Daniel Pinchbeck
I found Pinchbeck’s essay quite confusing at most parts, and his use of heavy verbiage got me lost in what he was trying to say most of the time. I read his book 2012: The Rise of Quetzalcoatl and liked it, which was my rationale for choosing his essay. From what I could tell, the point of his essay was to explain/describe the elements within games to further the depth of the liminal experience. One thing that stuck out was a distinction that he had: the liminal, and the lininoid. He states that the liminoid is the thing that is played, where the liminal is the thing that is worked at. Pinchbeck, in his essay is talking specifically about conventional, mainstream video games. In that contxt, the liminoid means the actual physical disc or cartridge, and the liminal is the experience that is worked at during gameplay.
He cites several examples from popular FPS games like Halo (a personal favorite), Quake, Doom, and Half Life. One of the things that I found interesting is his discussion of the importance of world. In order for the player to have a truly immersive expereience then the world in which the game is played must appear real. I am a fiction writer who beleives the same when writing fiction. If I create a fantasy or sci-fi world, much of the creation process goes into the history and description so that my reader feels that they are reading about a real place, and therefore feels more involved.
In the case of games, which is another way to tell a story, just in an interactive element. But the same is true. When the details and history of the world feel real, then the player has a much more immersive exeperience; the dtronger the liminality.
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