In this paper a semiotic approach to video games will be presented. Structuralist semiotic notion of text will be crit-icized for being unable to account for the nonlinear and un-stable nature of interactive ludic objects, and Rastier's [9] paradigm will be adopted. Integrating it with recent pro-posals in semantic of perception [4], a sketch for a semantic and semiotic analytic methodology for computer games will be outlined. Such methodology will be field-tested on the computer game flOw [1]. Read more...

In this essay, I examine differences between individual and social play and, in particular, the differences between individual and social play within digital media forms designed to promote both: massively multi-player online computer games (MMOGs). The analysis considers in most depth differences between group and solo play within the NCSoft’s and Cryptic Studios’ MMOG, City of Heroes. Based on over 1000 hours of play within City of Heroes, observation of online forums and other texts devoted to social activities within City of Heroes, and conversations with City of Heroes players inside and outside of the game context, the essay describes an antithetical relationship between group and solo computer game play. Conclusions present a semiotic model of play in which game designs promoting social play are ineffective in significantly altering individual play forms and functions. Read more...

The concept of a ludic systems encompasses a family of media forms and experiences involving elements of simulation, game play and narrative or story construction. These three elements can be regarded as different classes of semiotic systems, or systems of meaning, having their own structuring principles and methods of informing experience. For any particular ludic system, such as a computer game, time structure can be considered in terms of a number of distinct layers of meaning analogous to the levels of encoding identified in structuralist narrative theory: a generation level, a simulation level, a performance level and a discourse level. The simulation, performance and discourse levels correspond to the semiotic domains of simulations, games and narratives. For any specific ludic system, the overall design approach relating to how the designer intends the players’ experience to be structured, as the core of interactive engagement and immersion, can be based upon emphasizing one of these three primary forms, or integrating more than one form by various strategies. Adopting a structural semiotic approach to modeling these layers of meaning provides a foundation for more clearly integrating design choices within a coherent overall concept, as well as laying the foundations for a more systematic study of possible correlations between design features and player affects. Read more...