Gee brings up the interesting point that after playing video games for “eight straight hours” he found it to be a “life- enhancing experience without even knowing what [he] meant by that. This demonstrates the power of video games as discussed in David Perry’s TED talk titled “Are games better than life?” In his talk, Perry explores the potential of video games to explicate emotion from its player. The ability for video game stimuli to make one feel happy, sad, nervous or whatever other emotion is created through the player’s ability to interact with their environment while creating a fluidity between reality and virtual reality.
Perry mentions another interesting point that propaganda and brainwashing can have more success if done through video games as opposed to traditional means. The ability to connect with the masses in a “fun and engaging” (Perry) way that “leave[s] the brain vulnerable to programming”. The ability for video games to ignite an emotional response from the player can a powerful tool.
The following are a few facts about video gaming from 2006. Some of the facts disspel some myths. [Perry’s TED talk was given in 2006 and Gee’s book was published in 2003]
-43% of gamers are female
-the average age of gamers is 30 years old
-the people who buy the most games are 37 years old
-83% of games do not contain mature content (i.e. violence)
According to the Entertainment Software Association these statistics have minimally changed (this data was collected in 2012).
-45% of all gamers are female
-the average age of gamers is 30 years old
-the people who buy the most games are 35 years old
However, with smartphones (purchase of apps) and increased use of social networking games this area accounted for 40 percent of game sales in 2012.
It is interesting to note that although there is constant debate over whether violent video game content makes players violent- parents are present when games are purchased or rented 89 percent of the time.
I wonder as educators, what our role is in the real/ virtual landscape? As video games become more complex and contain layers that players explicate a lot of meaning, it is necessary to educate our students on video game literacy. Asking students how they feel after playing a game and what created these feelings. Discussions we had on film studies need to occur with video game studies and the same questions need to be asked about emotion, design, etc. As many of our students are fully engaged in the world of video games, it is imperative we incorporate video games and discussions of video games into our teaching practice.
Fatima Ali
Blog post #2
Works Cited
Gee, J. (2005). “Good Video Games And Good Learning.” Phi Kappa Phi Forum, 85.2, 33-37
“David Perry: Are games better than life?”. Youtube. TED talk. Feb 2006. Web. July 15, 2013.