Hypermediacy in Games

Hypermediacy

Something I have had on my mind a lot since it was brought up this week was the idea of hypermediacy and its generally awkward relationship with games. As something which demands attention and a variable degree of awareness, it’s easy to see how including another level of information can be troublesome. Even more so when you consider the fact that each game has to establish a foundation and set of functions, rules and structures for the player (and the creator) to adhere to.

In an attempt to find examples of hypermediacy in games I dug up some flash games I have played earlier which I think could (or am I completely off track?) represent some elements of hypermediacy. If anything, they have a very large emphasis on a ‘meta’ approach.

The first is ‘Upgrade Complete’, a game which requires the player to ‘buy’ EVERYTHING in the game, including the preloader, developer logos, and menu buttons. What I find really interesting about this is how marginalized the actual playing section of the game becomes, you end up spending all your time in the shop buying different elements of the game before briefly playing the constantly changing arcade-style game just so you can get back to the shop. It makes elements which were previously formalities which enabled the playing of games the main focus.
http://armorgames.com/play/3955/upgrade-complete

The second is ‘Achievement Unlocked’, a game which has the simple aim of gaining achievements. It has achievements for almost everyhing it can get out of its simple interface and gameplay. You are rewarded for standing still, dying a bunch of times and checking the walkthrough. Once again, the game shifts the focus of the game from a central focus or goal to an element of games which can be considered either a trivial congratulations or an additional set of goals.
http://armorgames.com/play/2893/achievement-unlocked

Would you consider these examples of hypermediacy, or just games with a different use of already present and familiar elements of games? Anyone got any better examples?