Aesthetic and Vernacular in Sega's "Jet Set Radio"

As Bruce stated, I'd be lying if I said I had any true grasp on what either term, vernacular or aesthetic, truly means. Or even what they mean in a way that will be truly helpful for analyzing images and symbol systems. On that same note, I found Logan's post extremely helpful for giving me a place to begin considering these terms from. It would seem that the aesthetic ties into some sort of visual pleasure, while the vernacular seems to serve a very specific function. Given my position and the texts I primarily study, I of course look for the ways in which the vernacular and aesthetic relate to one another, and this seems to be a relationship between what is visually pleasing and that which is functional or performs work in videogames.

Many popular games today are made and designed with realism as a primary goal. The prevalence of the Unreal Engine, Fox Engine, or the Frostbyte Engine which all seek to emulate natural lighting, textures, particle effects, and physics underline this goal of realism in major games today, like Gears of War or Battlefield 3. Indie games tend to move away from this, partly due to not having the staff and time to render games and scenes with such detail, but also because they tend to focus on creating more atmospheric games with unique visual styles, like Bit.Trip Beat or Fez. Thus, the range of aesthetics and who appreciates them in games covers an incredibly broad range. Some gamers view a game's visuals as pleasing only when they are incredibly detailed and parallel the world we live in. Some gamers decidedly prefer games with cartoon-ish, colorful visuals. Either way, the visual presentation of a game is decidedly aesthetic and vernacular at once.

Whereas games once came with lengthy booklets and maps, now these components are built into the games themselves. Instead of featuring a list of moves in the game's booklet, the player learns skills and maneuvers inside the game world as they play. Instead of including instructions at all, many games are simply downloaded, providing no written documentation whatsoever (if Angry Birds has an instructions manual, I’d love to know who read it). This is not due to a lack of complexity in videogames, as I'm willing to believe that anyone reading knows the contrary to be true, but because the aesthetic and the vernacular are inextricably bound in videogames. Take the example of Sega's Jet Set Radio. 

Set in a futuristic version of Japan wherein the government has oppressed its citizens, and as a response to the excessive control of the government (which is being manipulated by corporate forces), the youth have taken to spray painting graffiti, not only as artistic expression but as a form of protest. The game's world is decidedly colorful and bright, with a cel-shaded visual style, allowing the world to come alive and present opportunities to guide players in obvious ways. Arrows show players where they must spray paint to complete the level. This is at once aesthetic and vernacular. Without these visual cues, the maps which show spots which must be tagged for players to progress, the game becomes little more than a frustrating scavenger hunt. The marriage of art and function comes through both in concept and visual presentation in Jet Set Radio.

Further building from what Logan says (thanks, Logan!), the notion of context proves necessary to understand the vernacular and aesthetic qualities of Jet Set Radio. The game was initially released in 2001 for Sega's defunct Dreamcast console but has seen new life recently through re-releases for PC, all major consoles, and iOS and Android in the coming months. Jet Set Radio is the first instance of this  aesthetic style receiving widespread praise, though in the years since, cel-shading has been used in games like The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, Super Paper Mario, and Okami, proving the range and popularity of the style up to today. At the time, Jet Set Radio was considered a dramatic artistic departure and started an entire genre of videogame aesthetics in its wake. In its context, this game was radical for many reasons, including its themes, all of which are emphasized in the game world. Had they chosen a gritty, “realistic” visual style, the visual cues for where players were supposed to travel and paint would have been harder to distinguish, diminishing their vernacular impact.

In Jet Set Radio, the marriage between aesthetic and vernacular is a rather harmonious one—the visuals reinforce the gameplay, and the gameplay relies on the visual style to make its impact. Similarly, these choices become rhetorical in light of their context, as the topic of graffiti in games had not been explored meaningfully prior to Jet Set Radio, and the cartoonish visuals stand in contrast to the grim reality of a futuristic Japan which is being manipulated by corporate forces and which uses the police force to restrain the artistic expression of the player, which is being performed as a direct response.