Week 5: Lily Poljacik

Growing up in an age of rapid technological advancements, literature based games are nothing new to me. I remember playing “choose your fate” games in school, but I suppose I had never thought about them in terms of how they follow a traditional story structure. As mentioned in Chapter 4, there are certain requirements for these types of games, in order for them to be considered a true form of literature. Video games that have a theme, character development, and general plot can be considered literature. Where it gets complicated, as Rettberg explains, is when the game focuses on gameplay mechanics, and creates a passive story that lacks focus on meaning. Certainly not all video games are literature, but for many children, anything gained from a video game is more than they may gain from attempting to read a linear storyline. I also looked more into the article by James O’Sullivan, which focuses on how he used digital literature, in the form of video games, in his personal relationships. He makes similar arguments to Rettberg, while also talking about how these games are truly limited by “predetermined structures.” There is an illusion of choice in games like Dear Esther, which is his main example, where the readers tend to end up in a very few select endings despite having so many choices along the way. This type of structure helps ensure that there is a true narrative written, while still making the story interactive. 

I chose to explore Zork, which to be honest took me a minute to get the hang of. Most of the things I entered into the chat were rejected, and eventually I ran out of things to do. A lot of times it would give me options of doors to enter or things to pick up, but then when I would enter the action it wouldn't recognize the words I entered. Although frustrating at times, I did end up playing around with it for far longer than expected, it definitely was engaging. I think that as a whole, the program's efforts for making a story line were good, and I can see how this would be a more effective method for understanding a story if someone was struggling with a linear plot. While playing I was reminded of the “predetermined structure” mentioned in the articles we were assigned to read. Although I had some choice in the game, at the end of the day I ended up in the areas of the home, doing what the program had wanted me to do.