Number 1, 2004 TEXT Technology 13 Helpless Spectators: GENERATING SUSPENSE in VIDEOGAMES and FILM Jonathan Frome and Aaron Smuts jhfrome@wisc.edu and aasmuts@wisc.edu Abstract Films and videogames both generate emotions in the viewer/player, but due to their inherent differences, often do so in ways specific to each medium. This article looks at the emo tion of suspense as a test case to evaluate that generalization. We contend that, although each medium does have unique features that can be used to generate suspense, these media share surpris - ing similarities. We argue that videogames can be most effecti ve in gen - erating suspense not by highlighting their unique ability to be interactive, but, to the contrary, by limiting interactivity at key points, thereby turn - ing players into helpless spectators. Our analysis highlights a previously overlooked factor in film's ability to generate suspense: helplessness. When talking about videogames, in addition to discussing a game's story, graphics, and gameplay, we often mention the emotional responses such games generate. We might describe a game as being funny, scary, or frus- trating. Since the relationship between a game player and a game is fun- damentally different from that between a film viewer and a film, we might expect that films and videogames would excel at generating different types of emotions. Yet, in some cases, they clearly generate similar emotions in viewers and players. An Amazon editorial review for the videogame Evil Dead: Hail to the King (THQ, 2000) states that the game "contains all of the humor, suspense, action, and gore that made the movies such classics." This evocative claim raises several questions. Can a videogame generate the same emotional responses as a film? If so, do videogames use mechanisms similar to film to achieve these ends?' Although several authors have discussed scenarios in which vid- eogames generate emotions, little attention has been paid to a detailed understanding of the emotions in question. For example, two articles in Screenplay address suspense in passing without any analysis of the com- ponent features of suspense or what makes suspense possible (King 55, Tong & Tan 105). A specific understanding of the emotion in question seems necessary to develop a satisfying account of how videogames gen-