The second and most popular approach to
date, is Janet Murray’s Hamlet on the Holodeck
(1997), where she describes the computer as a
new medium for the old practice of storytelling. Her
analysis includes videogames along with other
artifacts such as hypertext, web serials and
interactive chat characters. She distinguishes three
main qualities in the medium: immersion, agency,
and transformation. By immersion she understands
the power of the medium for helping the user to
construct belief, rather than just suspending
disbelief. Agency is the capacity of the medium to
allow the user to perform actions that have
consequences on the representation. Finally, by
transformation she means the ability to morph into
multi-perspective, simulated worlds that can
enhance the two previously described
characteristics. Murray views the computer as a
medium that allows storytelling expanding towards
new expressive possibilities. Murray expands the
concept of storytelling –which she calls
cyberdrama-, that includes both traditional
(literature, film, drama) and interactive forms
(videogames, hypertexts, chatting robots such as
Eliza).