Abstract:
Video games are an accepted field of academic discourse, but the tools and languages with which they can be analysed are poorly defined. In order for the practice of video game studies to flourish, there needs to be a consensus on the fundamental nature and limits of the field. In this study, a textual theory of genre for video games is created to help address the discrepancies in video game analysis. This theory focuses on the rules-texts of games in comparison to those of other games through the use of genre theory. In order to achieve this, previous definitions of game and video game that describe games as activities are challenged. A new definition is created that demarcates the texts of games from the activity of engaging with game texts. This allows for the function and structure of video games to be analysed separately from socio-cultural variables. Genre is then discussed in relation to film studies to identify how the tool of genre theory can be repurposed for the analysis of video games. This allows for the construction of the textual theory of video game genre. This theory focuses on the ways in which game texts inform and give incentive to their players to place differing values on game outcomes. These values provide incentive for players to have a specific understanding of their task in each game, and this allows for different player experiences. The repetition of incentives for value and task, as well as the repetition of the allowed player experience, constitutes genre in video games. This is exemplified through close analyses of the video games Pong, Space Invaders, Pac-Man, and Donkey Kong. Each of these games is shown to belong to video game genres that are defined textually through conventions of values, task, and player experience. Finally, there is a description of how all games can be understood through the single definition of the textual theory of genre.
