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. 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.

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.

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.

Andrew S. Latham. Series Editor Matthew Wilhelm Kapell
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 199
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2024
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9029-2
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5179-8
Imprint: McFarland
Series: Studies in Gaming

Acknowledgments vii
Preface 1
1. A Guide to Hypertext Rhetoric 11
1–1: Cybertexts and Hypertexts 11
1–2: Landow and Hypertexts 13
1–3: Rhetoric and Hypertexts 16
1–4: Agency and Hypertexts 19
2. A Guide to The Legend of Zelda 26
2–1: Zelda no Densetsu 26
2–2: The Narratology of Zelda 30
2–3: The Ludology of Zelda 33
2–4: Aonuma, Fujibayashi, and Zelda Studies 39
3. A Delivery in Breath of the Wild 41
3–1: Introduction to Breath of the Wild 41
3–2: Delivery as the Acknowledgment of Player Agency 47
3–3: Ludoludo Interpretations of Breath of the Wild 51
3–4: Naronaro Interpretations of Breath of the Wild 58
3–5: Hypertext Delivery in Other Video Games 62
4. Randomized Memories of A Link to the Past 67
4–1: Introduction to A Link to the Past 67
4–2: Memory as the Transference of Player Agency 71
4–3: Ludoludo Interpretations of A Link to the Past 76
4–4: Naronaro Interpretations of A Link to the Past 81
4–5: Hypertext Memory in Other Video Games 84
5. Restyling Ocarina of Time Through Hyperlinks 90
5–1: Introduction to Ocarina of Time 90
5–2: Style as the Practice of Player Agency 98
5–3: Ludoludo Interpretations of Ocarina of Time 102
5–4: Naronaro Interpretations of Ocarina of Time 3D 106
5–5: Hypertext Style in Other Video Games 111
6. Arranging the Barrier Skip in Wind Waker HD 116
6–1: Introduction to Wind Waker HD 116
6–2: Arrangement as the Structuring of Player Agency 123
6–3: Ludoludo Interpretations of Wind Waker HD 127
6–4: Naronaro Interpretations of Wind Waker HD 132
6–5: Hypertext Arrangement in Other Video Games 136
7. The Cycle of Invention in Skyward Sword 141
7–1: Introduction to Skyward Sword 141
7–2: Invention as the Catalyst of Player Agency 149
7–3: Ludoludo Interpretations of Skyward Sword 154
7–4: Naronaro Interpretations of Skyward Sword 158
7–5: Hypertext Invention in Other Video Games 161
Conclusion 166
8–1: “Hey, Listen!” 166
8–2: Achieving Player Agency in Hypertext Video Games 168
8–3: A Parting Sure to Follow 176
Works Cited and Works Consulted 179
Index 187