The Spy in the Computer
A study of how computer games, as a modern narrative form, draw on and develop the tradition of espionage fiction.
The spy entered the computer a long time ago. During the Second World War, both the Axis and the Allies used the computer extensively in code-breaking and allied operations. And following from these rather rudimentary forays, espionage through the computer has reached alarming proportions even as other technologies have continued to advance. The focus of the present paper will, however, be on something different. It will not be on real espionage so much as on espionage in computer games. The computer game has continually been enriched by better narrative possibilities, graphic interfaces and better interactivity. For the narrative framework of computer games, spy stories form the ideal ground. And characteristically, as the spy narratives become incorporated in 'playable' computer game narratives, the entire genre of espionage fiction is changed: its ambit broadened and its potentials rediscovered. This, then, would be an attempt at looking at the James Bonds and the George Smileys who live within the computer.
Unlike the spy story that we read in books, the computer game gives us the option of creating multiple narratives. This involves more interactivity and a greater role for the reader, and definitely, a large number of narratives within one base narrative. Having said that, I would first like to look at the nature of the computer game and some of its basic characteristics. This I shall do in brief before I come to my main argument.
In his book The Art of Computer Game Design Chris Crawford, himself a game-designer, outlines the following as the major requisites of any success...
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...intelligence with upgraded gaming consoles. And maybe then, my discussion on the spy-thriller can be extended to include other forms of narrative as well.
Bibliography
Barthes, Roland, 'The Structural Analysis of Narratives'
Crawford, Chris, 'The Art of Computer game Design'
Eco, Umberto, 'The Narrative Structure in Fleming' (1966)
Juuls, Jesper, 'Games Telling Stories'
Kucklich, Johann, 'Literary Theory and Computer games'
Laurel, Brenda, 'Degrees of Freedom'
McGann, Jerome, 'The Rationale of the Hypertext'
Montfort, Nick, 'Gesturing With the Mouse'
Todorov, Tsvetan, 'The Typology of Detective Fiction' (1978)
The Web Dictionary of Cybernetics
Websites:
Digiplay Interactive
Games research
Journals:
SKOAR (Jasubhai digital media)
Games:
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
James Bond : Nightfire
Spycraft: The Great Game
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