Analysis of New Media Texts: Need for Speed Most Wanted - Case Study Example

Running Head: ANALYSIS OF NEW MEDIA TEXTS Analysis of New Media Texts: Need for Speed Most Wanted Name: Course: Institution: Subject: Date: Introduction Lister, Martin et al (2003) refer to new media as consisting of several parts: new textual experiences or genres, new ways of representing the world, new relationships between consumers or users and media technologies, new experiences of the embodiment between embodiment, identity and community, new conceptions of the biological body’s relationship to technological media and new patterns of organization and production. From this definition, new media texts can be considered as texts produced by new technologies more specifically computer digitisation. New media, unlike old media, is produced, distributed or exhibited by modern, or the latest technologies such as computers (Manovich, 2002). Examples of new media texts include multimedia such as digital photographs, digital videos (YouTube), websites, computer and video games, interactive computer installations, virtual worlds or human-computer interfaces. New media texts originate from already existing media texts and are a product of mediating or emerging technologies (Manovich, 2002). For instance, digital videos or electronic books are technologically enhanced upgrades or transformations of old media texts such as film and traditional print sources such as books. One of the primary distinctions between new media texts and old media texts is how consumers or interact with them and vice versa. Old media texts such as newspapers, photographs and reel cinemas are a representation of the world through the sign systems they use and as a result the consumer or a person who comes into contact with them is regarded as a “reader” (Matheson, 2005 & Manovich, 2002). However, people who interact with new media texts can be regarded within the context of postmodernism as “users” where the new media texts do not merely represent or signify the world but introduce the user to or enable them to inhabit a transformed world. It has been argued that new media texts are neo liberal, allowing the user to make choices, intervene and alter their interaction according to their desires (Manovich, 2002). On the contrary, however, new media texts constrain the user within their possibility boundaries. Thus while a user may choose what segment of a website to visit or which advertisements to block, the horizon of their access is effectively limited to what the website has to offer. This essay analyses one specific genre of a new media text- the computer or video game Need for Speed Most Wanted (NFSMW) published and released by Electronic Arts (EA). The essay will analyse the game as a new media text in terms of its relation to the user. First, the essay will describe the game and the world that the game transports the user into or the postmodernist world the user inhabits when they play the game. The essay will examine the various processes of transformation at work as the user (or gamer) interacts with this form of new media and are transported into the postmodernist world of the game and the identities made possible through interaction with the game. The essay will then conclude by demonstrating how new media texts are distinct from old media texts in the way users interact with them and the possibilities they create for the user, producing specific affects and identities. The World of Need for Speed Most Wanted (NFSMW) NFSMW is set in the fictitious city of Rockport. As the name suggests, it is a racing game in EA’s Need for Speed Series which introduces the user or gamer into the world of illegal street racing. The message is clear from the very introduction video where the user is shown a tuned, or customised, BMW in what is apparently a car chase as it is pursued by police cars. The BMW eventually makes short work of the pursuing police, outsmarting them at every turn and enabling to successfully evade capture. This video effectively introduces the user to the game as an illegal street racing game as evidenced by the graphically enhanced police cars in hot pursuit (Electronic Arts, 2005, Need for Speed Most Wanted). As a new media text, the game introduces the user to a colourful interface, punctuated with a selection of fast rock and rap music, calligraphic hypertext and vivid images of the various cars embedded or available in the game. The user is presented with a range of options on the interface which are positioned across the lower part of the screen. The user can, for example, chose to engage in a quick race where the game’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) selects the car, the course and the conditions such as heavy or minimal traffic and allows the user to compete. On the interface, the user can also chose to engage in a custom race where they can select their preferred vehicle from a list of available vehicles, a course of their preference and conditions as well. Other options include multiplayer or split screen modes, career mode or the user can alter the game settings to their preferences such as which tracks (or songs) play during which actions, which game control devices to use and their particular settings as well such as which key or button executes which command when using keyboards, game pads or joysticks (Electronic Arts, 2005, Need for Speed Most Wanted). The game’s central theme is captured in the story-driven career mode which introduces the gamer or user into the world of NFSMW. In career mode, the user is first required to create a profile under which they will attempt to complete the game. This process implies subsequent “unlocking” or making available a wider range of cars, auto tuner mechanical parts, visual effects, race courses or areas of Rockport which are not available to users who do not log in using a profile. The user assumes the identity of an anonymous illegal street racer who is entering Rockport. In the prologue, the user (as the racer) poses as a new street racer whose initial success in Rockport attracts the attention of a clique of racers organized as the “Blacklist”, a veritable who’s-who crème de la crème list of Rockport’s 15 most skilled, successful and notorious illegal street racers. The user is double crossed by Razor, the racer at the apex of the Blacklist, and his henchmen and loses his superior BMW in a rigged race. From this point onwards, the user is introduced to a girl known as Mia, who apparently has connections in the racing world, and she helps the racer get back on his feet as he starts all over again to try and recapture his car and glory. The user has to engage in organized street races and various challenges against the Rockport Police Department to earn the right to compete against members of the Blacklist, working all the way from 15 to the top with increasing levels of difficulty until they ultimately accumulate enough money and street reputation, measured by “bounty”, to challenge for the position of Rockport’s “Most Wanted” street racer- hence the game title. As the user progresses, more and more cars, parts and areas of Rockport are “unlocked” which promise more intense racing, wider range of options and experiences (Electronic Arts, 2005, Need for Speed Most Wanted). In engaging with the game as a new media text, the user is introduced to the illegal street racing world. This world is postmodernist in that while it captures certain aspects of the real world, a substantial part of the game does not make sense in the real world (Lister, Martin et al, 2003). For instance, the game has representations of real life car models from manufacturers such as BMW, Mercedes Benz, Chevrolet, Lamborghini and Mitsubishi. In the game, street racing is illegal and will attract the attention of the police. The game’s computer graphics (CG) depict or simulate a real life environment with life like roads that have regular traffic such as taxis, lawns, petrol stations, stadiums and industrial complexes. The user can navigate to most areas of the game environment using a car and has realistic views of most features. However, the user can only use a car to navigate, race tracks are bounded off by transparent yet non transcendental barriers and in career mode, the user’s car can crash through police barriers with minimal damage to the car. Realistically, different car brands perform at different levels- luxury sports cars such as the Mc Laren Mercedes have more horsepower and speed as compared to models such as Chevrolet and Toyota. The cars can be tuned or upgraded as in real life but they do not require refuelling or repair. In essence, the game is a postmodernist kaleidoscope of both real and unrealistic or sensible and non sensible concepts. Processes of Transformation One of the primary processes of transformation as the user engages or interacts with NFSMW is simulation. The game simulates a real life city with working systems such as roads, buildings and other social amenities such as stadiums. Simulation collapses the ontological distinction between the real world and the game as the user navigates highways and intersections dotted with lawns and shops (Cartwright, 2001). The game also simulates real life car models in their appearance and performance in relation to each other. For instance, a Mc Laren Mercedes Benz priced at 300,000 (in units of the game’s currency) or a Porsche priced at 250,000 has a higher top speed and acceleration than a Chevrolet model priced at 25,000. This gives the game some level of modality or representativeness of reality. Another process as the user engages with NFSMW comes into play as the user interacts with the actual text in the game. To access options or activate sequences such as races and police pursuits, the gamer uses hypertext links. Hypertext allows linkages to other inter-textual fields for the user within the media (Landow, 1992). These links in NFSMW are labelled with the various options such as “career mode”. These links, when selected by the user or reader, allow the user to access further choices such as “start new career” for new users who intend to embark on career mode or “resume career” for users who have already saved their progress. Selecting an option such as resume career will further open a new range of options in a different interface such as “car select” or “resume free roam” and the process goes on until the user arrives at their desired point. Selecting “options” would also enable the user to alter settings such as audio and controller settings. Identities In the game’s career mode, the user is required to create a profile or an alias which they will use in the game. This alias is left to the user’s discretion as they can select any name they desire under which they will assume the persona of a street racer. The game thus enables users to assimilate a variety of possible identities, as a street racer in career mode, as a one-off or seasonal racer in general mode or even as a prospective car buyer within the career mode alias itself. In engaging with the game as a new media text, readers or users can thus assume a pseudo-identity or alias which they can use to alter the text or intervene in the choices they make during the game. This identity may elicit the affect of racing enthusiasts or aficionados seeking the thrill and adventure of illegal, high speed street racing. Regardless of one’s social standing, age or ability, the game allows users to “drive” an expensive Mercedes Benz, Aston Martin or Lamborghini while immersing them into the world of illegal street racing. Conclusion New media texts are texts produced by modern technologies which update or upgrade existing forms or old media through mediating or new emerging technologies. Unlike old media texts such as books and film, new media texts such as computer or video games are more interactive and elevate the consumer who engages in them from mere readers to users. New media texts are not merely collections of signs which represent the world but postmodern culture sites which enable the user to intervene or make choices on how they read the text (). NFSMW is a computer game, a genre of new media texts more specifically a racing simulator, which enables the user to inhabit the world of illegal street racing. In their interaction with the game, the users assimilate the identity of an underground street racer in the fictional city of Rockport. The user has control of the choices of music, settings and cars as they interact with this new media text. In interacting with the game, various processes such as simulation come into play whereby the game simulates or mimics a real life environment and the users use hypertext to make their own choices within the game. Thus in relation to the user, the computer game as new media text allows users to alter, intervene or make choices to what particular text they can access within the game’s content. References Cartwright, M. & Lisa, C. (2001). Practices of Looking: an Introduction to Visual Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press,. Electronic Arts, (2005), Need for Speed Most Wanted. Landow, P., (1992). Hypertext: the Convergence of Contemporary Critical Theory and Technology. University of Michigan: John Hopkins University Press. Lister, Martin et al. (2003). New Media: A Critical Introduction. London: Routledge. Manovich, L., (2002). The Language of New Media. California: MIT Press. Matheson, D., (2005). Media Discourses: Analysing Media Texts, Issues in Cultural and Media Studies, Canterbury: Mc Graw Hill International. Read More