific instances or examples of video games intertextuality. It traces video games permeation into culture and cultures symbiotic relationship with video games.

“[video games are] ...hybrid, extra-linguistic, open-ended, configurative and procedural systems”Jones, S.E., 2008. The Meaning of Video Games: Gaming and Textual Strategies 1st ed., Routledge. Jones’ draws on Gerard Genette’s theories of paratexts to examine video games and their place within the divergent systems of culture.The theory of paratext works with ideas of the “threshold of the text”. It looks at what constructs the text, and when working with literature would encompass the preface, epigraph, cover, advertising, distribution, intertexts... Paratextual studies expands what is included in the term text. The text grows is ever increasing spirals into society.

Peritext/EpitextPeritext – refers to all the text encompassed in the volume, for example the game itself, the disc art, the manual and its layout and the cover artEpitext – refers to all the related texts, interviews with the various members of the design team, the console, the publicity

Peritext/Epitext“Paratext = Peritext + Epitext”Paratexts create a area of “transition” or “transaction” in the texts reception. It is closley linked to areas of “social texts”Genette, G., 1997. Paratexts: Thresholds of Interpretation, Cambridge University Press. Paratextual Studies creates a THRESHOLD of the text.

THE FOLLOWING LISTS ARE NOT COMPLETE OR EXHAUSTIVETHEY ARE MERELY FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSESTHEY ADDRESS AN EVER EXPANDING FIELD OF STUDY SO AIM TO SKETCH AN AREA OF STUDY OR PRACTICE NOT TO BE ALL ENCOMPASSINGTHESE SLIDES ARE HEAVILY SUBSIDISED WITH ILLUSTATIVE VIDEOS

Core Games

Pokemon Evolution CapsuleNovelsGraphic Novels

Films and TV Program

Trading Cards and Characters

Trading Cards

Transmediality“...a process where integral elements of a fiction get dispersed systematically across multiple delivery channels for the purpose of creating a unified and coordinated entertainment experience. Ideally, each medium makes it own unique contribution to the unfolding of the story.”Confessions of an Aca/Fan: Archives: Transmedia Storytelling 101. Available at: http://www.henryjenkins.org/2007/03/transmedia_storytelling_101.html [Accessed October 19, 2009].

Transmediality‘are stories told across multiple media. At the present time, the most significant stories tend to flow across multiple media platforms’ (Jenkins et al., 2006).Transmedia refers to narratives which cross media, this creates a networked universe of media which can be viewed through many medium.cross media (Bechmann Petersen, 2006) hybrid media (Boumans, 2004)intertextual commodity (Marshall, 2004)transmedialinteractions (Bardzell et al., 2007)multimodality (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2001) intermedia (Higgins, 1966).

Transmediaand

The Core Games (and mods)

Iconic Characters

The Promotion Models

The Movie

The ComicsPre-Teen RaiderThe Interactive DVDThe Animated Series

User and Commercial erotica and pornography

Fanfic (Fan Fiction)

Reading

SporeTo The Power of Ten

Transmediaand

The Core GamesThe Box Art and Packaging (including limited edition releases)

The AdditionalGames

The Game Soundtracks

The Creation of the ProsumerPoducer+Consumer = ProsumerWe have seen a dramatic shift in media to the creation of the prosumer who doesn’t just consume media but plays an active role in it’s production.

Flash Halo CTF16-bit HaloHalo 2 arcadeThe Unofficial Flash Games

The Unofficial Flash Gameshttp://www.invalidmob.com/Flash_Games/Halo.html

The Novels

The Graphic Novels and Comics

The Guide BooksThe Art of BooksMod Books

The MovieAdverts and TV SpotsShort Films

Alternative Reality Games

LARP (Live Action Role play)Forum Based Roleplay/Fanfic

Table Top Role Playing Games

Red Vs. BlueThis Spartain LifeWarthog JumpMachinima

User produced Pornography and Erotica (Porn Stars play strip Halo 3)