VIDEO GAMES and LITERATURE
The Hidden Magic in Literary Works
Video games has its own unique style for storytelling. Books are for reading; movies are for watching. But video games are for experiencing the written plot by controlling the protagonists. Even if there are no multiple endings in a videogame, the feeling of being in control of a character has a strong influence on our sense of empathy. The magic of the books and movies is already all about the feeling of empathy. Consciously, or unconsciously, we put ourselves in the main characters situation while we read a book or watch a movie. In videogames, we can find this sense highly enhanced. Therefore, human body is more active when we play video games compared to watching a movie or reading a book. The hands are not only the active parts of the body, depending on the intensity of the scene that players are experiencing, various of muscle groups are getting in an active state during this period of time.
Madness of the Multiple Endings
We can easily say that video games are the milestone of storytelling and literature in terms of the user experience. In some kind of videogames, players can choose the endings of the stories which they have experienced. Usually, game developers are trying to conceal the choices that players about to choose in order to give an effect as if it’s a spontaneous action. In general, all of the endings have some legendary scenarios which gives the player extreme amount of pleasure. However, being in a position like deciding the ending of a written characters story, puts the player in an extremely curious point. This curiosity is at such a level that the player can go all the way back and start to play the game from the beginning, in order to experience all other endings. Over and over again.
A legendary videogame NPC (non-playable character) told me once :
“Did I ever tell you what the definition of insanity is? Insanity is doing the exact same fucking thing over and over again. Expecting shit to change. That is crazy”
(Vaas Montenegro – Far Cry 3)