Through the Looking Glass Sharply - The Video Game Industry: Formation, Present State, and Future - page 238

It is also true that there are dif erent opinions on how they should be
understood and analysed. There is a continuous discussion among ludolo-
gists and narratologists (Frasca 2003). Ludologists are of the opinion that
games are but rules and interactions and that they should be analysed as
such; narratologists think games can be analysed just as texts are and using
the same methods. Of course, we come down on the side of narratologists
and have attempted to relate video games and virtual worlds to literature
observations. Our fi rst point would be that conventional games could have
been anticipated by Thurber's Walter Mitty—essentially imagination run
wild. We would also note they are not a thing of the past, but will maintain
some stature in the industry as intermittent recreational vehicles. The most
recent example of which we have read has a liberal segment in U.S. politics
bashing the “rotten brains to bits” of conservative tea party conservatives
(Garvin 2011). Perhaps in McLuhan's terms, this is the way individuals will
work out frustrations in the future.
The extension worlds such as suggested in Snow Crash are dif erent situ-
ations. Imagination still plays a role and a signifi cant one. It suggests the
possibility of living a parallel life, and an ongoing 24/7 type of thing. Cer-
tainly the idea of parallel worlds has existed as long as civilization itself,
but primarily in a religious context and frequently with the dead. That is
how the media becomes the message insofar as the parallel world in this
case is real and it could be a very nice one—one has a choice. Perhaps it
will be this appeal that introduces virtual possibilities to present underde-
veloped segments, which is the next big step in the industry.
CONCLUSIONS
In this chapter a stab has been taken to understand video games and the
industry that produces them. Within this framework of looking to the
future, we see a need to look at 1) the future of consoles, 2) the competitive
situation for publishers and 3) the market in evolving economies. Major
changes are anticipated in each of these. In the broader context of a media
with a message, we add to these observations. In terms of conventional
games, there appears to be a distinct parallel with an exercise of imagi-
nation as suggested by Thurber's Walter Mitty. In extension worlds, as
suggested by Stephenson's Snow Crash , the possibility exists to lead an
ongoing, 24/7, parallel life. It is not clear where this possibility might lead,
but surely it is the message in the media and will have on ongoing ef ect
on our culture. Nevertheless, we would be remiss if we did not take a few
shots at what the future might hold for us. A few things come to mind. One
thing almost for certain will be the development of features in these parallel
words that will provide personal avatars that will interact with subscribers
in the provision of research. In Snow Crash , it was Hiro's personal librar-
ian in the Metaverse (cf. 1992, 365); in Crichton's (1993) Disclosure , it