What book do you want to see as a video game?
“To be, or not to be”, this was one of the questions that featured in this PlayTime stream, in an amazing minute-long Hamlet recital by Keerthi as we asked ourselves: What book do you want to see as a video game?
After sharing some chilly news about ice hotels, brand-new laptops, and on-topic movie-talk about this Macbeth adaptation, it was time to discuss our top-picks for game renditions. For some more academic insight, we read “Adaptation and New Media: Establishing the video game as an adaptive medium” by Stobbart (2018). From desperate failures – most notably the ET game adaption ending up buried in a garbage pit – to hopeful futures that might promise a more successful bridging of media, we discussed the potentials, pitfalls, and guilty pleasures (Assassin’s Creed anyone?) of all kinds of adaptations. Finally, it was time to play a game! We visited the Danish royal court as Ophelia in the game Elsinore, tried to deal with the beanie-wearing, emo-avant-la-lettre, ex-lover Hamlet, and snooped on everyone we could find to get all the hot gossip surrounding the nobility. Although we didn’t get that far in our hour of play, it’s an interesting game that works well as an adaptation, that’s definitely worth checking out.
What’s the best video game job you’ve had?
Nothing better than clocking out and then immediately clocking back in. This week we talked through the good, the bad, and the pastoral of virtual professions with the question: what’s the best in-game job you’ve ever had? Our own answers spanned dentistry (Glenn Martin Dental Adventure), home renovation (House Flipper 1 & 2), and public transport (Desert Bus). We thickened up our discussion with Alenda Y. Chang’s Back to the Virtual Farm: Gleaning the Agriculture-Management Game. The article delves into the mechanics of gamifying the profession of farming, an oft-romanticized fantasy that necessitates infinite resources, minimal consequences for failure, and imperialist rhetoric around who “inherits” land. We connected these pastoral game mechanics to larger themes across “job-based” games, such as domestic idylls and selective realism. If you played a game about fishing on a dock, would it feel like FarmVille? (Our tentative answer: probably!)
After this in-depth discussion, we dove headfirst into PlayTime’s very first triple co-op let’s play: Overcooked 2! The unlikely trio of a rat, a turtle, and a redhead pirate (guess who?) came together to fight the horrifying and adorable unbread. Despite never having played a game together, we got through a solid 6 levels of this game, with only minimal screaming and crying. The verdict is clear: we *can* take the heat. What’s the best video game job you’ve had?
