Play

Aleks Krotoski

Technology writer and academic Aleks Krotoski thinks if the PSP can understand that a sense of playfulness is the social glue that underpins successful interactive experiences, we can develop Public Service Content which will appeal to the digital natives who have grown up with computer gaming.

Play: more than just a game

What we call digital "play" encompasses a much larger sphere of playful activity across formal game play, traditional computer games and beyond. Play can be the goal of a rule-based activity (like a board or computer game), the outcome of a less-structured and fluid activity between two or more people (like catching a ball), or it can be a sense of "playfulness" (like instilling an inanimate object with fun).

Historically, the computer gaming industry has experienced its greatest success with goal-orientated, non-networked (i.e., "single-player") games, often offered via proprietary platforms and products (e.g. Sony PlayStation, Nintendo Wii, XBox 360). Within the past decade, a variety of genres and game types have proliferated which reach beyond the familiar racing, simulation, shooting and strategy games. Increasingly, due to advances in technology and public demand, creative game-like experiences like Toshio Iwai's acclaimed Elektroplankton are also emerging as important products in mainstream publishers' portfolios.

New media technologies (e.g. the web and GPS) have inspired greater levels of interactivity and the diffusion of directed and undirected playfulness based upon the experiences and content of commercial games. The widespread take-up of rapid internet access has encouraged the establishment of gaming communities, inspiring products which are designed to make full use of fans' social networks. Competition and collaboration is now distributed across digital communication channels, and gamers' play partners frequently come from living rooms around the globe.

High levels of community-based activity and User Generated Content have grown out of the cultures surrounding commercial gaming, encouraging prolonged active participation with high street properties. Users write and share fan fiction, develop characters and plot game environments away from the game space. Players have also driven a new category of media self-expression called Machinima where users create short films using gaming engines and platforms.

This creative movement centred on user contribution has proven hugely economically successful for the producers as well as the consumers themselves; Massively Multiplayer Online Games such as World Of Warcraft and social virtual worlds like SecondLife have created active player-owned financial markets with annual turnovers of millions of US dollars, demonstrating the real-world power of community-driven participation.

Games aside, the internet is another space brimming with playfulness. The tools provided by the Web 2.0 movement encourage active involvement, from citizen journalism to social action, suffused with novel forms of tinkering and play. Web 2.0 social software applications encourage users to contribute added layers of depth to the original purpose, like "metagames" played by users of social networking sites MySpace and Bebo, where the goal is to collect as many "friends" as possible. New media success stories often incorporate "game mechanics" into their designs as ways of encouraging community development and the playful engagement which exists there.

Further afield, new technologies are inspiring a fusion of offline and online experiences. Geocaching represents an entirely new type of game in the form of GPS enhanced treasure hunts where the players track down hidden items left by other geocachers in locations around the UK and record their activity on the web.

It is these bottom-up playful and participative activities which the PSP should engage with, where players adapt, tinker and collaborate outside formal gameplay.

Implications of adopting a playful approach

These manifestations of game-like approaches to content offer real opportunities for the PSP to build propositions around Public Service values which will serve new audiences:

Some of the best-received media experiences in recent years, from the TV series Lost to The Matrix film trilogy have included game designers in the development process. Beyond the content on screen however, Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) are extending linear entertainment experiences across other media channels, including the web, broadcast television and radio, print platforms and other areas in the real world. Some existing ARGs like Perplexcity engage thousands of players coupling online experience with tangible collectables, card-based puzzles and international real-world events. Other Mixed Reality games like Blast Theory's Uncle Roy All Around You involve lower user numbers in sophisticated location-based experiences more akin to theatre. The PSP should explore the potential for these interactive and playful experiences using public services and amenities as the channels for distributing play elements across media and in everyday situations.

Although User-Generated Content (UGC) has a number of obvious potential benefits to gaming (e.g. customisation and extension) - commercial gaming is still currently dominated by proprietary models. As traditional game developers become increasingly inspired by the depth of creativity demonstrated by users in shared online worlds this will of course change. In user-generated multi-participant spaces, people play with online tools to create personalised experiences to be enjoyed by the virtual populations. In social virtual world Second Life, for example, one Resident has re-created Dublin city centre using a combination of photographs, 3D modelling tools and streamed audio. Their virtual Blarney Stone pub hosts daily Irish get-togethers. In another area of the same online world, timely and political events are represented via virtual monuments and events such as the Solstice at Stonehenge and the 7/7 London Memorial in July 2005. Encouraged by this active participation, next generation proprietary games consoles like the Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3 all feature online connectivity with community-generated content options. The PSP should take advantage of this developing infrastructure to create Public Service experiences and playful projects with social purpose. Experiences unique to the public sector and meaningful to audiences but resist re-inventing the wheel in technological terms.

Though traditional computer gaming has been characterised by a limited spectrum of output catering for the tastes of its core audience of young men, many newer games show a more balanced demographic. Experience suggests this starts at the development stage. For example, The Sims, released in 2000, is one of the most popular computer games of all time. 40% of the design team were women - an extraordinarily balanced demographic in game design studios - and the game notably appeals to a hugely diverse range of users, 60% of which are female. This gender split has not since been matched, at either the creator or consumer level. One role for the PSP could be to better understand this shift and support the development of play and gaming content for more broadly representative and currently underserved audiences.

The role for the PSP

The commercial computer games industry is a crucial part of the UK creative economy and one that competes in the global market. The role of the PSP is not to compete with or inhibit this dynamic sector but to take some of the interactive strategies developed through games and their players and explore how they can be used in the creation of new Public Service Content. The PSP will need to benefit from existing technology to provide the scaffolding for long-term play activities not catered for by the commercial industry. We've identified three areas where this could prove fruitful: Serious Games, Augmented Reality and support for community generated content and distribution.

Serious Games

The application of games thinking and engines for education, training and learning is a dynamic new area. At present, efforts have been directed towards fairly obvious targets such as the Ministry Of Defence and business simulation. With the support of the PSP the UK serious games sector could be encouraged to look at more social applications unlikely to be provided by the commercial market. Areas of focus could include citizenship, public participation, social enterprise, minority language provision or parenting.

Augmented Reality

Bringing together online networking, game playing and mobile technologies, Mixed and Augmented Reality experiences are new genres that many see as having the most potential. The PSP should explore public service ARGs, perhaps in partnership with other public institutions. The PSP should also explore creating public service games and experiences within existing virtual and Multiplayer worlds.

Distribution of User Generated Applications and Tools

The PSP should encourage the development of an open rights distribution channel for user-created prototypes and software tools. This would build on the thriving 'mod' culture in games and across new media which is responsible for some of the most innovative uses of computer games inside and outside of traditional play models. The PSP would investigate how to encourage this 'share aware' approach to game development across the array of technologies available to its users, from mobile phones to iTV and the Internet.

In bridging the gap between gaming and public service the PSP should involve a diverse set of creators - involving those not traditionally included in the market. Taking this approach would mean that content and services supported by the PSP will more likely reflect the culture and diversity of the contemporary UK rather than the North American norm which dominates even the most successful British produced titles. In this way the PSP would facilitate and reflect cultural play by providing tools for users to demonstrate their community-driven definitions of British identity.