The Muse in the Machine

June 10, 2008 12:25 PM

Robert Pinsky writing about Zork. Yes, I know its super old.
posted by juv3nal (15 comments total)

The product of random surfing inspired by this thread. Obligatory background: Pinsky, Zork, Eastgate Systems [1] [2], Mindwheel [1] [2].
posted by juv3nal at 12:39 PM on June 10, 2008

Leave it to Pinsky not to mention the subject of his article until the second page.
posted by shmegegge at 1:10 PM on June 10, 2008

ADVENT
posted by caddis at 1:15 PM on June 10, 2008

This article on some of the very first text adventure games was published in 1995, which is kind of late to the party.
posted by JHarris at 1:21 PM on June 10, 2008

I believe that the poetics of Zork and its modern descendants tell us more about the literary potential of the computer than we could learn from any amount of ambitious literary theorizing.

Um, wasn't the text adventure pretty much dead by 1995?
posted by Artw at 1:33 PM on June 10, 2008

There is a link to an interesting article posted on a blue screen.

> CLICK LINK

You click the link and the article appears on the screen.

> READ LINK

You cannot read the link; work is almost over!

> EAT ME

Auto-cannibalism is not the answer.
posted by not_on_display at 2:12 PM on June 10, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

Um, wasn't the text adventure pretty much dead by 1995?

That is not dead which can eternal lie.
And with strange æons even death may die.
posted by juv3nal at 2:13 PM on June 10, 2008

I didn't like this article at first, but it grue on me after a bit.
posted by googly at 2:41 PM on June 10, 2008

Robert Pinsky wrote a sci-fi themed text adventure?

...

Wow. I want to find a copy.
posted by painquale at 3:51 PM on June 10, 2008

Wow. I want to find a copy.

There's a download link on this page (linked earlier). Not sure what you'd need to get it running though. Probably DOSBox.
posted by juv3nal at 4:20 PM on June 10, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

DOSBox, for completeness' sake.
posted by juv3nal at 4:22 PM on June 10, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

A wee mite pretentious, wot?
posted by Addlepated at 4:30 PM on June 10, 2008

artw: absolutely not. In fact, the text adventure is in many ways much more thriving than it was during the mythical and not entirely historically tenable "golden age" of Infocom.
posted by honest knave at 6:14 PM on June 10, 2008

Sigh. Go on then, list the filthy homebrew "interactive fiction" filth that you beleive prooves your theory...
posted by Artw at 8:06 PM on June 10, 2008

Go on then, list the filthy homebrew "interactive fiction" filth that you beleive prooves your theory...

Spider and Web

Xyzzy winners
posted by Izner Myletze at 7:47 AM on June 11, 2008