Computer Games as Immersive Literature

Abstract

Computer games are still mostly excluded from literary studies. This is strange, considering many computer games contain high levels of narra-tive, and those that do not may still be 'read'. Engaging with computer games as a literary form enables one to investigate not only the game as a text, but also its many possible performances through a gamer's interac-tions with it. The game exerts some control over the player, and the player exerts some control over the outcome of the game. In this way, games operate as a highly sophisticated form of interactive fiction, whereby they engage alternate agencies within their readers (players).