Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Are the Fictional Worlds Really Fictional?

In the reading Fiction by Juul we dive into what makes comprise the fictional worlds we see in different video games and stories. Juul states that there is a difference between the description of a fictional world and the fictional world that is imagined by the user. In short the user does most of the heavy lifting when it comes to their own depiction of the fictional world, which is why often times people can have a different view of worlds in the same game.

My main problem with Juul's comments is that there are historical games with historical backgrounds that tell a fictional story during a very real time. Also there are some games such as sporting games that allow the user to create a character and fully immerse their character (and also themselves) in that real sporting world.

My first example is with the video game Call of Duty, in each game (aside from the newer versions) the user is fully submerged in a war against enemies. Many times real enemies that American Soldiers actually fought in previous wars. While the used characters may not be factually and real, other occurrences going on in the game are. Such as American Soldiers fighting Russian Soldiers and so on. So I would ask Juul could this so called fictional world be interpreted differently considering it may not be so fictional after all?

Image result for madden my playerMy second example is with the video games Madden and NBA 2K (video of player being created). In both games the user is allowed to create a character and fully immerse this character (and themselves) into what it is truly like to become an NBA or NFL pro. The user creates their very own character, yes through training with them, a draft, and even practices and plays games sole with this character alone. The names of all other players and teams are all true to what you actually see on the court or the field. So again my question to Juul would be his is I possible for one to depict such a fictional world differently when is uses events from other factual areas?

This is not to question Juul's thoughts in regard to every fictional world but I was just curious as to how these questions would be answered by her. While others when they think of video games think of these games with far off places and lands with creatures never seen before. I think of my favorite games Madden and NFL, and when i look at them the outside worlds seem rather stable, and quite the same.

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