All game play is performance

All Game Play is Performance: The State of the Art Game - by Jane McGonigal

An interesting article: LINK

and a good Ted vid : http://www.avantgame.com/

EXTRACT

A few weeks ago, game designer Ernest Adams stated in an interview:
I certainly don't think Wagner would recognize the Gesamtkunstwerk in today's video games. They don't contain the breadth and depth of vision that he expected of himself. Could they perhaps be a Gesamtkunstwerk in the future? I'm not sure. We have to remember that Wagner lived in the days before motion pictures, before recorded sound, and in a time when all art was presentational, not interactive. Therefore Wagner's own intentions were informed by an assumption that drama would be live action performed by real human beings directly in front of other real human beings. Because video games do not (and
generally will not in the future) include an element of live performance, I don't think Wagner would recognize them as Gesamtkunstwerk (1).
Adams is wrong. Digital games do include an element of live performance already. All game play is performance.
Digital game play is dramatic performance. Players act “as if,” that magic Stanislavski acting technique; they act as if they believe the rules are real limitations, as if the artificial goal is of real importance. Digital game play is spectacular performance. Digital game play, especially physical, pervasive and tournament game play, generates attention and audiences. Digital game play is demonstrative performance. Players demonstrate their mastery of the game system, showing off their understanding and skill in manipulating and reading the game system’s input, feedback and control mechanisms. Digital game play is expressive performance. Players reveal aspects of their personal identity through their choices in avatar and verbal exchange. And digital game play is, increasingly, about traditional kinds of performance: singing, rhythm, dance, movement, social engineering, and even in-game protest.
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The same year that John Reaves claimed all interactive art in the name of theater, new media theorist Lev Manovich wrote: “We are still waiting for a true digital Gesamtkunstwerk which will take full advantage of the ability to interweave the distinct languages of different media” (2).
We are no longer waiting. All games are performance, and today’s avant game is already approaching the Gesamtkunstwerk. Total performance is the state of the digital art game.