So I used to strongly believe in the idea of video games being narrative but after reading the first part of the Ryan reading I can actually see a valid argument for why they aren't narrative
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narrative video games?nonareyApril 20 2008, 21:20:57 UTC
After reading Ryan and Aarseth, I feel like the gaming industry uses the narrative hook to reel us in, then the interactive narrative becomes a game.
You stated, "Ryan also states that games have rules not themes and that rules define games. This is true, although avid gamers would claim that plenty of literary themes can be found in video games."
I'm going to go with Ryan's standpoint, predicated on the notion that the idea of narrative can be applied to games. If it is the case that we as scholars accept an idea of narrative rather than a restriction on genre as Ryan claimed ludists attempt to do, then I'd argue that, like literature, not all games are narrative.
Accepting an applicable set of prerequisites will render (no pun intended) certain games unable to be narrative. Pong cannot be narrative. There are no elements there. A book, where all the pages say "This is a page in a book," is not narrative either.
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You stated, "Ryan also states that games have rules not themes and that rules define games. This is true, although avid gamers would claim that plenty of literary themes can be found in video games."
Pretty interesting to think about...
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Accepting an applicable set of prerequisites will render (no pun intended) certain games unable to be narrative. Pong cannot be narrative. There are no elements there. A book, where all the pages say "This is a page in a book," is not narrative either.
-Matt
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