(2022-08-09) Hon Playing With Wikis

Adrian Hon: Playing With Wikis. Back when “transmedia” was an innovative new term... about 15 years ago – there was a brief craze of “second screen” experiences to accompany TV dramas.

the second screen fad was quickly forgotten amid the oncoming tide of smartphones and social media apps, which were far more interesting and distracting than any transmedia made for TV shows.

As soon as smartphones and tablets became ubiquitous amongst gamers, there was flurry of second screen experiences, this time to accompany video games.

game companion apps are no more. Maybe it was foolish to think they could ever work given how interactive and immersive games are meant to be.

the problem wasn’t the apps – it was that they weren’t giving players what they really wanted. What’s better than a map of where you’ve already been? A map of where’s best to go next

I played long sections of Elden Ring with one eye on a tablet loaded with walkthroughs and levelling guides

Walkthroughs, wikis, Reddit explainers, YouTube how-tos – they all make games more fun.

They make games more approachable and accessible. They make games better. But they only exist because people are already excited; a truly dreadful or unbalanced game is unlikely to have the level of community devotion required to create great resources.

Interestingly, few people think of these companions as cheating any more

It’s reminiscent of the “extended mind” hypothesis, which suggests that some tools, like pens and paper – and instantly-accessible online resources – can become so integrated into our thought processes that they’re basically turn into an extension of our minds. (outboard brain)

Maybe that’s why one person’s speedrun feels like an achievement for the entire community. With the internet, we’re all playing these games collectively, learning from each other, whether or not they’re multiplayer. And that’s worth keeping two screens on at once. (hive mind)