Media scholar Jason Mittel of the blog Just TV, has published a draft of what seem to become an excellent essay about the Wire and how it is narratively constructed. A good read for anyone interested in understanding some of the underlying appeal of the show.
After discussing whether or not to assess the wire as a televised novel, he goes on to compare the wire with the narrative structure of a video game. This actually made me think – is this something you would like to see?
Excerpt: Ultimately the characters in The Wire, while quite human and multi-dimensional, are as narrowly defined in their possibilities as typical videogame avatars. They each do what they do because that is the way the game is played—Bubbles can’t get clean, McNulty can’t follow orders, Avon can’t stop fighting for his corners, Sobotka can’t let go of the glory days of the shipyard. The characters with agency to change, like Stringer Bell, D’Angelo Barksdale, or Bunny Colvin, find the systems too resistant, the “boss levels” too difficult, to overcome the status quo.
Ultimately it is through its focus on procedure, at the levels of action, play, and code, that The Wire generates its verisimilitude, creating a ludic engagement with the SimCity of 21st century Baltimore.
Me myself would love to be able to take on the role of a Baltimore cop or hoodie and be part of evolving the story; solving crimes, having a drinking session with Bunk and McNulty or running packages.
What do you think? Would you play good cop, bad cop, king pin or perhaps junkie? Would it even be possible to transfer the dynamics of the show to the video game medium?
5 Comments
June 18, 2007 at 4:59 pm
Damn, that would be tight! Could be GTA style, and you choose to play as a gangsta or a cop… Would be a difficult concept to develope, but I reckon it’d be well worth the cost for a major games company… The Wire has a great underground following.
I think a ‘The Wire’ game would be the only reason I’d buy a PS3, lol…
July 8, 2007 at 5:42 am
This series definitely has potential to become a great video game. There are so many possibilities they can run with.
For example, the game can be played in seasons and each season unlocks more options. It will start off with season one and you will choose a side between the police and the Barksdale Organization. Missions would be set up to where you would control the different characters on each side. Then in season two more options open up as you can play with the guys from the docks, barksdale’s crew, or the police. Then it goes on and on to the final season.
I’d love to play it as a video game. Dumping phones and etc. lol.
September 12, 2007 at 9:46 pm
Hello, nice post. Bookmark it.
February 20, 2009 at 8:26 pm
[...] however, I ran across an old blog posting that opened my eyes to another kind of cross-media pollination that is fascinating and full of [...]
July 27, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Only if the name of the game is
The Wire: The Game…
The Game is the Game. “You’re in the Game”