Most of the texts we read for the first week did not leave a lasting impression. It wasn’t until I started reading “Homo Ludens,” by J. Huizinga that I found sentences that left me thinking about games and history. The first one was when Huizinga stated, “Play only becomes possible, thinkable and understandable when an…
Monthly Archives: January 2015
Reading Response
by Maria •
Homo Ludens by J. Huizinga was an interesting read that I gained a lot of information from as well as interested on how he referred to and defined ‘play.’ The fact that he did not limit play to a human characteristic and acknowledged that animals ‘play’ as well was intriguing. Huizinga also states that ‘play’…
Post 1
by Alexina •
Reality and Games
by cjakob •
Are games really separate from reality, are they purely a fantasy? All four readings seem to suggest this, and even go so far as to make this distinction between reality and games essential to the definitions of “game” and “play”. “Real play comes to an end when its players report back to the real world” (The Art…
Reading Response Numero Uno
by Claire Knaeble •
After reading this week’s articles, I realized just how much the concept of “play” is overlooked in our daily lives. Before switching back into history, I was a psychology major. To separate the psychological and scientific concepts of play from the more abstract and contextual ideas of it as seen in a more historical manner…
On the Cusp of Being a Game
by Oliver •
Out of all the articles, the one that stuck me most was actually Juul’s The Game, the Player, the World. It offered a distinct and specific method to quantify games, but more interestingly it also acted as a framework with which to remove the game label from various entities. The Sims is used as the…
Response
by Skye •
I thought the readings were eye-opening, fascinating, and yet complex. I always thought games and play was something that did not need a thought process. However, after reading these articles I realize that I am wrong. I enjoyed the Miguel Sicart piece, Play Matters, because I love his honesty about play, games, and sports. I love how…
Reading Response I
by chandsaker •
I found Huzinga’s reading particularly frustrating when considering my own philosophical perspective on games. I disagree with how he characterizes games as irrational, and strictly a social construction. When I think of games, and how they function in the daily lives of people, I consider the work of neuroscientists like David J. Linden. Linden has…