Idea-Generating Exercises

What traditional ritual have you participated in, or are aware of, that reminds you in some way of an interactive narrative? What is it about this ritual that you think is like a computerized interactive experience?

-I was thinking of daily rituals such as eating, drinking, sleeping, waking up, going to sleep, needing food, needing excerise, needing social interaction. I thought of The Sims which covers all of these aspects and makes the user interact with the character. Also made me think of our need to socialise as a ritual and this could also lead to xbox racing games where you can connect to the internet and have conversations and play with other people on-line.

What game or sport have you played that you think could be adapted to a work of interactive entertainment? What would remain the same, what would have to be changed and in what way?

As a runner I was thinking of a game which involved a treadmill like in the gym but in a virtual room so while running there is something to look at and also some kind of shooting game. The treadmill would have to remain the same but the environment in which it is in would change obviously, a room with three screens one at the front and two either side maybe.

What work of traditional storytelling (a novel, a play, a movie, or even a comic book) have you read or seen that contains a narrative technique that could be applied to a work of digital entertainment? What is this technique, and how could it be used?


Can you think of any work of traditional entertainment (poem, short story, novel, play, movie, TV show etc.) that breaks the "fourth wall"? Describe how the fourth wall is broken in this work. Could the fourth wall be broken in a similar way in an interactive work? Why or why not?