[coyls3]

I wouldn't classify this as a review, but more of a thought piece. It is well written and I really liked it.

You brought up a great discussion topic with the Ebert quote, and I would like to reply to it.

While it may be true that a game without rules ceases to be a game and becomes a representation of a story, that scenario will never happen because games have rules by design.

Video games are programs and as such there will always be algorithms (rules) that must be followed in order for the game to run. Also, no matter how simplistic the gameplay may seem, there will always be limits to what a player can and can't do, and those limits in themselves are rules.