De-Centralising the Text: The Text-Paratext Relationship of Video Games

The aim of this chapter, and, by extension, of this collection, is to answer a question: Why are paratexts so important for video games? This chapter aims at doing so from a mainly theoretical perspective by delving deep into the roots of paratextual studies in general, its articulations and modifications in game studies, and analyses the complexities of the text–paratext relationship of video games. It addresses the relationship between the three core concepts found in the title of this work – history, paratexts, and games – and argues that (1) in and for video games, paratexts and paratextuality are very prominent and important, and (2) that their prominence and importance undermines any notion of a text–paratext hierarchy that has long been seen as valid, but which is more and more perceived as being arbitrary.