게임을 어떻게 이해할 것인가 하는 사안에 대한 논의는 간단치 않은 문제이다. 어차피 거기에는 ‘놀이’로서의 측면과 ‘서사’로서의 측면이 공존해 있기 때문이다. 더불어 이들 양 측의 논리는 각기 그 나름의 합당한 이유에 근거를 둔 것이기에, 어느 한쪽의 주장만을 일방적으로 거들기는 아무래도 부담스러운 것이 사실이다. 그것이 놀이든 서사든 간에, 분명한 것은 지금 이 시대의 많은 사람들이 게임에 빠져들고 있으며 나아가 열광하고 있다는 점이다. 놀이와 서사는 물론 다르다. 형식이 다르고 내용도 다르다. 그러나 이 둘은 차이점만큼이나 많은 공통점 또한 지니고 있다. 그 가운데 우리가 눈여겨볼 부분은 양자가 공히 선사 시대로부터, 즉 인류의 집단생활 초기 단계에서부터 시작된 오래된 연원을 지닌 것이라는 점과, 시대 환경의 차이나 여건의 변화에 따라 다양하게 분화되고 변질되면서 내려왔다는 점이다.
Many people enjoy the games. For full enjoyment of the games, tension and absorption are necessary. This paper focuses on how the motivation mechanism works to evoke a certain level of tension and absorption for the participant in the games. Our understanding about the games has been made so far mainly in two perspectives. One is to understand it as a kind of plays and the other is to understand it as a new form of epic. As the play or epic becomes serious, it requires its participants of proper level of tension and absorption. I argue in this paper that the games have both properties of the play and epic which require high level of tension and absorption. The reasons for this I claim are as follows: 1) game participants\' dual attitude toward their own character, 2) use of epic development method of second person, and 3) stimulate people\'s hero psychology by identifying participants with characters. 1) Gamers identify their characters with themselves during the game. As soon as the game finishes, they return to themselves in reality. This return is possible because they can think and behave as different beings when they choose their characters. What this means is that they need higher tension and absorption to adapt themselves into new circumstances. 2) Epic development of game does not follow traditional epic style, but follow the form of play. This means that game participant controls the epic development. This can be viewed as a second person perspective. That is, the game epic is developed by \'you\' a second person. Therefore, if \'you\' have no tension or absorption at any time, the epic cannot develops any longer. 3) Game skillfully stimulates the hero psychology of participants. It tempts them to think that it is possible for them to do whatever impossible missions in this real world with only their small passion and effort. The stimulation mechanism usually arouses high dramatic tension during the procedure. As usual in the game, winner who survives through all the difficulties takes all the privileges and becomes a hero. The hero in the game who braves through all the difficult procures remains as a great and miserable being at the same time. In conclusion, the reason why the games push the participants to sustain a high level of tension and absorption throughout the game is that it combines both the play and the epic characteristics simultaneously.
1. 들어가는 말 2. 논의의 방향과 초점 3. 몰입의 내적 원리와 조건들 4. 나오는 말 참고문헌
