Looking and Acting in Computer Games: Cinematic "Play" and New Media Interactivity.

The article examines the use of cinematic techniques in video games to involve the player in the game environment. The article uses the example of the video games "EverQuest" and "Doom II" to illustrate a theory of video game analysis that is rooted in cinema studies. The article discusses how people identify and imitate, both physically and psychologically, with motion pictures, with the author extending that theory to video games. The psychological aspects of play are discussed including Sigmund Freud's theory that play is a way masochistically reliving trauma.