Remediation is the representation of one medium in another. This is effectively the evolution of storytelling, a crude way to look at it is beginning with talking about stories, then writing about them, then reading them, using the radio to remediate these methods, then the tv, then cinema, then games. We see each of these fields crossing over into different platforms all the time; movies, books, poems, radios, podcasts, everything is in games while also we see games and everything they contain in movies and books. Likewise without movies, games would never of been how they are today, and without games, many movies and the like would never of been the same if they existed at all.
There are 2 main types of remediation, Immediacy and Hypermediacy. The differences between them is that one tries to hide the media format it is in and attempts to draw you into the story to the point of total immersion. You forget your watching a movie or playing a game, grow real attachments to the characters and become emotionally tied to the story. The other highlights the fact that it is all structured for the enjoyment of the user, to better their experience – hand crafted for the betterment of the media. These are things like HUDs in games, or the narrator talking about himself in a movie.
Here are some great examples of remediation:
Ground Hog day – Relive the same level over and over
The Matrix – kill the bad guys, respawn and they come back again
Kill Bill – Insane superhuman fights
Heavy Rain – Interactive story / choose characters path
Knights of the old republic – Live the life of the universe made from books / movies
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