Aesthetic of Play

Argues for the elimination of the distinction between video games (interactive) and novels / plays / music (passive). Each represents a type of "play", an interaction between the media and the consumer. Touches on Ron Edwards' GNS theories of role playing games and critical analysis as a further form of play.

The author is a video game designer, and the ideas he collects here tie closely into why a video game "works" or doesn't, including when cut-scenes make sense and when the player will be annoyed by them. These same ideas tie into the expectations of the reader of a book, and are revealed in many of the "rules of writing". This book provided a very interesting discourse, with a decent bibliography to match.