June 2006 Archives

I didn't go to the Games + Learning + Society Conference 2006, and I am kicking myself for it. I came up with a bunch of reasons why it might not be what I was into, or why it might be above my head, back when I could have registered. By the time I realized it would be awesome, it was well beyond my solo means.

This, then, is an entry made possible by my friend Alecia Magnifico, who is a student at UW-Madison in the group that sponsored the conference. She gathered a bunch of links and sent a minor bibliography for what her panel would talk about.

Beyond the cut: Links to others' reviews

Wikipedia describes the Marathon Trilogy of games as a series of "science fiction first-person shooter computer games from Bungie Software...." which in 1994 "introduced many concepts now common in mainstream video games," including "dual-wielded weapons, friendly non-player characters, and most notably an intricate plot."

It's that last bit that intrigues me from a hypertext standpoint. The gameplay was novel at the time, and all the more remarkable for being released first on the Macintosh, but it was the plot and narrative which held fans' attention and led to "The Marathon Story Page" where fans were explicating the plot and finding new details and connections more than seven years after the series concluded.

Bungie Studios eventually released the tools used to create the game as well as the game source code itself. Fan communities continue to create new scenarios, stories, and levels for the engine today.

Beyond the cut: Marathon and game narratives as hypertext