An analysis of narrative function in videogames

This thesis will examine how narrative is adapting to meet the interactive requirements of video games. Drawing from narratologic and ludic theory, I examine the features which differentiate videogames from other passive forms of media. Following the principles of Stanley Fish's "Affective Stylistics", I analyze video game narrative not in terms of "meaning" but in terms of function. I examine the new functions that narrative has developed in order to convey experience through the programmed framework of video games, and then examine how these new functions alter the player's experience of the narrative as she plays.