Language recognition is not a new concept to video games - the first text adventures had to understand commands somehow. But researchers are trying to integrate it in more open-ended ways - allowing for dynamic conversations between players and characters.

How do a game's designer, player, and protagonist interact? Mike Rubin takes a look at how three parts of a gaming experience interact — especially in terms of interactive fiction games, where many designers plan for responses that don't correlate with how the protagonist should act, but how players make them act.…