10.5

database is defined as a structured collection of data > storing and retreiving information easily

with new media comes a move away from “narrative” form to experience the world > instead the world has become a random collection of data

websites and other databases are continually growing and changing > therefore there cannot be a coherent “narrative” as the material is constantly changing

computer games are new media objects which are not databases, they rely on “narrative” > not all new media relies on a ‘database’ structure > they are motivated by the ‘algorithm’ logic

Will Wright (creator of the sims) “Playing the game is a continuous loop between the user (viewing outcomes and inputting decisions) and the computer (calculating outcomes and displaying them back to the user). The user is trying to build a mental model of the computer model.”

 

new media has largely been reduced to algorithms and data structures

the computer age brought with it a new cultural algorithm:
reality-> media -> data-> data-base

when the ability to document and store information in a database (on a computer particularly) there was a push towards digitalising everything (including older formats like photography, scanning old photographs etc) in order to be able to easily store and access this information

while the concept of ‘database’ and ‘narrative’ are conflicting, ‘narrative’ and ‘algorithm’ have a commonality

not all cultural objects are narratives, there are specific criteria which to judge what can be considered a narrative or not, some databases are definitely not classed as narratives