Between Freedom and Constraint ROM Hacking of Pokmon

Between Freedom and Constraint －ROM Hacking of Pokémon Games－ Fanny Barnabé Marie-Curie COFUND postdoctoral fellow, co-funded by the European Union Ph. D in Letters University of Liège (Belgium) Member of the Liège Game. Lab fanny. barnabe@ulg. ac. be

1. Introduction: Definition and Perspectives v Hacking (≈“modding”) = creative practice that consists in modifying some elements of a game (characters, levels, maps, sprites, etc. ) in order to create a renewed version, or even a fully fledged new game “Partial conversions” Ex. : Sonic in Super Mario World “Total conversions” Ex. : Half-Life (left) Vs. Counter-Strike (right)

1. Introduction: Definition and Perspectives v Most research dedicated to hacking mainly examines it as a social practice, by questioning its relationship with the industry: ? What are the economic consequences of hacking? (Postigo, 2007; Nieborg and Graaf, 2008) ? What legal problems can it cause, especially in terms of copyright? (Scacchi, 2010; Nieborg, 2005; Postigo, 2008) ? Do hackers show subversion regarding mainstream video games (Sihvonen, 2011), or are they only aspiring professionals trying to rejoin the industry (Laukkanen, 2005; Morris, 2003) and volunteering (or even being exploited by the studios through a kind of “playbour”)? (Kücklich, 2005; Sotamaa, 2007)

1. Introduction: Definition and Perspectives v Very little research has focused on the formal aspects of the hacks, on their aesthetics or on their stylistic processes This paper proposes to study hacking from a rhetorical perspective, with illustrations selected in a corpus of ROM hacks derived from Pokémon games I will focus on two properties of hacking as a rhetorical process: - it feeds a given video game language - it reveals the inner grammar of this language

2. Feeding the Video Game Language v Hacks enhance the expressive potential of the video game language at three levels: (1) lexical, (2) syntactical and (3) enunciative (1) Hacks enrich the original game’s lexicon: Ex. : “Fakemon” in Pokémon Cyan (ROM hack of Pokémon Fire. Red)

2. Feeding the Video Game Language (2) On the syntactical level: not only the game environments are completely reorganized through “mapping”, but the modes of interaction with these environments can also be modified Ex. : mapping and mini-games in Pokémon Prism (ROM hack of Pokémon Crystal)

2. Feeding the Video Game Language (3) On the enunciative level, hacking opens the repertoire of Pokémon games by including these games in the field of amateurism, gratuitousness and illegality Most fan creations are unfinished works or “works in progress” Hacks can explore themes that could not have been exploited in mainstream games, such as vulgarity, sexuality, violence or gore Ex. : Pokémon Snakewood (ROM hack of Pokémon Ruby) Ex. : Pokémon My Ass (ROM hack of Pokémon Fire. Red)

3. Revealing the Video Game Grammar v Hacks retain marks of the constraints imposed by the sourcegame: its structure remains visible and readable through the hack, as through a palimpsest (cf. Stasi, 2006) v “Parody – at the same time as it deforms and subverts its target – preserves and respects it, by incorporating it into its own form in a recognizable way” (Tran-Gervat, 2006) Hacks = revealing prisms They expose how the gaming language works, whether by repeating it, by reversing it, or by representing it in a reflexive way

3. 1. Through Repetition v Hacks of Pokémon games are characterized by a pronounced classicism Ex. : in Pokémon Eclipse (hack of Pokémon Fire. Red), the mapping style of official games is reproduced + The places’ names obey a thematic coherence (// Pokémon Red and Blue): Cities: Lapis Village, Coral Town, Wisteria Town. . . Intermediary biomes: Oracle Forest, Gorgon Shore, Valkyrie Hill…

3. 1. Through Repetition v Pokémon Eclipse also contains more specific quotations: some events, quest structures or puzzles are largely inspired by official games Hack (Pokémon Eclipse) Original (Pokémon Fire. Red) The “Nugget Bridge” // The “Flower Brigade” Vermilion City Gym // Sienna Gym

3. 1. Through Repetition v Pokémon Eclipse respects Pokémon’s conventions even when they do not make sense in the modified version Ex. : NPCs’ tutorial-sentences are replicated very accurately Dialogues are addressed to the player as if he were a neophyte Gameplay builds a much more competent “model-player” (Eco, 1985) By repeating some of the Pokémon games’ conventions, hacks make these codes unnatural, thus perceptible

3. 2. Through Inversion v Hacks can also reveal an implicit rule of the original game by reversing it or by contradicting it Ex. : in Pokémon Glazed, the fact that the avatar sometimes starts talking highlights the mutism of Pokémon games’ protagonists Ex. : the constant vulgarity and sexual allusions in Pokémon My Ass reveal the radical absence of such registers in the official series

3. 2. Through Inversion v Pokémon My Ass = a vast semantic reversal of its source: Þ These figures = “intertextual metaphors” (the meaning of the game’s element or event is replaced by another, following a comparison link) Þ Example of what Genette calls “hypertextual comedy” (1982: 532)

3. 3. Through Reflexivity v Hacks can appear as reflexive comments of the games they are remixing: they expose their structures through metalepsis Þ Metalepsis = transgression of a level of fiction (Genette, 1982: 527) Ex. : in Pokémon Eclipse, transgressive puzzles force the protagonist to go out of the frame of the representation

3. 3. Through Reflexivity Ex. : Pokémon Eclipse “Seriously, what’s up with these random Pokémon and objects blocking my way all the time? ” Ex. : Pokémon My Ass

3. 3. Through Reflexivity Ex. : in Pokémon My Ass, a reflexive mechanism is based on the “ludonarrative dissonance” principle Þ Hacks = representations of the very act of creation Þ The modifications call back the hacking within the hack Þ Creative performance = true end of the activity

Conclusion

文　献 v Postigo Hector (2007), “Of Mods and Modders. Chasing Down the Value of Fan-Based Digital Game Modifications”, Games and Culture, 2(4), 300 -313 v Nieborg David B. and Graaf Shenja van der (2008), “The mod industries? The industrial logic of non-market game production”, European Journal of Cultural Studies, 11(2), 177195 v Scacchi Walt (2010), “Computer game mods, modders, modding, and the mod scene”, First Monday, 15(5 -3) v Nieborg David B. (2005), “Am I Mod or Not? - An Analysis of First Person Shooter Modification Culture”, Paper presented at the Creative Gamers Seminar – Exploring Participatory Culture in Gaming, University of Tampere <https: //lc. cx/g. Ky. S> v Postigo Hector (2008), “Video Game Appropriation through Modifications. Attitudes Concerning Intellectual Property among Modders and Fans”, Convergence : The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 14(1), 59 -74 v Sihvonen Tanja (2011), Players Unleashed! Modding The Sims and the Culture of Gaming, Amsterdam University Press v Laukkanen Tero (2005), Modding scenes. Introduction to user-created content in computer gaming. Featuring case studies of “Half-Life”, “The Sims” & “Grand Theft Auto III / Vice City” modding scenes, University of Tampere Hypermedia Laboratory <https: //lc. cx/g. Ky. N>

文　献 v Morris Sue (2003), “WADs, Bots and Mods: Multiplayer FPS Games as Co-creative Media”, in Proceedings of the 2003 Di. GRA International Conference: Level Up, vol. 2, Utrecht <https: //lc. cx/g. Kyf> v Kücklich Julian (2005), “Precarious Playbour: Modders and the Digital Games Industry”, The Fibreculture Journal, <https: //lc. cx/g. Kym> v Sotamaa Olli (2007), “On modder labour, commodification of play, and mod competitions”, First Monday, 12(9) <https: //lc. cx/g. Ky. B> v Barnabé Fanny (2017), Rhétorique du détournement vidéoludique. Le cas de Pokémon, Ph. D dissertation in Literature, University of Liège, Belgium <https: //lc. cx/g. Ky. E> v Stasi Mafalda (2006), “The Toy Soldiers from Leeds. The Slash Palimpsest”, in Hellekson Karen and Busse Kristina, eds. , Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet, Mc. Farland, 115 -133 v Genette Gérard (1982), Palimpsestes. La littérature au second degré, Seuil v Tran-Gervat Yen-Mai (2006), « Pour une définition opérationnelle de la parodie littéraire : parcours critique et enjeux d'un corpus spécifique » , Cahiers de Narratologie, 13 <https: //lc. cx/g. Kyz> v Eco Umberto (1985) [1979], Lector in fabula : le rôle du lecteur ou la Coopération interprétative dans les textes, Librairie Générale Française

ゲーム v 『Counter-Strike』, Valve Corporation, Microsoft Studios, 2000 (PC) v 『Half-Life』, Valve Corporation, Sierra On-Line, 1998 (PC) v 『ポケットモンスター 赤・緑』 , ゲームフリーク, 任天堂, 1996 (Game Boy) v 『Pokémon Cyan』, Chrunch, 2015, hack of 『Pokémon Fire. Red』<https: //lc. cx/g. K 9 z> v 『 Pokémon Prism』 , Koolboyman, 2007, hack of 『 Pokémon Crystal』 <https: //lc. cx/g. KCi> v 『 Pokémon My Ass』 , Lucas Urso and Bobby, 2010, hack of 『 Pokémon Fire. Red』 <https: //lc. cx/g. KCN> v 『 Pokémon Snakewood』 , Cutlerine, 2013, hack of 『 Pokémon Ruby』 <https: //lc. cx/g. KCM> v 『 Pokémon Eclipse』, Christos, 2015, hack of 『Pokémon Fire. Red』https: //lc. cx/g. KCm v 『 Pokémon Glazed』 , Redriders 180, 2015, hack of 『 Pokémon Emerald』 <https: //lc. cx/g. KCh>