In preparation for this unit we read Helen Thornton, (2009). Claiming a stake in the videogame: what grown-ups say to rationalise and normalise gaming. Convergence 15 (2), 135-139. (electronic databases)
Jenkins, H. (2006). The War between effects and meaning: Rethinking the video game debate. In D. Buckingham & R. Willett (Eds.), Digital Generations: Children, Young People, and New Media (pp 19-31). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Ass. (E-reserve)
We then had to select a game to play:
We then had to select a game to play:
- Dolphin Olympics OR
- Plants vs Zombies (For Mac / For PC) (You can download a free trial for one hour’s play. Be warned - this is very silly but very addictive!)
I found the Thornton reading a very thought provoking analysis on gaming and of particular interest was the discussion of pleasure and personal and subjective desires within the discourse of gamers and how these complex articulations of pleasure are entwined in issues of power, gender, class and context of gamers.
As for Jenkins, the quote that had the biggest impact for me was “Meanings emerge through an active process of interpretation - they reflect our conscious engagement, they can be articulated into words, and they can be critically examined”. And the further summary that “New meanings take shape around what we already know and what we already think, and thus each player will come away from a game with a different experience and interpretation.” This made me examine my own response to video games and my repulsion of games as time wasting and largely useless entertainment.
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