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Games are unlike films because in a game, players have agency that separates them from the characters they play. In a film, characters interact only with the in
by jl6 3y ago
Games are unlike films because in a game, players have agency that separates them from the characters they play. In a film, characters interact only with the in-universe architects and can only subvert the intentions of those architects, not those of the author. But in a game, the player is not the character. The player can make out-of-universe choices too, and can subvert the intentions of the architects (developers) of the game.
- Terr_ 3y agoUh, yeah, and those are all reasons to reject the conclusion that games (like Deus Ex) merely offer second-rate illusory "Nakatomi Spaces" compared to movies (like Die Hard.) A player choosing to make their avatar avoid the front door in favor of discovering an unusual route is always going to be a more authentic experience of subverting architecture, compared to passively observing a character doing the same actions in film. Being able to go further and glitch/hack/mod the game merely raises the ceiling, it does not lower the floor.
- jl6 3y agoI don’t think it is all that subversive to use a route that the developer built for that purpose.
- Terr_ 3y agoThen it is even less so when it is a route a screenwriter or author placed as the only possible route that could ever be taken for all time.
- oddgoo 3y agoIndeed, and I think the point here is giving the feeling of architectural subversion to the player/audience, which both Die Hard and Deus Ex achieve.