DigitalLiterature

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...

  Chapter 4 stresses the shared history that electronic literature and computer games share. While computer games didn’t come until after generative poetry was well established, “text adventure” games like Zork were some of the first of their kind to be able to be played on a personal computer. With the demand for games with graphics increasing drastically, text adventure games gave way to what we know as IF, or interactive fiction games. These games involve the interactor, or the person playing the game, solving puzzles or overcoming a set of obstacles seen on the screen to achieve a desired outcome, like leveling up or defeating a boss. The IF community has persisted in becoming one of the largest and most well-loved gaming communities today and has been known to outperform TV shows and movies from time to time.   While playing Zork, I was very confused about how to get started at first. When I clicked on several different areas on the screen to see if anything would ha...

Interactive fiction, including games, are e-literature because they are capable of having narrative and other literary qualities. Early example like Adventure or Zork had narratives that were driven by the player's input. I really liked how the author from The Conversation described video games as literature. Ultimately, video games and other narrative media are the same, the only difference is that video games give the illusion that you as the player are driving the narrative forward, when really, it is already pre-determined and lined up. In this sense, video games are not so different from novels. However, it is important to note that games can differ in the amount of narrative they have. Some forms of interactive fiction are more focused on the actual solving of puzzles while others are meant to be experienced. For example, Photopia is a game where the player interacts with characters to progress a storyline. In addition to the main story line, there are side stories labeled wi...

In Chapter Three of Scott Rettberg's Electronic Literature , the similarities between interactive fiction, a genre of electronic literature, and video games were explained. In fact, interactive fiction itself was created due to the way that some of the earliest video games were written. As Scott Rettberg describes in the fourth chapter of  Electronic Literature,  "...interactive fiction (IF), is directly derived from some of the earliest games made for personal computers - the "text adventure" games of the 1980s. Games such as those of the Zork series (first version developed at MIT in 1978-79) were very popular as personal computers began to enter American homes and schools during the 1980s. These games had no graphics but described a scene textually" (Rettberg 87). One of the most crucial components of IF is the ability to describe a story and the instructions for guiding through the body of work with textual descriptions, as opposed to drawn-out graphics, o...

Due to the large amounts of games that were released during the 1970’s, large amounts of progress in digital literature were able to be made. This created a great deal of advancements in interactive games, where they began to contain complex dialog and descriptions that people couldn’t stay away from. This chapter discussed the differences and similarities between hypertext and video games, as well as the origins of them. As the book describes, hypertexts are based in text, but you’re still making decisions and playing them interactively like a video game, but video games take place in an interactive world. In video games, graphics are more important than the links and text element, unlike hypertext. In the books words, “the principal challenge to the reader of interactive fiction, and its central pleasure, is to find a solution, to achieve the satisfaction of a successful session of deductive reasoning,” (Rettberg 238), when describing the major differences between the two forms of ...

I didn’t realize how embedded interactive fiction is with electronic literature. I never saw video games in this light. Computer games allow electronic literature to expand to different crowds. These interactive games allow for the author to connect with the player through its text. These text phrases help direct the player and helps them visualize the game. I liked that in Electronic Literature , Scott described video games as puzzles “…many games are valued because they are hard and therefore deliver a challenge to the gamer as competitor- and narrative engagement.” (Rettberg 99). While I was playing Zork I found out that there were many words that the program didn’t know. The game was quiet restricting on what you could do, but I enjoyed playing it. I know that the game went through many revisions, and I’m impressed how these students came together to make this game.   One of the video games that intrigued me from the chapter was Galatea, by Emily Short . This video game is a s...

     I agree with James O’Sullivan’s observations in his article “Good literature can come in digital forms – just look to the world of video games.” A lot of games that my brother plays – Valorant or Overwatch , for instance – seem to have a specific world and narrative behind the immediate gameplay that might be more traditionally associated with literature. At the same time, while electronic literature and games may share several elements, I do think that there is a difference between the two. The difference between these games and interactive fiction is, at least for me, that in the latter you are able to directly interact with a text that may have more of an active role in the piece, as opposed to just “lore.” In Chapter 4 of Scott Rettberg’s Electronic Literature , for instance, the author describes what appears to be the key element in interactive fiction: parser. Rettberg even uses this element to distinguish between interactive fiction and works from Twine, whic...