Continuation of Project 2...

I recently finished all of the chapters of the question arc from Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni. I was shocked when I saw these screens in the final bonus chapter. It was almost like a reminder from Hinamizawa that I spent the whole semester wanting to really continue working on Project 2 and now I finally have time to do that. I already began to take inventory of what I felt needed to be done, so this is a summary of that process:

I'm going to prove a video game character wrong!!

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During the spring semester, I wrote a paper about Umineko no Naku Koro Ni, a Japanese soft novel series that I believe enacts various interesting gamic mechanics without actually conventionally providing the player the ability to directly affect the game. During the development, fans of the game affected the outcome of later games by providing feedback to the developers, and I would argue that the gamic action actually occurs outside of the game itself.

Umineko also uses an interesting mechanic where varying degrees of truth are highlighted with colors. The game as a whole centers itself between two characters that represent two extremes: logic versus unexplainable phenomenon. The characters use these mechanics to debate the solution throughout the game whereas the player doesn't actually interact except as a silent judge outside of the multi-layered universe of Umineko.

The players' debates and deductions among each other ultimately find their theories intertwined in subsequent games, while still leaving the ultimate solution up to the conclusions of the individual player.

Unfortunately, for the most part, Umineko has reached its end. I don't think there will be any further games in the series.

Since I've only just now finished the semester, I have time to really begin working on this project. So I've been taking inventory of what I think is necessary to go forward.

The feedback that I've gotten has been very helpful so far. One of my friends decried the way I treated the two books that I explored for the project, so I am in the process of re-reading those and a few others.

One direction that I've been leaning toward has been by the recommendation of my professor from the gaming class. He suggested that I look further into the idea of truth being used as a mechanic. He has referenced me toward Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus.

Other advice that I've gotten is to step back further and define how games and books are different. I was reminded not to forget to investigate how people are using books. iBooks - framing, sequence, and duration--how interaction is opened up and closed down. This makes me feel like I should go back and read some of Bolter's stuff and really compare it with Galloway.

I'd also like to read some of the academic writings that already exist on Umineko, despite nearly all of them being in Japanese. I have a friend who may be willing to help me translate some of them. It looks like studying Japanese wasn't a huge waste after all, amirite.

All in all, I need to figure out my intent and summarize it as specifically and simply as possible. One of my shortcomings in the initial comp was that I didn't take any specific stance on how Umineko is, in fact, a game. I need to do research on the forms and do a comparative analysis that can be explained simply and briefly, then I can go into the texts (House of Leaves, Tree of Codes) and explain them more in depth.

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"GLAD TO
HELP.Yo!"

I wish more of my emails looked like this!!