Schisms

Eskelinen and Murray have contrasting methods for interpreting video games. While the former is concerned with form and structure, without regard to narrative, the latter focuses only on projecting her own narrative conceptions onto the medium. In reality, and in this class, we must meet in the middle. Video games, as we have seen, can function as a form of literature and art. However, they must retain their functions as games if they are to be kept within the genre. Perhaps what Murray describes is an interactive digital storytelling platform. She reads Tetris as a commentary on American's crammed and packed-in schedules, which Eskelinen views as grossly overstated as an interpretation. But certainly games like Bioshock and Fallout have much more legible depth of meaning. In the post-digital era, these games are taken as an undeniable factor in public entertainment and opinion. They cannot be removed from the genre of youth culture. Therefore, this debate becomes much more dynamic as games must be interpretted, even if they are, like Tetris, "just games." In this era, new methods of interpretation, criticism, and exploration hold value, often in an incredibly public way.

Stay tuned for my Final reading of the greatest game of all ;)