tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5336329543743367973.post8718726815929258086..comments2011-06-14T20:51:00.069-07:00Comments on Personal learnings about writing literary inquiry: "When games invade real life"Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01436592468638755637noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5336329543743367973.post-78448823342471131582010-06-08T19:11:40.754-07:002010-06-08T19:11:40.754-07:00I'm glad that Becca posted qualifying examples...I'm glad that Becca posted qualifying examples of games in real life, because what I'm offering is more the flip side of the coin. There is an article by Henry Jenkins (who Dr. Burton has referred to a few times) about new media literacy, in which he talks about the importance of "play" in modern educational settings, as well as "simulation." He uses a lot of examples of kids using video games to learn in the classroom setting, amongst other new media stuff.<br /><br />Here is the link:<br /><br />http://www.newmedialiteracies.org/files/working/NMLWhitePaper.pdf<br /><br />and you might look specifically at p. 10, where Jenkins explains that many kids these days have a "second life" through new media/video games that offer them ways to connect with the world that they might otherwise feel disconnected from.<br /><br />Also, p. 15, where Jenkins says that "Games such as SimLife teach players to think in an active way about complex phenomena<br />(some of them ‘real life,’ some of them not) as dynamic, evolving systems. But they also<br />encourage people to get used to manipulating a system whose core assumptions they do<br />not see and which may or may not be ‘true’<br /><br />Finally, p 23 refers to a game designer who talks about how "In some sense, a game is nothing but a set of problems.We’re actually selling people problems<br />for 40 bucks a pop....And the more interesting games in my opinion are the ones that<br />have a larger solution space. In other words, there’s not one specific way to solve a puzzle,<br />but, in fact, there’s an infinite range of solutions. ....The game world becomes an external<br />artifact of their internal representation of the problem space."<br /><br />p. 25 talks about simulation.neal callhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17285975416175230777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5336329543743367973.post-20216739417207745122010-06-08T09:16:07.797-07:002010-06-08T09:16:07.797-07:00Chris! Really great blog post!!!
I just commente...Chris! Really great blog post!!!<br /><br />I just commented on Heather's blog and want to comment in a similar way on your comment that "The philosophy of gaming is spilling over into real life experiences" particularly pushing the idea that video games are used as a form to create an new identity in real life, instead of the "real life" creating a new identity online. <br /><br />My example: Columbine high school massacre. The families are suing some video game companies, claiming they are responsible for making the boys into killers. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1295920.stm<br /><br />What will happen if Wii comes out with their planned "Resident Evil" games ( http://technologizer.com/2009/03/13/the-wiis-identity-crisis/) and people start not just thinking and using a remote control to kill someone, but they have the chain saw and actually go through the motions (the thought truly sickens me!)?<br /><br />We suddenly have a world where our physical bodies act out what our avatars do and we really do see a world where the philosophy of gaming is spilling over into real life experiences. Perhaps we don't need to escape any more because the digital world and "real" world become one and the same, with the digital world even dictating what we do in our real world! Scary thought!Beccahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15721211032797019129noreply@blogger.com