I have always enjoyed action-orientated games, generally accepting their narrative superficiality as simply demonstrative of the genre. When I began gaming, narrative had a place in interactive fictions and adventure games, but never really featured in the majority of mindless level based games permeating the genre. This, however, changed drastically when I came into contact with the concept of the role playing game. Final fantasy 7, in particular, was my first experience of a game in which the adventure based narrative was married to active gaming environments. Where previous games simply captivated me through graphics, suspense, puzzles and game play, here was a game that moved me. This was my first insight into the potentiality of games as literary works
, and furthermore as complex and ambiguous interfaces rather than simply entertaining digital puzzles. Later in digital narrative classes, the literary dissection of Shadow of the Colossus revealed an intricate substratum of myth and ambiguity, an amazingly captivating action game immersed in a greater story.
Essentially, my superficial acceptance of games has been shattered: I find myself questioning the ethics, analysing the narratives and searching for a higher calibre of game. More than ever, I believe narrative should be integral in the structuring of a comprehensive game world. Coupled with identifiable, real, characters and innovative game design, this seems to be the way into a credible future for video-gaming. Like a book, well written games have the capacity to emotionally move their audiences and coupled with the advent of M.U.D technology there is no end to the fictional universes which can be created. Studying games as literary phenomena has opened my eyes to their potential in a world of entertainment where "audiences for established story vehicles like books, newspapers, movies and network television are in decline." (John Leland's "Gamer as Artiste" New York Times Magazine, 2005)