Based off of our discussion last Thursday I thought that I was going to have to drudge through this weeks reading, I ended up enjoying it though. I found the Aarseth reading to be the most difficult, but there were a few parts of it that I did enjoy. I thought that his discussion of the first online video games was particularly interesting. I totally agree with his conclusion that online video game players have come “to regard themselves as participants in a community, rather than a game” (13). I am not that into the community of online gaming, even though I do play a few online games. However, I have definitely been in the room when the person playing on a console is more invested in the person on the other end of their headset than they are in the people in the room with them. I also feel this community myself when I play games like Call of Duty of Destiny, when I am on a game with other humans. You cannot help but feel community when you are fighting together.

The Jennifer Juul reading was interesting as well. I thought her exploration of how anger actually served to make us happy was spot on. As I am writing this my roommates are on the other side of the room screaming about a boss in Bloodborne, and they are definitely more upset than they are happy. I  especially thought that her survey was interesting. If running a marathon was easy then getting to the finish line would not be any fun.

My favorite reading this week was definitely the Unit Operations piece. The discussion about video games and their potential to impact society was awesome. When the author discussed the ability of games like Sim City to “teach players something about urban planning and local governance” I totally agreed (120). I remember having those feelings when I was playing those games, and I think that probably did effect my perception of civic priorities.

I especially liked the mention of the game September 12. It may be because that game aligns with my opinion on the subject, but I think that is a great example of how video games can teach people about real-world situations.