From: no_miranda_spam@subhuman.net   
      
   "hamppu"  wrote in message   
   news:c21ef43b.0405020657.50ac4052@posting.google.com...   
   > Questionnaire on Neuromancer and Video Games. PLEASE REPLY!   
   >   
   > Background information   
   > I am a university student writing a Master of Arts thesis on English   
   > Literature (with emphasis on contemporary popular culture and media)   
   > in the Department of English at the University of Vaasa in Finland. My   
   > thesis will be on the relationship of cyberpunk literature and video   
   > games, with particular emphasis on Neuromancer. I am especially   
   > interested in the ways in which cyberpunk readers and players (i.e.   
   > you) construct meanings from the novel and from cyberpunk video games.   
   > In addition, I am interested to find out what fans think about video   
   > games as a medium for (cyberpunk) stories.   
   >   
   > I would appreciate it if you could spend some of your time and reply   
   > to the questionnaire below.   
   >   
   > I will read the discussion thread and collect your replies in a few   
   > weeks time. If you wish, you may also contact me by email:   
   > wgb_research@yahoo.com. Also, If you wish, I can post a summary of the   
   > research results here after I have read your replies.   
   >   
   > Finally, all the replies given here or sent to my email will be used   
   > strictly for research and academic purposes.   
   >   
   > Thank you in advance.   
   >   
   > Hamid Guedra   
   > wgb_research@yahoo.com   
   > Department of English   
   > Faculty of Humanities   
   > University of Vaasa, Finland   
   >   
   >   
   > RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE ON NEUROMANCER AND VIDEO GAMES   
   >   
   > Please note!   
   > There are 33 questions, some with additional subquestions. I hope you   
   > have time to answer them all. Although most questions can be answered   
   > yes or no, I hope you could write some personal comments with respect   
   > to each question. However, please try to limit your answers to a   
   > maximum of 200 words in each question. Also, please note that there   
   > are no right or wrong answers.   
   >   
   >   
   > I. General questions on playing video games   
   >   
   > 1) Why do you play video games?   
      
   Escapism, entertainment... Also it's a lot of fun to share online gaming   
   worlds, and forget 'real life' once in a  while.   
      
   > 2) What kind of video games (action, adventure, roleplaying, network   
   > games etc.) do you play?   
      
   Mostly roleplay, for first-person shooting games... online if possible.   
      
   > 2.1) Why this particular kind of games?   
      
   They are the most absorbing types of games for me... I like something I can   
   immerse myself in. The more realistic the better.   
      
   > II. Video games and cyberpunk   
   >   
   > 3) Are video games a good medium for stories? For cyberpunk? Please   
   > comment.   
      
   For sure. While many games remain fairly linear, they are far *less* linear   
   than a novel - being able to interact with characters and explore worlds   
   yourself can be an interesting experience. Specifically cyberpunk, where we   
   haven't quite achieved the sort of technologies generally described in cp   
   literature, it is easy to visualise and demonstrate these technologies   
   within games without it seeming overly abstracted from 'real life'.   
      
   > 4) Are cyberpunk literature and video games related in some particular   
   > way? Please comment.   
      
   Specific video games, and perhaps specific genres of video games, are   
   undoubtedly influenced by the works for Gibson. Many of the ideas and themes   
   found in this genre are picked up in many games.   
      
   > 5) Is cyberpunk literature "dead", and are video games the new medium   
   > to cyberpunk stories? Please comment.   
      
   No; they are both explorations of a particular genre, and aren't mutually   
   exclusive.   
      
   >   
   > 6) Which cyberpunk video games do you know? Which of them have you   
   > played and why?   
      
   "Deus Ex" and "Deus Ex: Invisible War" are probably the most recent examples   
   of story driven cyberpunk games. Both of which I have played and enjoyed a   
   lot. They offer large, detailed worlds with sets of characters and events   
   that could have easily been transplanted from a genre novel, while offering   
   the player a degree of control on how the events unfold.   
      
   Elements of cyberpunk appear in many other games; everything from Quake to   
   Unreal, where super-human characters battled it out with their modified   
   bodies in post-apocalyptic high-tech worlds.   
      
   >   
   > 7) Is there always a story in a cyberpunk game or can there be a   
   > cyberpunk game without story? Please comment.   
      
   Many. The vast majority of "first person shooting" games seem to be littered   
   with cp influences. Very few of them offer any sort of depth of story, other   
   than a basic excuse for running, shooting and killing.   
      
   >   
   > 8) Are stories important in video games? In cyberpunk video games?   
   > Please comment.   
      
   The question is too generic. Stories are important for some types of games.   
   In my opinion, cyberpunk games do work better with strong stories, but only   
   when cyberpunk is actually a central theme for the game (such as in Deus   
   Ex).   
      
   >   
   >   
   > III. Questions on your favorite cyberpunk video game   
   >   
   > 9) What is your favorite cyberpunk game and why?   
      
   Deus Ex / Deus Ex: Invisible War. Facinating story, interesting characters,   
   realistic graphics and a deeply detailed world.   
      
   > 10) What was the game about? Was there a story behind the game?   
      
   Essentially, it's about a struggle for political power under the shadow of   
   engineered bio-virus and deadly nano-technology. Depending on your path   
   through the two games, you character becomes responsible for global   
   technological utopia (through the enhancement of the human creature), or the   
   crash back into a pre-technology society. The first game deals with the   
   birth of the technology, and the political organisations fighting for   
   ownership of the technology and the cure for a pandemic biological virus.   
   The second game, set 20 years later, deals with the aftermath and the   
   technological divide it left the world in; one man strives to free human   
   kind from the restrictions of the human body, while others squabble for   
   control over the technology. Your characters journey uncovers the story and   
   follows the winding political intrigue.   
      
   >   
   > 11) Was the game in your opinion good cyberpunk? Please comment.   
      
   It was perfect. Encompassing many of the core elements that define   
   cyberpunk, and stretching those ideas in new directions.   
      
   >   
   > 12) If there is a story in the game, did the story make the game more   
   > appealing or not? Was the story relevant for the gameplay? Please   
   > comment.   
      
   It makes the games far more interesting to play, and certainly something   
   that encourages you to come back and play it more and more until the story   
   is resolved. Like a good novel, it's hard to put down once you have started.   
   These games would not have existed without the strong stories behind them.   
      
   > 13) Did you play the game because of the story, because of playing and   
   > game-action, because of exploring the game universe, because of   
   > character development, because you wanted to beat the game, or why?   
   > Please comment.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)