10.12.06
Brief observations about interactive fiction
Lately I have spent a lot of time thinking about interactive narration. Both as a consequence of beginning my studies in Film and Media, where I have already read quite a bit (although not as much as I should) about narratives among other means of expression. Chiefly, these studies in the art or craft of storytelling have concerned themselves with linear stories in films, which is something that mostly interests me as a foundation for the much more fascinating concept of interactive fiction (in particular, games).
An especially interesting activity is to compare the ways in which different game developers have gone about the task of creating a story in their games. Of course I realize far from all games even HAVE a story, but as narration has beem the object of my passion since the games I played with my friends when I was a kid, casual games such as Tetris and Bejewelled are not something I wish to spend any intellectual energy on. They are fine for passing time, but in most cases I wouldn’t consider them art. Not to say art needs narration but… let’s save that discussion for another time.
