my experience and understanding of this field is easily traceable to one source, a novel by D.B. Weiss. Lucky Wander Boy is a foray into the world of protagonist Adam Pennyman, shaped as it is by what could be known as the golden age of video games, the classical period of coin slot arcade cabinets. Pennyman's life changes drastically as he attempts to create an "Encyclopedia of Obsolete Entertainments", in which he approaches several arcade classics from a critical stance, analyzing their technical specifics, but more importantly, delving into aspects normally reserved for more classical aesthetic judgments: motif, myth, symbolism, et al.
Weiss' detail in the parts of Lucky Wander Boy devoted to Pennyman's Encyclopedia struck a chord in my own understanding of video game content and culture, as well as their intersection with reality and other cultural media. What followed was my own meager advances into aesthetic and critical theories, beginning with the most meaningful and symbolically dense games in my repertoire.
