Theme Parks, Signs and Signifiers - creating small coherant worlds

The medium of video game delivers something all other fictional media strive for – an immersive experience, whether it is exploring the vast icy landscapes of Lost Planet or striving for success in the competitive Mario Kart environment. But what makes these worlds so immersive and what techniques can be applied to ensure this?

One aspect of the world we live in was brought up in a lecture – Theme Parks. Theme Parks may seem far removed from the virtual worlds of video games, but in essence they both work for the same goal – creating not only a location but an experience. Theme parks often utilise well placed signifiers to aid in this, throughout the park and around the rides themselves.

An example of this is the Saw Maze at Thorpe Park. From the outside, the ride is located within a building which has been disguised as an abandoned warehouse hanging precariously over the water. In front of this building, the queue stems out, entirely surrounded by tall chain fencing and rusted out objects. Slightly above this, there were numerous speakers which played various audio tracks of both the audience’s visual and audio senses are being attended to by the rides signifiers; the chain fencing meaning to create connotations of being trapped and in a difficult situation, while rusted out objects bring thoughts of disrepair and lack of human contact – both of which would be side effects of being in a reclusive area. The audio accompaniment and the location further encapsulate the audience in a small but unexplained narrative world.

Unlike a video game which is tailored entirely for a singular coherent world, a theme park has many rides, most of which offer a loose narrative, all having to be able to operate separately from each other.  Another completely contrasting world within the Thorpe Park “world” would be Colossus – which hints at an unexplored land. The queue is filled with rich and overgrowing foliage, while booming dramatic ambient sounds are played on repeat over the hidden speakers. The queue continues with dark cobweb filled tunnels and twisting tracks. Even the barriers are simple rope and wood low fencing. Again these signifiers are working to deliver the concept of being in a land barely touched by man (hence the uncontrolled foliage) – while the music acts to build the tension of ‘exploring’. Of course in this scenario the signifiers from the Saw Maze would be completely out of place within the confines of colossus and vice versa. How could a land untouched by man be enclosed by a restricting and industrial fence?

It is clear that signifiers are very much a large part of the experience of a theme park – and can often be very blatant and stereotypical. A futuristic ride will no doubt have smooth, metallic features and classic science fiction tones while a horror ride will often feature a decrepit mansion, dead trees and cemeteries. The audience will know exactly how to distinguish each ride from another by its signifiers and what to expect. The same is very much true for video games. Every video game has to utilise signifiers to draw the player into the world. For example in the video game “Fallout: New Vegas” Bethesda aims to convey a futuristic yet 1950 inspired universe that also brings the ideas of post nuclear apocalypse and the real life location of Las Vegas. To successfully do this they include numerous signifiers throughout the game for each different theme that they wish to include:

Fallout New Vegas - a game with many themes and many more signifiers

1950: Pip Boy and propaganda posters. Music, clothing, housing style, ideals and lifestyle

Future: Steel Brotherhood, metallic armour, laser/ plasma weapons, robotic animals and creatures, ‘Vaults’

Nuclear Post Apocalypse:  Warring factions, Bandits, Radiation poisoning, mutated animals, ‘Vaults’, wastelands, lack of food/ water, destroyed buildings and objects

Las Vegas: Poker Chips, Casinos, Neon Lights, “The strip”, seedy businesses, gambling

Bethesda has to combine all of the above elements to completely draw the player into their intended themes because if the player does not understand/ believe the coherence of the themes within the game, their suspension of disbelief will be affected.

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09/11/2011 last accessed