The term ‘transmedia’ is often associated with the theory of intermediality and this idea that within media texts, there is room for intertextual references that can relate back to the original content, furthermore creating a deferred narrative through different media texts, this can be a story from a book being continued in a film and then being carried on in a game (Storsul and Krumsvik, 2013). Jenkins describes transmedia as a form of storytelling, each medium does what it does best – so that a story might be introduced as a film, expanded through television, novels and comics (Storsul and Krumsvik, 2013, p.177).
An example of transmedia in motion, is Arkham. Arkham Asylum a fictional place that resides within Gotham, fans are well acquainted with this institute for it’s a place the main protagonist Batman and many of his antagonists from Harley Quinn, Killer Croc and the most known villain Joker has visited on many occasions. The first sign of intertextuality is the asylum itself, it has been seen in many comics from Batman: The Last Arkham, Arkham Asylum: Living Hell, Black Orchid, Arkham Reborn, Batman: The Man Who Laughs to even Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, were readers learn of the origins of the asylum but has then gone on to be the title of the series of games Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, Arkham Origins and Arkham Knight. Arkham Asylum is also referenced in a huge amount of the Batman related films; from Batman Forever, Batman & Robin, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and many other films.
In this case the mediation of the video game, is the series of comics that were created after its release, the series Batman: Arkham Asylum links the plots from the first game and the sequel Arkham City. By doing this, the story is being continued on another platform, allowing fans to see more of what happened in the space between these two stories.
When playing the video game, fans are physically engaging in what Batman can do; the weapons he uses in fights, the moves he can do, the fans can choose whether he does the side missions or carries on with the main game. The achievements that are won after creating records or reaching a certain score is also rewarding for the fans and I can say this as an active acafan of this series. Now that there is a comic book series created around the game, the fans won’t be physically active in the consumption, in the way they were when playing the game but by reading their consumption is still active.
Bibliography:
Storsul, T. and Krumsvik, A. (2013). Media innovations. Göteborg: NORDICOM.
Wikipedia, (2015). Arkham Asylum. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkham_Asylum#Origins [Accessed 17 May 2015].