Self-study
In the earliest video games, the player typically controlled the movements of a simple icon on the screen. ███ ██ █████ █████ ██████ ███████ █████ ███████ ███ █████████ ██ ████████ █████ ███████████ ███████ ████████ ███████ ██ ███ ███████ █████████ ██████████████ ██ █████ ██████ ██ ██ ████ ███ ███████ ██ ████████ ████ █████ ████████ █████ ███ ███████ ███ ███ ████ ███ ███████ █████████ █████ ███████ █████ ██ ████ ███████ ███ █████████ ██████████████ ██ ███ █████ █████ █████ █████ █████ ████ ████ ██████████ ██ ████████
Summary
The author concludes that the technical sophistication of newer video games often makes them less compelling to players. This is based on the fact that in these newer games, players find it hard to identify with the in-game figures that they control. The reason players find it hard to identify with these figures is that players can see these figures represent other people.
Missing Connection
The conclusion introduces the concept of being “less compelling to players.” The premises don’t establish anything about what leads to a game being less compelling to players. So at a minimum, the correct answer should establish what makes a game less compelling.
We can make a more specific prediction, because the premises tell us what the author thinks leads to games being less compelling. The premises establish that in the newer video games, players find it hard to identify with the figures they control. To make the argument valid, we want to establish that if it’s hard to identify with the figures one controls, a game becomes less compelling.
8.
The conclusion of the argument ███ ██ ████████ █████ ██ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ ██ ████████
a
There are no ██████ ████ ███████████ █████████████ █████ █████ ██ █████ ███ ██████ ████████ ███ █████████ ██ █ ██████ ████ ██ ███ ███████
(A) doesn’t establish what makes a game less compelling to players. Since neither this answer nor the premises establish what makes a game less compelling, it cannot make the argument valid.
b
Most early video █████ ██ █████ ███ ██████ ██████████ █ ██████ ████ ██ ███ ██████ ████ ██ █████ ████████ ████ ██████████ ██ ███████ ████ █████ █████ ██████
(B) establishes that certain early video games were less compelling than the newer video games. But this doesn’t establish that the technical sophistication of newer video games makes them less compelling.
c
The technical sophistication █████████ ███ ████████ ████████ █████ ███████ ██ █████ █████ ██████ ██ ██████ ████ █████ █████ █████ █████ ██████████ ████ ██ ███████ ███ ████████ ████ █████ ████████
(C) establishes that the technical sophistication of the video games isn’t sufficient to make the games fully compelling. But this doesn’t establish that it decreases how compelling the games are. There’s a difference between not making something the most compelling and actively decreasing how compelling something is.
d
When players cannot ██████ ████████ ████ ███ ██████ ██ ████ █████ █████████ ████ ███████ ██ █ █████ █████ ████ ███████ ████ ████ ████ ████ ██████████ ████ ██ █████████ █████ ███
(D) connects the premises to why the technical sophistication of newer video games often makes them less compelling. Failure of players to easily identify with the in-game figures they control usually decreases how compelling a game is.
e
If some aspect ██ █ █████ ██████ █████████ ██████████████ █████ ██ ████ ██████████ ██ ████████ ████ ████ █████ ████ ████████ █ █████ ██████ ████ ████ ██ ██ █████████ ███ ███████ ██ █████████
(E) tells us what must be true IF an aspect of technical sophistication makes a game less compelling. But that’s the destination; we want to reach the conclusion that something is less compelling.