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Game, Gamer, Play

Lee Sang-woo's "Game, Gamer, Play" is a unique book. It looks like a traditional humanities book, but it's also kind of an essay, and it seems like a book that thoroughly introduces and analyzes games, but the subject of analysis itself is games that were enjoyed without any thought - "Journey" and "StarCraft", etc.  

 
"I was always caught between two strata. Industry and academia, company and school, literature and games. The last stratum was the most unstable area among them. Most people who write literature don't like games. People who play games are not interested in pure literature either. The two groups walked parallel lines that could never meet, and I was in between. I was lonely. But I thought that it was the duty of the trapped person to connect the two. In that sense, I think the word 'hybrid' is quite a fitting name for this book." - From the afterword
 
I've also been enjoying literature and games for a long time, and I often feel this way. In fact, in the case of adventure games, storytelling is so important that it's close to the story itself. Still, I felt that the mainstream literary world had never properly dealt with game stories, perhaps because of the lightness (?) of the game itself. The appearance of this full-fledged game review collection was enough to pique my interest.

I especially enjoyed the "Game and Time" and "Game and Space" sections.
Time in the game and time in the real world of play are quite different. I've always thought that the gap was interesting, and the author delves into that point and relentlessly traces the meaning of time in games from various angles. For example, using the axes of Real-time / None-Realtime and Pure fictional Time / Realtime-induceed fictional Time, he classifies games as RR, NR, RP, and NP.

According to the author's explanation, RR refers to games where the time the player plays and the time in the game coincide. In other words, RR refers to the type of game where you have to complete tasks within a time limit. RP is a configuration where pure fictional time is combined with real-time games. Time in the game flows invisibly, without putting pressure on the player. This is the time system of action, shooting games, etc., where most of the story can exist independently of play.
So what about NR and NP? I think it would be good to check the answers through the book. It might be a little difficult for those who have been immersed in games, but it will surely be an interesting classification method once you understand it.
Space is also an interesting issue. A playground that doesn't exist in the world, but that I'm definitely experiencing right now. The virtuality of space, along with time, sometimes triggers a strange feeling for players.

Every game is a Space Machine. After the long loading is over, the player, that is, we, are suddenly taken to a place. We only know one thing that falls from the sky. The fact that this body is the protagonist of the game. It's okay even if you don't know my name, even if you're not human, even if you're a monster, even if you're an amoeba that's not even a monster, even if you're just a pixel that's hard to see as a living thing. I'm the main character, and the main character moves according to the operation, so it's okay.

However, in terms of space in the game, I was a little disappointed that there was less volume than time. I wished the author had analyzed it more, from the reader's point of view. But I was very pleased that he pointed out the timeliness and spatiality that I had never thought of, giving me a lot to think about.