brenda laurel
Which alias best fits interactive fiction?
The nominees are:
"Story," "Game," "Storygame," "Novel," "World,"
"Literature," "Puzzle," "Problem," "Riddle," and "Machine."
Read, and decide.
Lisette Gonzales reviews a book of essays by Matthew Fuller that examines the way we are programmed by software.
The builder of Façade, an "interactive story world," Michael Mateas offers both a poetics and a neo-Aristotelian project (for interactive drama and games).
Pat Harrigan and Noah Wardrip-Fruin introduce Cyberdrama, the first section of First Person.
Secret agency is at issue in Frasca's response, which denies the application of Aristotle to the open-ended interactivity of gaming.
Narrativists vs. ludologists, material vs. formal constraints: Michael Mateas replies by identifying actors' roles in each division.
Gonzalo Frasca's proposal for videogames that address "critical thinking, education, tolerance, and other trivial issues."