Megan Vrolijk

"Abstraction in the Video Game" by Mark Wolf discusses the reasons abstraction in video games has become less and less common. Older games, such as Space Invaders, reflect the necessary use of abstraction in older games due to the inability to render more representational figures. While Space Invaders is representational in that the player can identify the surrogate-based space ship and the aliens, both are also an abstraction from reality so as to fit into the perimeters of the technology. However, while working to fit into the perimeters, the game is forced to render a playing space that is accessible to the consumer. In utilizing abstractions, Space Invaders keeps the player engaged and creates empathy. Scott McCloud's work suggests, "abstraction can help to increase identification, the game's diegetic world is easier to enter into if it resembles the real world." I think that it is necessary for their to be a balance between abstraction and representation due to the player's desire to access the game fairly easily. If a game were to ease a player into a more abstract world, this may allow it to become more accessible or have more empathy.