How does analyzing video games as hypertexts expand the landscape of research for video game rhetoricians and games studies scholars? This is the first book to focus on how hypertext rhetoric impacts the five canons of rhetoric, and to apply that hypertext rhetoric to the study of video games. In doing so, it also explores how ludonarrative agency is seized by players seeking to express themselves in ways that game makers did not necessarily intend when making the games that players around the world enjoy.
To accomplish these objectives, this book takes inspiration from The Legend of Zelda, a series which players all over the world have spent decades deconstructing through online playthroughs, speedruns, and glitch hunts. Through these playthroughs, players demonstrate their ability to craft their own agency, independent of the objectives built by the makers of these games, creating new rhetorical situations worthy of analysis and consideration.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
1.A Guide to Hypertext Rhetoric
11: Cybertexts and Hypertexts
12: Landow and Hypertexts
13: Rhetoric and Hypertexts
14: Agency and Hypertexts
2.A Guide to The Legend of Zelda
21: Zelda no Densetsu
22: The Narratology of Zelda
23: The Ludology of Zelda
24: Aonuma, Fujibayashi, and Zelda Studies
3.A Delivery in Breath of the Wild
31: Introduction to Breath of the Wild
32: Delivery as the Acknowledgment of Player Agency
33: Ludoludo Interpretations of Breath of the Wild
34: Naronaro Interpretations of Breath of the Wild
35: Hypertext Delivery in Other Video Games
4.Randomized Memories of A Link to the Past
41: Introduction to A Link to the Past
42: Memory as the Transference of Player Agency
43: Ludoludo Interpretations of A Link to the Past
44: Naronaro Interpretations of A Link to the Past
45: Hypertext Memory in Other Video Games
5.Restyling Ocarina of Time Through Hyperlinks
51: Introduction to Ocarina of Time
52: Style as the Practice of Player Agency
53: Ludoludo Interpretations of Ocarina of Time
54: Naronaro Interpretations of Ocarina of Time 3D
55: Hypertext Style in Other Video Games
6.Arranging the Barrier Skip in Wind Waker HD
61: Introduction to Wind Waker HD
62: Arrangement as the Structuring of Player Agency
63: Ludoludo Interpretations of Wind Waker HD
64: Naronaro Interpretations of Wind Waker HD
65: Hypertext Arrangement in Other Video Games
7.The Cycle of Invention in Skyward Sword
71: Introduction to Skyward Sword
72: Invention as the Catalyst of Player Agency
73: Ludoludo Interpretations of Skyward Sword
74: Naronaro Interpretations of Skyward Sword
75: Hypertext Invention in Other Video Games
Conclusion
81: Hey, Listen!
82: Achieving Player Agency in Hypertext Video Games
83: A Parting Sure to Follow
Works Cited and Works Consulted
Index
Andrew S. Latham is an associate professor of English at Midland College in Midland, Texas. He has presented at numerous conferences on video game rhetoric and hypertext rhetoric.
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