Who Narrates a Video Game?

Abstract

Most of the video games are known primarily through their development teams. Although the video game industry became a more lucrative and influential art form than all other forms of entertainment combined, there still exists a lack of identification of video game products with their authors, directors, and/or writers. For example, The Last of Us is a game people will more often associate with developer team Naughty Dog than with Jacob Minkoff; the video game company SEGA is labeled as the team behind Sonic the Hedgehog, while the question of original creators remains unclear and often on the fringe. This way, many individuals are ostracized from their work, with only their biggest fans caring for some video game director’s style, his/her narrative strategies, and composition. However, some video game creators are always clearly connected to their work, sometimes even being the main argument why a certain game is deserving of attention and praise. Hideo Kojima, for example, is one of the most recognizable, if not the most renowned director and video game designer, whose every game (although developed in detail by many other people) is seen through the lenses of his vision and style. Many gamers today know what to expect from these kinds of games, primarily due to highly popular and influential Metal Gear series. Although the situation somewhat changed during the past ten years, with more and more games getting profiled thought their authors, such as, for example, Yoko Taro or Yoshinori Kitase, the issue of authorship and how author’s vision in ergodic literature can coexist with player’s interactivity is still something that needs to be explored in more detail.