English speakers' reception of EN diegetic texts in the EN locale of "Sam & Max: Reality 2.0" (Telltale, 2007)

Abstract

The multimodal nature of contemporary videogames allows their creators to intentionally insert readable writings which can be cognized as part of the game world. Examples of such ‘diegetic texts’ are in-game graffiti, posters, billboards, handwritten letters, and any other environmental messages inside the visual-verbal layer of medial communication. Diegetic therefore refers to mise-en-scène components which are understood as mediated through the art’s story-world, rather than some user-facing interface. This is not unique to just gaming and is applicable to other visual arts. However, the interactive dimension of gaming offers certain nuances to the exploration and accessibility of such texts, especially in the context of translation studies and game localization practices. Diegetic texts can be deployed for a myriad of functional reasons, ranging from crucial gameplay-relevant instructions to optional inside-jokes hidden by the game developers. Moreover, these texts can come as piecemeal to complex kaleidoscopes of visual stimuli, and subsequently, they compete for the attention of game recipients, who as a result may or may not read them. Little research has been dedicated to studying this layer of communication, and even less so empirically and in videogames. To that end, we conducted a laboratory reception study whereby 30 participants played the English version of “Sam & Max: Reality 2.0” (Telltale, 2007) and answered a battery of questions regarding their experience of diegetic texts in that game. This game was selected for its vast application of diegetic texts for humorous effects. This article presents our findings and discusses implications for further studies.