This week we examined "Games as/ in Life". First off, what the heck is up with the slash in the title?! It has nothing to do with the games in life but yet it's there....weird...
Our week was particularly interesting because the articles were specially forward thinking. First was an article by a Henry Jenkins and David Thorburn titled "The Digital Revolution, the Informed Citizen, and the Culture of Democracy"(LINK for the Article). As you can tell from the dynamite title, very heavy information followed such as whether the Internet has caused a revolution or evolution. Thorburn and Jenkins focused on the "big picture" using examples from real-life political events. The other articles tackled equally big picture and weighty topics such as "The Civic Potential of Video Games" (LINK), "A Socio-Technical Vision of Democratic Knowledge Exchange" (LINK), and "Young Adults and Virtual Public Spheres." (LINK)
Alright, to be completely honest, even though I found these articles informative and very interesting, I found myself thinking that these highly educated individuals were taking the idea of gaming to a level which gamers do not typically want to go. Most people that I know who are heavy gamers are not that interested in politics or civic duty anything. They play games, on- and off-line, as a simple hobby or as a way to socialize with good friends.
I think that the most important aspect of gaming is providing a way to escape reality temporarily. It is a method of telling an engrossing story; escaping today's headache for something, or someone, else's reality. Playing games is a way to enjoy a world which may only exist in the imagination. Why muck it all up with real world issues? Doing so destroys the reason for playing!
Ya, I agree the main purpose of a game is to have fun, or if not it becomes work. I think when people are talking about those other "games" they are really talking about education and they should call it that.
ReplyDelete- I love where you're going with this, and I love the graphic...but I need you to develop the idea more. Interview someone, address your response to one of the G4C games...connect the response to the material!
ReplyDelete- "Games as Life" AND "Games in Life" is what the slash means...but I'm not sure how that actually relates to the content of your ESSAY. Again, you need to avoid editorializing about the class in your ESSAY.
God to see someone taking the opposite position: I wrote in favor of games being taken really seriously as an extension of the escapism we find in games. The vast majority of games, like you suggest, don't require a big commitment from the player. The important point of their escape is that they are only temporary.
ReplyDeleteBear in mind, though, that even players of casual games can get pretty caught up in them. The most obvious commitment we make to games is the time spent playing them, but that is not ALL the time we invest in them. How many guys do you know who visit gaming web sites to get tips or downloads for a game, to enhance their playing experience? How many of us participate in web forums where we discuss games? Ever met someone in a multiplayer game that you made a friend out of?