Hiatus x2. So far things have been working on further papers (like Brechtian Alienation in Games) and working on the regular literature review (which is much less interesting). There's also been a couple of articles up on VideAu which you can find here.
So in lieu of an actual post here's the abstract for the Brecht piece I've been working on.
A Brechtian Alienation Analysis of
Video Games
The fourth wall is constantly being broken in video games
via the intrusion of mechanics and features that cause no end of distraction,
breaking the player’s immersion in both the game’s narrative (if it does have
one) and in the gameplay (which is active). Yet these breaks are an integral
part of games, whether through loading, saving or any other mechanical system
that detracts from playing the core game, aren’t analysed as thoroughly as they
could be. Bertolt Brecht’s “Verfremdungseffekt,” or distancing effect, provides
a much needed foundation in the analysis of these sections within games that
provoke a feeling of alienation.
More to come next week - new and original!
