Emerging narratives : video games on the rise.

Abstract

Art has always had a symbiotic relationship with entertainment and video games as a new primarily interactive media has captured the imaginations of this generation. The narrative content of video games have also become increasingly sophisticated through its several evolutions from simple gaming to the involvement of engaging stories. Video games also reflect and improves the construction of narratives as its modality is drastically different, requiring a paradigm shift for literature in this generation. Video games contain more potential for dialogue due to its theatrical qualities unlike conventional narrative mediums in which the reader is mostly passive. However, the status of video games as an extension of established literary structure have been contested due to controversies such as its lack of credibility and low literary value determined by critics. Interestingly, such criticism of this young narrative medium has also occurred during the birth of the novel which has now cemented as a major literary art. With the depleting popularity of books and other traditional narrative mediums, alongside the meteoric rise of a digital lifestyle and the empowerment it brings to people, perhaps, video games are becoming an emerging literary art. This essay will visit several important examples of how video games have that potential to be major literary medium and crucial debates to the narrative evolution of video games.