Narrative And Context

Tutorial 3 : Computers And Media

1) a) Some of the artists that were using traditional approaches were Michael Jackson and Prince.    These artists made CD records, did concerts and had record labels. They were successful because they did world wide concerts and had radio stations play some of their songs. Most people who heard these songs started searching for the artists who sang them. Michael Jackson was also an amazing dancer, so when he did concerts people not only went to hear his songs but also to watch him dance.People then started to buy CD's to hear the songs at their own time at home. They also had many advertisements on T.V and radio stations to publicize there upcoming songs and concerts.

b) Some artists who use iTunes and cloud sharing to distribute there song are Drake and Nicki Minaj. These artists were successful because they allowed for people to listen to their music for free on popular social medias such as Facebook and youtube. They announced through twitter and other social medias on their upcoming songs so people could listen to them as soon as it came out. Many of these artists today even go around on world wide concert tours which enable their fans to see them in person. A lot of people who listened to these free songs started liking them and started going to their concerts. As time progressed more and more fans started listening to their songs. This is because fans would be sharing these songs through Facebook and other social medias.


2) a) One video game that was Non-Linear was inFamous. This game allowed the player to decide whether he wanted to be evil or good throughout the game. Throughout the game the player would have to decide whether he wanted to commit a evil action or good action which then influenced his karma. If the player chose evil throughout the game then the ending would be different from the good side. This game was widely popular when it came out and even received at 9.5 rating on most gaming critics. 

b) One video game that was linear that didn't work was Big Rigs: Over the road racing. This game was a total flop because you only do one thing throughout the game whatever mission it was. Most people stopped playing it after there second try because it was so repetitive.

Out of both these video games inFamous was a wide hit while Big Rigs was a complete disaster. This is probably because inFamous was one of the very first games to use the concept of a Non-Linear theme to a video game. It allowed for the users playing it to play the game at least twice; one on the good side and one on the bad side. Big Rigs was to straightforward with no action and had to many bugs. Video games tend to be more interesting if there is one or more way to finish the game, like games that have recently come out such as Destiny.

3) a) Books compared to TV, Films and video games incorporates context through senses and imagination. The reader pictures what the author is saying in his head and visualizes what is going on. To each reader the image that is produced in his head will differ. TV, Films and video games show the same context to each person; there is no difference because there is already a visual.

b) The side effects of these requirements are that some people unfortunately are blind and therefore cant read books. This doesn't usually matter with TV, Films and video games because they can listen to what's going on and picture the image in their heads.