Textual analysis in video games (?!)

Hello!

I gotta say, I understood nothing of that column. Like nothing at all. Maybe the general idea but all else was just gibberish to me. So I apologize beforehand that my answers probably have nothing to do with the text we had to read.

"How does the role of the player affect the meaning in video games?"

What is "the meaning" in this context? I'm going to assume there's no hidden meaning in "the meaning of video games" and it just simply means the meaning of a game's plot or something else that can awake some sort of feelings. (Did I say "mean" enough?)

I think the role of the player affects the meaning of a game greatly, mostly because people interpret things differently. The same game might have different meanings for different players. The games awaken memories and feelings in the player that speak to them in many levels. You bring a part of yourself to the game just being you and seeing the plot through your eyes, mirroring the experiences through your own life. Because of that, everyone's gaming experience is unique.

Of course there is a more straightforward way of telling how the role of the player affects the meaning in video games. In many games, you can choose what to do. Because of your choices, the plot, game outcome and possibly your character will be affected. For example in books, the plot will always be the same, no matter who reads it. But with video games, there are possibilities that the outcome of the game will always, or at least often, be different: for example I don't think anyone will ever play a round of Tetris exactly like a previously played round. That's how much the player affects the meaning of a game.

"How is it different from analysing other forms of media?"
There are so many more things to take into account and that's the biggest difference in my opinion. You can analyze a book but you could probably make a book out of analyzing one video game. They have so much material in them for analyzing: controls, character design, the game mechanics, landscapes, visuals, the writing, characters, representation, how the game is build, music, entertainment value, the list goes on... It almost feels like you could take other forms of media like books, comics, movies and music, add them together and you'd almost have a game analysis. Almost.

"Pick a video game you are familiar with and write about how meaning, theme or representation is constructed within it."

Once again, I'm assuming things because ~I have no idea what I'm doing~ and writing a little something about representation of minorities in Dragon Age: Inquisition. I'm a big fan of Dragon Age series and mainly because of the characters and how well they've been written. What makes me super happy is that DA is truly trying to give everyone their deserved spotlight. There's a lesbian character, a gay character (Although, being gay is not okay in Tevinter, but apparently it's way more common elsewhere in Thedas), a transgender character, a pansexual character and many different ethnic groups. Racism inside human race is not that common (if I recall correctly, it's been a while since I last played) although racism between different races is one of the themes of DA games.

One good example of representation in DA is how you can be a female, leading a HUGE organization and nobody bats an eye. 4/5 (or even 5/6) of the core, leading members of the inquisition can be female and it is not commented in any way. No hate, just business. There are a lot of other female characters in leading positions as well, like Vivienne, a black woman who's an enchantress in Imperial Court (which is by the way lead by an empress). And the women are not even dressed in an overly-sexy manner, but in whatever style fits the character.

I highly recommend DA games for anyone who seeks games with variety in characters. All of the characters are written really well. It seems like the game makers just take whatever is wrong in our world and correct it in their games and make sure that none of the characters question it (for example, female in a leading position). It's so awesome.