First in Your Pocket
by Oliver •
Millennial Monsters by Anne Allison examines the creation, rise and distribution of Japanese games, toys and culture starting just after WWII up through the present day. The text attempts to examine the causes for the rise in popularity of Japanese toys, media and culture by looking at the unique historical and cultural sources that gave…
Millennial Monsters
by cjakob •
First of all I just want to ask how many tin cans could the U.S. army consume? Caillois made the argument that games and play needed to be outside the realm of real life. He states, “In effect, play is essentially a seperate occupation, carefully isolated from the rest of life, and generally is engaged…
Response
by Skye •
I surprisingly enjoyed Millennial Monsters. My first thought of the book was I would not understand the appeal of toys and games like Pokémon and Digimon. As the author, in a chastising writing tone, writes how idiotic that someone cannot understand the joy that is Pokémon or Sailor Moon. Even though I was the right…
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No White Flags
by Skye •
It is hard to find anything positive about American football. “Grown” men are beating and breaking each other for points. Points that have no meaning, really, accept the winning of a game. Violence wins games, violence wins the super bowl, and violence gets endorsements and money. The image of football is difficult, it is violent…
Film Review: Life 2.0
by cgill •
The ability to distinguish real life from a virtual life can be rather problematic for some in Second Life (SL), which leads to the documentary called “Life 2.0”. Jason Spingarn-Koff follows the real lives and alternate lives of three individuals using their avatar names: Amie Goode, Asri Falcone, and Ayya Aabye. The people who Spingarn…
Aarseth, Bogost, and Juul
by Alan Kloosterhof •
All of this week’s readings used elements of literary criticism to examine digital games. All three authors were quick to note that there wasn’t complete overlap, but the tools of literary analysis are certainly in play here. In his piece, Aarseth notes that, at least according to the state of the humanities at the time…
Art of Failure
by Alexina •
This reading was very interesting as it pulled together a lot of terms and ideas from other readings we have gone over this semester. Such as the metagame, the magic circle and the spoil sport. The idea that videogames can be something that transends just gaming to some was something I had never thought of.…