GAME-WORLDS

GAME-WORLDS
   These are worlds designed by the manufacturers of games, almost always role-playing games (or gamebooks) or computer adventure games (GAMES AND TOYS). In the case of RPGs the parameters of the "world" (the fictionalsetting in which the game takes place) will be set out in the handbooks which form the central part of the game package; in the latter, much of the world's setting is described on screen by the computer program itself, and additional information may be given in the associated printed material. Since the mid-1980s it has been common for the more successful games of either sort to generate associational material, which may include stories, novels and COMIC books set in the world of the game. Thus George Alec EFFINGER's The Zork Chronicles * (1990) is set in a world firstdescribed in the computer adventure game Zork (1982 US), published by Infocom, and subsequently the setting for several other Infocom games.TheUS games company TSR Inc. has been especially prolific in commissioning books associated with their role-playing games, though these are usually fantasy rather than sf - as books set in game-worlds tend generally to be. An example is TSR's Forgotten Realms Fantasy Adventure: Pool of Radiance *(1989) by James M. Ward and Jane Cooper Hong. The role-playing game Shadowrun (1989 US), published by FASA, has generated a game-worlds series, set in a world where fantasy and CYBERPUNK elements are uneasily married, of which one is Secrets of Power: Volume 2: Shadowrun: Choose Your Enemies Carefully * (1991) by Robert N. Charrette. The BattleTechnovels by Robert THURSTON are more straightforwardly sf, specifically SPACE OPERA. These are merely arbitrary examples of what is now awidespread phenomenon: it constitutes, for example, a sizeable proportion of the Roc sf/fantasy list of Penguin Books. Since game-worlds series books are often written by a variety of authors who are seldom the same people who invented the world in the first place, the game-world can be seen as a special case of the SHARED WORLD.Authors whose book publications are solely set in game-worlds do not necessarily receive entries in this volume; many are absent. Nonetheless, though much fiction set in game-worlds is hack work, some is not. For example, the novels in the Demon Download subseries by Jack Yeovil (Kim NEWMAN), set in GAMESWORKSHOP's Dark Future world, are good, original works in the CYBERPUNK mode.Many games are set in worlds previously established in book form, as with Riverworld (1989), published by Steve Jackson Games, based on the novels by Philip Jose FARMER. This volume does not accept such settings as true game-worlds, which must have originated in a games format.
   PN

Science Fiction and Fantasy Encyclopedia. . 2011.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Game studies — Not to be confused with Game theory. Game studies or the new modern term gaming theory is the discipline of studying games, their design, players, and their role in society and culture more broadly. Game studies is largely a multi and inter… …   Wikipedia

  • Worlds of Wonder (toy company) — Worlds of Wonder Industry Consumer electronics, video game Fate Closed, properties and liquidated. Founded 1980 Defunct 1990 …   Wikipedia

  • Worlds Collide (disambiguation) — Worlds Collide or When Worlds Collide may refer to:Books, movies, and television* When Worlds Collide , a 1932 science fiction novel * After Worlds Collide , a 1934 sequel to the 1932 novel * When Worlds Collide (film), a 1951 film adaptation of… …   Wikipedia

  • Game localisation — refers to the preparation of video games for other locales. This adaptation to the standards of other countries covers far more than simply translation of language. There are different areas, such as linguistic, cultural, hardware and software,… …   Wikipedia

  • Game Developers Awards — Game Developers Choice Awards Les Game Developers Choice Awards sont des récompenses attribuées chaque année par l International Game Developers Association aux développeurs de jeu vidéo qui se sont distingués par des productions innovantes.… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Game On (exhibition) — Game On is an exhibition organised and toured by the Barbican Art Gallery. The exhibition displayed a historical view of video game development from early arcade games to the present. First featuring at the Barbican Art Gallery in 2002, the… …   Wikipedia

  • Game Critics Awards — Game Critics Awards  ежегодная церемония вручния наград, проходит после выставки E3, начиная с 1998 года. Награды вручаются играм, показанным на E3 и получившим титул «Лучшая игра E3» (англ. Best of E3). Номинанты и победители… …   Википедия

  • Game Oriented Assembly Lisp — (or GOAL) is a computer game programming language developed by Andy Gavin and the Jak and Daxter team at Naughty Dog. It was written using Allegro Common Lisp and used in the development of the entire Jak and Daxter series of games. Syntactically …   Wikipedia

  • Worlds of Wonder — Infobox RPG title=Worlds of Wonder caption=Worlds of Wonder box cover designer=Steve Perrin, Steve Henderson (game designer), Gordon Monson, Greg Stafford, Lynn Willis publisher=Chaosium date=1982 genre=Multi genre system=Basic Role Playing… …   Wikipedia

  • Worlds End State Park — ] Bird watchers have observed over 200 species of birds in the park, including the Northern Goshawk, Yellow bellied Flycatcher, Great Blue Heron, Northern Harrier and White throated Sparrow. cite web | url =… …   Wikipedia

  • Worlds of Power — The Worlds of Power books are a series of novelizations of video games for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The books are characterized by the fact that they often retcon their source material, usually include game hints written upside down at… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”