You might want to go grab a cup of coffee and a pillow. This might take a while.

Sometimes it's worth digging a little deeper into gaming than the "FWOAR NICE SCREENSHOTS!" level, and do a little reading on just what makes games tick, and why we love them so. Sometimes.

But just how deep do you really want to go?

The Resident Evil series conservatively positions a player as a defender of Lacanian "symbolic order," the psychological force constituting subjectivity (discussed further below). On the other hand, Silent Hill subverts our anticipation to occupy this position. If Resident Evil comfortably positions us as analyst, then Silent Hill mischievously collapses the distinction between analyst and analysand-undermining with it the surrounding symbolic order upon which such distinctions rely.

Chances are that will cause you to think one of two things. Either, "......righto, then", or "cripes...that's fascinating". If it's the latter, and you've plenty of spare time set aside for today, this is actually a really, really interesting article. If it's the former, here, go knock yourself out. Luke Plunkett



Saving Ourselves: Psychoanalytic Investigation of Resident Evil and Silent Hill [Game Career Guide, via GSW]