“On the one hand, video games do allow us to enter these virtual worlds, while, on the other, they don’t abandon us in them: they give us “something to do”. In this respect, the game structure takes the place of the plot structure we are so familiar with in cinema and literature: it creates linearity in an otherwise non-linear medium. The game as safety net.”
Yep. I’m starting to see this as a byproduct of the sort of unbalanced restlessness that seems to pervade much of civilization (myself included). The kind of person who is happy to sit still and just be (in the real world), without doing anything or getting caught up in a story or their own daydream, would probably be a lot better equipped to enjoy a “non-linear work” like you describe, better than the average person, or gamer. Most people would need these extra structures and “things to do” or they will get anxious and bored (in other words, the structures outside the game will pull them away from it, unless the game’s structures pull even harder).

I should say, it’s very difficult for me to put all this in words right now, so I apologize if it seems confusing or offensive.

steve, I read your post as well. I found this passage particularly inspiring: “the player gains perspective by himself inhabiting a world apart from his own daily experience and coming away with a sense of meaningful displacement”
Somehow I’d never thought about it that way. But now that you mention it, I really like that idea.

Now let’s see how I can apply this to 2D Flash games. :D

Thanks for dropping by! :)

I don’t quite get how the both of us, coming from such different background and working in such different companies, and even having different priorities as designers, can see this thing so clearly while for others -judging from the comments on your blog and here- it’s such a confused thing or even a wrong idea. I wonder why people are so defensive of the purity of gameplay and why travel doesn’t seem as attractive to them. It struck me that we both used that word -travel- without knowing of each other. :)

I’m glad you made your post. Apparently we just have to keep saying the same thing over and over again. ;)

I can see how reading my post on immersion and meaning would cause you to revisit this post. In a way I’m glad I didn’t read it before I wrote my essay, or I might have decided someone had already said everything I’d intended to say! Thanks for posting this series.