ATTENTION TO THE
DIRECTION
By: Kurt Ty
 |
| GTA MEMES (GOOGLE IMAGES) |
Based on this week’s blog topic ‘Space and Place’, I have
chosen to link my blog with Wood et. al’s reading “Multiple Truths of the
Mappable World”. The topic ‘maps’ will
relate towards my social network of PlayStation in the gaming world of Grand
Theft Auto also known as “GTA”. The game focuses on an open world where the
player has control on which missions to attempt to progress from an overall
story (Garrelts, 2006). GTA also focuses on a variety of protagonists who
attempt to rise through the ranks of the criminal underworld; which is the sole
purpose of the game. The gameplay engages also on activities like action
driving, role playing, third person shooting and racing missions.
Though the game comprises on a variety of entertaining
aspects, GTA relies heavily on its mapping features. The map is filled with
lettered symbols to incorporate a “person of contact” that you will have to
build a relationship with to complete a mission. According to Tuan, “Humans
make place through symbols” (Tuan, 2003). Tuan’s theory supports the idea that
the makers of GTA included for the games mapping feature. Without the map on
the game, gamers will spend countless amounts of time navigating themselves
through missions. Having the mapping feature allows the gamers to pinpoint
locations where they can select a variety of available missions (depending on the
progress in the game). The whole ideology of mission mapping in Grand Theft
Auto relates to Denis Wood’s quote “Every map is a purposeful selection from
everything that is known… Every map serves a purpose. Every map advances an
interest” (Wood et. al, 2006).
In my opinion, maps approve that a “location” can be considered
a “space and place”. The Grand Theft Auto virtual world may seem limitless but to
progress within the game gamers will have to abide by the genre of the game. The
genre forms around shaping the gamers knowledge of the world of GTA. According
the Mikhail Bakhtin “Genres are often assumed as “rules” (Bakthin, 1986). Having
genres in the space and place of GTA keeps gamers on track of the sole purpose
of the game whilst also being given the opportunity to free roam when not
attempting a mission. To conclude, I believe that maps play a vital part on our
everyday living. Maps may vary in purposes but it will always be there to be a
source of direction, “place of knowing” and remembering landmarks. Without
maps, our world today may not be the same as those who explored our world
before us relied on the idea of “maps” to discover our vast world.
References:
Garrelts, Nate (2006). The Meaning and Culture of Grand
Theft Auto. Retrieved 18th of August from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto
Week 3 Notes LearnJCU (2017) https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_84764_1&content_id=_2759341_
Wood et. al (2006) https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/webapps/Conc-camcontent-bb_bb60/items/getitem.jsp?as_course_code=12-BA1002-TSV-INT-SP2&content_id=_768672_1&course_id=_26169_1&doc_id=30458
No comments:
Post a Comment