“One of the many elements shared by film, television, and video games is the use of on-screen and off-screen space in the creation of the diegetic world.”

Most movies we watch nowadays usually have narratives that revolve around the lives of just a number of characters (actors/actresses) who live in an artificial, or diegetic world. The diegetic world is where all the important action, drama, romance, etc. occurs in relevance to the narrative that is being told. It’s common sense, then, to say that the reason that movies follow the lives of main characters, instead of the “common-folk,” is because the movie would simply be too boring and longwinded. Thus, the word “on-screen” was coined to define the notion that what we, as the audience, see on-screen is what is relevant to the narrative, while what is “off-screen” is where all the irrelevant actions that the audience wouldn’t care about occurs.

Because movies are predetermined, that is, the audience has no choice but to view what is on-screen, it is very simple to determine what the important and relevant events in the narrative are. This is not the case in videogames, where the player has full control over the camera and has to direct the camera so that the important and relevant events are seen. I’ll use Halo as an example to illustrate my point. In Halo, there is one chapter called “The Silent Cartographer,” where Master Chief lands on a beach in the middle of an ongoing battle between the humans and the Covenant. The player has the option to directly participate and view the relevant battle, or the player has the option of completely ignoring the relevant battle by running in the opposite direction in which case, what should have been the important and relevant event becomes “off-screen.” In a film like Saving Private Ryan, where the allies land on Omaha Beach, it wouldn’t have made sense for the cinematographer to watch the (bloody) waves as the soldiers are running and dying for their lives in the opposite direction. The audience would most likely be able to understand what is going on “off-screen,” although the audience would be much more inclined to see what is going on during the actual invasion because it is more relevant to the narrative. In this case, the cinematographer would be fired (and/or executed).

Thus, the difference between videogames and film are clear. When the player has control over the camera, he/she would be inclined to direct the camera so that the relevant events are viewed, or conversely, the player would have the option to view the irrelevant events. Film, on the other hand, doesn’t allow the freedom that videogame players are so accustomed to, and so they hope that whoever is controlling the camera is making sure that the most relevant and important events are being filmed.

Upon thinking of what the premise behind my game would be, I tried to look for inspiration. Thus, I found myself going through my library of old VHS tapes, and to my surprise, I found a copy of Jurassic Park right by a copy of one episode from Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. My twisted mind began to think about the comical possibilities a T-Rex and Mr. Rogers would bring to my animated video. Unfortunately, there’s nothing funny about getting torn into pieces in the dark confines of a T-Rex’s sharp mouth and then slowly traveling down the esophagus and into the stomach’s acid as it slowly boils your body into molecules. That’s just not funny, especially if you’re Mr. Rogers. But then I thought to myself, a game doesn’t have to be funny as long as it’s fun, right? However, I believe that all games should have comical elements in them, so what do you get when you mix a Dinochicken with a demented Mr. Rogers? It’s simple; you get “Mr. Rogers’ Dangerous Neighborhood,” a comical videogame.

The player assumes the role of Mr. Rogers, a very nice guy who travels to what he believes is a very nice neighborhood, New York City, but at a very not nice time. Somehow, a Dinosaur has found its way from Jurassic Park, and is hungry. After an unsatisfying lunch at the local KFC, the dinosaur’s hunger hasn’t been satiated. He should have gone to Popeyes, where he may have gotten more meat on his chicken, but Popeyes is too far away. Instead, he looks at a closer alternative: humans. Mr. Rogers tries to keep calm at the sight of the dinosaur, because, after all, if all human beings are wonderful, Dinosaurs are too, right? Well, after the Dinosaur takes a step on his first victim, Mr. Rogers concludes that Dinosaurs are very bad. Thankfully, there is a cop to save the day, that is, until the cop dies too. This is where the game begins, and you have the choice to either panic and run for your life while hitting other cars to slow down the dinosaur from eating you, or in true Mr. Rogers fashion, you can call attention to the T-Rex and become bait to save others. The game is non-linear, and if you choose to panic and spite others, then you will most definitely lose and there will be a plot twist. If you risk your life to save others, there is a chance that you can reach a tunnel and save yourself, in which case you win the game. 

The trailer will show the plot twist when Mr. Rogers is selfish and tries to save him by killing others. The plot twist will be slightly modified in the trailer in order to attract interest from buyers. This game may very well be the next best thing sliced bread since it shows the consequences of being bad, and the reward for being good in a comical fashion. Hopefully, after playing this game, and seeing both outcomes, people will see that by helping people, you win. By stabbing them behind their back, everyone loses, except of course, for the dinosaur.

It is a sad day, indeed, when the world’s only Time Factory malfunctions and, as a result, an evil organization of pigs (self-named Tom-Tom Gang) seize the opportunity to gain power by stealing time. This is where Time Sweepers come in, a group of detectives who make sure that the flow of time will fairly be distributed to the world. Among these brave detectives, only one can stand against the test of time (no pun intended) and save the world from sure destruction. Our hero is Blinx, a cat equipped with a special vacuum that can control the flow of time to save time before time runs out.

Blinx the Time Sweeper was appropriately marketed as “the first 4-d game,” the 4^th dimension, obviously, being time. Because Wolf’s book was published before the game had been released, the game is naturally not mentioned. However, in retrospect, if a new book were to be published dealing with time in videogames, Blinx would unquestionably be on the list for taking the idea of time to the next level. Before I explain the revolutionary features of Blinx the Time Sweeper, I’d like to note that Blinx does have a simple title sequence that displays the logo and the developer (Artoon). Additionally, the game boasts a number of interludes that set the tone of the game (the beginning cinematic, for example) and some other interludes between levels in order to move the storyline.

Where Blinx the Time Sweeper shines, however, is its implementation of interactive time. To best explain what I mean, I’ll use a VCR as an example. When watching a movie, you can fast-forward, rewind, pause, record, etc. disrupting the flow of time within the movie itself. Take all the features that a VCR provides, add interactivity, and you have the essence of the gameplay in Blinx the Time Sweeper. All of the time functions affect the game world. For example, by clicking on the pause function, everything in the game world will pause (except for Blinx, of course) so that he can go behind an enemy and hit its weak point, for example. This is an innovative take on stillness and movement. Likewise, if a bridge were to collapse in the game world, the player would have the ability to rewind time as to rebuild the bridge. This would be an innovative take on repetition and cyclical time. Furthermore, Blinx has the ability to slow down time and fast forward time which has strong effects on his speed.

If Blinx the Time Sweeper didn’t include its innovative time manipulating capabilities, the game would be impossible to beat. Time manipulation is a positive influence on the game, because without it, there’d be no possible way to cross a broken bridge without rewinding time and restoring it. Without crossing the bridge, Blinx would have failed his mission, and the world would end. Time is of the essence in Blinx the Time Sweeper. If interested, watch the following video to see the game’s revolutionary features in action: http://youtube.com/watch?v=r4_dToOykqw

When I play a videogame or watch a movie, I am sometimes so lost in the magnificent world that is presented to me that I forget the amount of detail and work that the developers put into it to create the finished product. It’s pretty easy to take the videogame or film industry for granted when you’re not exactly aware of the work that went behind it. Alice is a great program because it directly puts you in the shoes of a programmer in an indirect way.