Video Games and E-Lit

Chapter 4 explores the connection between video games and electronic literature. To function, video games require mechanics that would classify it as electronic literature. Several genres of interactive fiction are even derived from the earliest “text adventure” games created in the 1980s. In most works of interactive fiction games, the player is working towards a definable goal through completing a series of puzzles. Common elements in interactive fiction, particularly the reader's interaction with text parser to advance the plot, could also be described to be the user interacting with objects in a game. The purpose of a game of interaction fiction is "to find a solution, to achieve the satisfaction of a successful session of deductive reasoning" (Rettberg 89). With time, fans of the genre learn a specific way to interact with an interactive fiction system, develop strategies for various games, and identify recurring tropes in interactive fiction. 


For my bring it to the table, I researched the interactive fiction game Rendition.  Rendition is a 2007 work of interactive fiction, created by nespresso using Inform-7 published in z-code. While interactive fiction tends not to engage with political reality, in Rendition the player is a brutal interrogator, torturing a suspected terrorist. The game is described to be a “political art experiment in text adventure form”. The only possible interaction is to physically abuse  Abdul, the  non-playable character. As a parody on "rules of engagement", the player can only commit a specific act of violence one time on a body part, and can only use the same method of torture three times. Eventually, Abdul will give up information, but the information is false. This is usually the case when information to coerced through torture. The game makes the argument that torture is ineffective. Rendition was originally submitted to the 2007 Interactive Fiction Art Show. None of the judges at the show reported to have enjoyed the game, particularly, they found many issues with the gameplay. However, elements of the game were praised. Particularly, how the content matters translated into Interactive Fiction. Rendition shows the power that interactive fiction has to explore serious topics.


https://iplayif.com/?story=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ifarchive.org%2Fif-archive%2Fart%2Fif-artshow%2Fyear2007%2Frendition.z5

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