First of all, this book gave me quite a few surprises along the way. I ha no idea that South Korea was largely interested in pro gaming, let alone being the land of the pro gamer. I assumed it would have been China or Japan. I wonder if they still are considered the leaders in…

The way in which the game of chess was able to so easily immerse itself into Medieval European society between 1100 and 1500 C.E. has fascinated historians for many years. In his anthology Chess in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Age, Daniel O’Sullivan explores the relationship chess had with European culture during the Middle…

What do games do to foster teamwork, and how do they bring us closer to others? The obvious example for me to use, and the one that brings the most to mind to answer this, is soccer. When playing on my high school team, we would bong through team bonding activities. We were also practicing…

I have not always been a fan of the idea that college athletes should receive compensation for playing sports. I used to believe that the “spirit” and “wholesomeness” of college sports would be compromised if athletes started to get paid; but then my brother played D1 college football for a year, and his experience totally…

As an avid lover of indie video games, I decided to write a film review on a documentary I came across called “Indie Games: The Movie.” The film centers around the creation process of several indie video games; Super Meat Boy, Fez, and Braid. As noted in the film, Braid has been regarded as not…

Most of the time when people talk about palette swaps people are talking about ways the age old practice of recycling modes or sprites in order to cheaply and efficiently create more content. However, the thing that most interests me about this prompt is the relationship palettes swaps have with players and their characters. Specifically,…

I really enjoyed this week’s readings. The Aarseth, Bogost, and Dyer-Witheford pieces all provide nice insights into the ways in which academics approach the study of video games. One aspect that particularly struck me was Bogost’s section on texture in video games. Bogost focuses on the visuals and sounds contained within the game environment as…

Last week, we were talking about Massive Multiplayer Online gaming with World of Warcraft. This weeks reading mentions a little on MMO’s in the Games of Empire reading. With the material this week I’ve found that video gaming is a huge culture, and a form of media on its own. What surprised me the most…