Fireworks in Video Gaming

Fireworks, in videogames, have much in common with fireworks in real life; they are flashy displays of light designed to amaze, amuse and entertain. Digital displays of light effects and pyrotechnics can serve many purposes in a video game. They can be used in a celebratory way at the end of a level or event, to reward the player with a visual experience for a job well done. In a broader sense, if we consider fireworks in games as any type of flashy display of digital rendering, we can include flares, sparks, and explosions as different types and scales of said fireworks. In this sense the can be used for displays of power, impact, and representations of collision. In any case, fireworks in gaming add an aesthetic value, appealing to a player’s senses. We will be taking an adapted look at fireworks as explained by the article Indoor Fireworks: The Pleasures of Digital Game Pyrotechnics, written by Simon Niedenthal, and the applicability of fireworks to video games.

Fireworks, though not points, currency or loot, can be used as rewards simply through their unique displays of color, light and awe. In Indoor Fireworks, Niedenthal uses the example of Wii Sports, a game in which hitting a home run earns the player a reward of a fireworks display. Fireworks are a great form of celebration and congratulation; a reward for achievements large and small. For hitting a home run, or beating a level in a game, a grand display of celebratory fireworks can be a very rewarding event. On a smaller scale, sparks and flares of light for smaller achievements such as collecting an item, opening a chest, or landing a hit in combat can all add up to many tiny moments as a player progresses through a game. Leveling up is just not the same without the extravagant pillar of light rising from your character. The satisfaction and reassurance that comes from light displays is something that cannot be overlooked in games, as they can add to or replace various forms of currency, loot, story, and unlockable items. Fireworks are by no means the final and only solution to this games issues, but they are a strong step in the right direction. By adding these visual flares players can be rewarded without actually receiving anything more than a quick visual render on a screen; by adding small flares for hits against an enemy, flashy explosions to certain projectile impacts, and in addition to the explosion caused from destroying an object or enemy, Games can start to produce a system in which player are rewarded for playing, not just achieving.

In asking why fireworks are capable as a game-play element or a reward, the answer is in moments; in real life a firework is a moment. Consider a fireworks display: one small firework is beautiful, amusing, entertaining. A large firework on the other hand, as one would expect from a grand finale, is a moment in its self. The brilliance of the light, the scale of the explosion and the sound of the bang as it