A Functional Perspective on Narrative in Computer Games - Wolf Maul

crossovers. Actors, including major stars, are lending their voices, faces and bodies to game
creation. Increasingly, other artists, such as writer Tom Clancy (Books: Clear and Present
Danger, Patriot Games, Red Storm Rising, Game: Ghost Recon) and music group Def Jam
(Def Jam Vendetta – PS2/Gamecube), have also started to become commonly associated with
game titles.
Now that computer ownership has become mainstream rather than the domain of
technophiles, the market for computer games has broadened. The demographics of game
players are widening to include a larger cross-section of the population in terms of both age
and interests. According to the Entertainment Software Association (theesa.com) 50% of all
Americans six and older now play computer and video games. This includes veterans of game
play, new players only recently attracted to games, and children who have never known a
world without computer games. All of these players bring their divergent tastes, skills and
expectations to the game environment. This shift in demographics gives developers an
incentive to create games with broader appeal. First person shooters still do well with the
traditional gaming market – young single males – but other genres are gaining momentum. The
Sims, for example, a simulation game in which players nurture characters with the goal of
making them happy and successful, has recently become the best-selling computer game in
history.
The game industry markets many games with the assurance that they tell stories in which
the player is an integral part. The box cover of The Longest Journey promises the player the
chance to become a character with "the power to walk between worlds," with "a destiny…
foretold in a hundred tales." "As the tides of chaos gain momentum the fate of everything lies
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