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Eric Banuelos

12/9/19

Writing 2

Classification

“Classification fills a very human need to impose order on nature and find hidden

relationships.” To create order out of chaos is something innately human, this is the reason why

we naturally define the objects around us based on their associations. A piece of chalk is not

defined by its unique traits, rather it’s defined by its similarities to other objects. A piece of chalk

is a writing utensil, it’s used on a whiteboard, it’s erasable. In your head, this piece of chalk is

defined by its similarities, its differences, and its uses. Your mind naturally applies labels and

tries to classify everything it encounters. This kind of classification is not limited only to

physical objects, but also to the various forms of writing. When writing is classified it is most

commonly defined as a genre. With the rise of technology in the 21st century, a plethora of new

genres of writing have appeared. In this article, it will be proven that decision-based video games

that rose to prominence in the 21st century should be defined as a new genre based on the new

rhetorical scenario it creates in comparison to its antecedents.

The definition of a genre is not concrete but can be defined “when the traits or attributes

considered normal to or typical of a particular kind of creative piece, such as in literature, film,

or music, make it that kind and not another.” In the simplest of terms this means that if it looks

like a duck, walks like a duck, and sounds like a duck, it is most likely a duck. When applied to

writing this understanding shows that if a written piece contains all the characteristics of a

persuasive essay, it is most likely a persuasive essay. This identification of genres can be applied
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to fantasy novels, types of historical texts, or a doctor’s report. Genres can be very complex and

many literature experts often argue about the exact definition of a genre. Defining a genre is even

more complicated when one is defining a completely new genre like decision-based video

games. The best way to define a new genre such as decision-based video games is to compare it

to its antecedents.

The primary antecedent of decision-based video games are the “Choose Your Own

Adventure” novels written by Edward Packard. These books were easily discernible by the red

ribbon at the top which read “Choose Your Own Adventure”. Within these books, readers were

able to make decisions that impacted the ending of the story. This was a technique to get the

reader more invested in the story. For example, while reading one of these books the reader

could be asked to choose walking down the left or right corridor. Depending on the decision of

the reader the book would direct them to turn to a certain page to continue the story in a manner

unique to the decisions of the reader. This kind of book-based “Choose Your Own Adventure”

isn't the only antecedent of the new genre. There is also the “Choose Your Own Adventure”

board games. There were games based on the books. In which players would make decisions and

ultimately arrive at different conclusions depending on the decisions they made. Both of these

antecedents shared the ability to incorporate the decisions of the player, reader into the

conclusion of the story. As it was up to the readers to succeed or fail based on their decisions it

became fairly common in the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books and board games for

players, readers to simply die during the adventure, not solving anything. The selling point of the

“Choose Your Own Adventure” books and board games is that people want to impact the story
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and feel closer to the protagonists. This allowed the “Choose Your Own Adventure” genre to

skyrocket in popularity for a brief time.

Due to the advances in technology however, the popularity of the genre began to fall off.

The popularity of the genre took a particularly major hit with the development of video games.

Video games were a far more interactive form of storytelling than the world had ever seen. By

immersing players within the story, the players could connect to the protagonist in a way they

couldn't before. This was the same way people had felt about books and just as Edward Packard

started the choose your own adventure books, soon decision-based video games began to appear.

This time, however, the development of “Decision-based video games” wasn’t the same as the

“Choose Your Own Adventure” books and board games.

While the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books and board games were primarily aimed

at younger people, “Decision-based video games” were directed at adults. The books and board

games had simple questions such as, “It is a Dark and Stormy Night. Do you want to take an

Umbrella?”. However, with the development and advancements of video games, developers were

able to include a lot of information in the form of images. No longer did the author have to spend

paragraphs explaining the scenery and the scenario, that could all be shown to you by the video

game. The author could instead focus on creating intense scenarios that would suck the reader

into the game. The player was given complex scenarios, such as the decisions made in The

Walking Dead, where they had to decide between shooting a character you had just met who was

claiming to be your mother or to shoot a character you had traveled with all this time. The depth

and complexity of the questions changed and with the change in the level of questions so too did

the audience receiving the questions. The audience went from being teenagers and maybe some
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adults, to being adult-exclusive. This can easily be seen because games like The Walking Dead

have ratings on them that signify the age of the target audience. These Decisions-based video

games with new, deep, complicated questions have ratings of “Mature” meaning that they should

only be played by people of the age 18 and up. This means that a key part of the original genre's

rhetorical scenario has changed, making it impossible to claim that this new genre is the same as

its antecedents.

All genres contain rhetorical scenarios, a rhetorical scenario refers to a scenario where

there is an audience, a composer, a subject, a context, and a medium. To discern whether or not

decision-based video games are a new genre we first need to compare the rhetorical scenario of

the “Choose Your Own Adventure” novels and compare it to that of “Decision-Based Video

Games”. Comparing the two we see drastic differences right away. The audience has changed

from teenagers/young adults, exclusively to adults. The composer has changed as well, no longer

is a story written by an author but instead by a development team who design every part of the

game. The subject and context differ depending on the particular story/game you are

playing/reading. The next major difference occurs when we look at the medium. The medium

has changed from being a book that one can hold in their hands to being a game that one plays on

a screen. While there are similarities between “Decision based” video games and the “Choose

Your Own” adventure antecedents we see a distinctly unique rhetorical scenario.

By comparing the new genre of “Decision Based” video games to its antecedents we see

that for many reasons, especially the differences found in the rhetorical scenario, we can

determine that “Decision Based” video games are indeed a new genre. Even managing to surpass

its predecessors in regards to its capability to ensnare its players and bring them deeper into the
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world the games portray. All these differences make this genre unique enough to be called

“New”.