Re: The contraversy of Mallenche, and its creator, Howard Sherman
Well to be honest I don't know how much Howard Sherman knows or understands about anything that isn't part of the wonderful world of Howard Sherman, so I wouldn't put too much store by what he said.
Regarding interactive fiction though Aaron you raise an interesting debate. It's one we've had on the forum before but it's an interesting question so I don't mind discussing it again.
I can see where your coming from with the ease of interaction feel of the Choiceofgames, ---- or indeed of any gamebook come to that, sinse you don't need to worry about hit dwarf with spungecake type puzzles, but just flow through the story. I don't however agree that the "interaction" changes the fact that what your reading is fiction. Any traditional parser game has to have the same qualities as a good story, engaging setting, atmospheric writing etc, even if it doesn't present as a traditional story style narrative the way something like the Choiceofgames do, ---- though even that is arguable with games like Steven Granade's Photopia. Change of interaction method however doesn't intrinsically change a game's category in most cases. An arcade game like however mole no more which uses the keyboard is just as much an arcade game as Audio defence, even if audio defense has a unique interaction method with it's physical turning.
I also don't like your use of "adventure game" sinse your essentially swapping one firm category with very distinct boundaries, ie, interactive fiction, for another with very broad boundaries who's qualities aren't well defined. After all what exactly is an adventure game anyway, what makes parser games like Zork adventure games not interactive fiction, and what is the boundary between the two.
I will confess, I use the term "Adventure game" in the database as a sort of catch all category for stuff that does n't particularly fit elsewhere. Games that aren't focused around action, have a high focus on story and atmosphere but aren't interactive fiction, and don't have mechanics and stats like an rpg.
Take Sarah, it's first person but certainly not fps, it has action elements but it's not say an action game like Hunter, it has an inventory and spells but it's not an rpg, and it has puzzle elements but is not interactive fiction. so it winds up as "adventure games"
Myself, I'd suggest "interactive fiction" covers any textual story with which you can interact and where the chief gameplay method is interaction with that story. Within that category are parser games, and gamebooks, which distinguish the interaction method, ie, typing in commands or just making choices. Heck, even that is a bit broad sinse the games could have menus, limited parser, full inform style parser or whatever, not to mention rpgs like Kerkerkrui p or gamebooks like the fighting fantasy stuff with rpg elements that might also be very close to an interactive fiction story as well, heck, several Eamon games have if style puzzles, even with a limited parser and the need to indulge in a lot of combat.
I do agree "interactive fiction" is changing as a term for all if purists (of which I believe Sherman is one), just want to say "interactive fiction is just stuff like Zork with a full parser and nothing else" However rather than saying "this is! interactive fiction and this is not!" I'd prefer myself to adopt "interactive fiction" as a pure umbrella term and then split off the categories of different styles of games within that larger genus.
Btw, questions of definition to philosophy graduate are sort of red rag to bull .
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