Introduction: the novel, the game, and the long road to legitimacy
the specificity of video games and how we should talk about them
Survival horror: what are you scared of and what does it mean?
First-person shooters: the politics of death and the death of politics
The Souls series: Difficulty as a way into aesthetics
aesthetics replaced by difficulty
Metal gear solid: no heroes left, send in the heroes
Fallout and Shin Megami Tensei: whose apocalypse is it anyway?
Final fantasy: escape is other people
Conclusion: many more stories, many more audiences: game and the future.