Educational > Discussing Game Design

Electronic literature, games, and literary technique

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Villain Mastermind:
I've heard of games referred to as "Art", but what about games as literature?

Any thoughts?

Chris:
Art is often used as a rather broad, encompassing term where architecture, music, and literature can cavort in the same room. In that sense, it makes a lot of sense to consider games art.

A game might be great literature but I would likely be primarily appreciating it for its gameplay, the same way you could appreciate a video game for its art.

dacharya64:
While as far as I know games have never really been acknowledged as great literature outside of certain circles (though usually interactive fiction writers take literary merit into account when giving out IF awards and such), there are those that will respect the literary merit behind games, for instance The Metaphysics of Morrowind series here: http://fallingawkwardly.wordpress.com/2010/08/29/the-metaphysics-of-morrowind-part-1/

 This series goes into much depth behind the literature and world in Morrowind. I personally think that a greater blend of the literary and gaming communities wouldn't be such a bad thing... interactive fiction is one relatively unexplored aspect by many writers and readers.

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