Category: Weekly Research: Academic

NEWMAN, JAMES, and IAIN SIMONS. “Using the Force: LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game, Intertextuality, Narrative, and Play.” New Narratives: Stories and Storytelling in the Digital Age, edited by RUTH PAGE and BRONWEN THOMAS, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln; London, 2011, pp. 239–253. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1df4h49.18.

This article discusses how some Star Wars video games break the boundaries of the traditional canon of Star Wars, and have became an important part of transmedial storytelling. This means that the bad characters don’t always have to be bad, and the good characters don’t always have to be good. It is an interesting way to approach Star Wars in a completely different way. Especially with LEGO now incorporating the Star Wars brand into its movies and games, the way that people see and interactive with Star Wars is completely different due to the complexity of these video games.

http://www.jstor.org.proxy-wcupa.klnpa.org/stable/pdf/j.ctt1df4h49.18.pdf

Alexandra Henning, et al. “Do Stereotypic Images in Video Games Affect Attitudes and Behavior? Adolescent Perspectives.” Children, Youth and Environments, vol. 19, no. 1, 2009, pp. 170–196. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.7721/chilyoutenvi.19.1.0170.

This article outlines a study done on the affects that video game images have on adolescent attitudes and behavior. The study found that, in a week, males played games more than twice as much as females. The negative stereotypes portrayed through video games (especially as they pertain to gender roles), seemed to have less of an affect on males who played games often. Thus, males were less likely to evaluate video games in a negative way and, instead, took these stereotypes at face-value and tended not to question or critique them. This poses a problem for developing adolescents who are exposed to these stereotypes without issue.

http://www.jstor.org.proxy-wcupa.klnpa.org/stable/pdf/10.7721/chilyoutenvi.19.1.0170.pdf

Greitemeyer, T., & Osswald, S. (2010). Effects of prosocial video games on prosocial behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(2), 211-221.

http://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fa0016997

One of the most common stereotypes of modern games, especially video games, is that they have a highly aggressive and violent influence on their players, which is feared could mold young children into equally aggressive and violent adults. And though there are numerous studies on this subject, there are few that take a positivist approach to the discourse. This text however, does exactly that. Focusing on the idea of pro social games, this study concludes that those interacting with pro social games will be more likely to be altruistic and selfless with others in their real lives, Overall, it states that video game can be violent, but they can also foster interaction and social betterment, and that exists as a niche summation of an oft negatively viewed culture.

Liz Danforth in her short article “Gender and Games” argues that in order to help bridge the gap between gendered stereotypes of the gaming community, places like local libraries need to help educate players on games and also offer opportunities to people who may not have the means to play games otherwise. Danforth argues that while game developers often target a male audience when developing a game, many “serious” games are developed by female designers. Danforth closes by suggesting that the best way for a woman to become integrated into the gaming community is by playing tabletop RPGs by understanding conceptual tricks as well as interactive storytelling.

 

Danforth, Liz. “Gender and Games.” Library Journal, vol. 136, no. 13, 8/1/2011, p. 53. EBSCOhost, proxy-wcupa.klnpa.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=64501689&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

• Folding Ideas. “Folding Ideas – Depression Quest”. YouTube, YouTube. 22 August 2015. Web.

Folding Ideas is a YouTube channel who discusses and analyzes different forms of media, as well as other topics in depth. They do a video about Depression Quest and use examples of other, more popular video games to allow the audience to understand the aspects of the game. It discusses several elements that make up a game and compare and contrast Depression Quest‘s elements with World of Warcraft to help the audience connect the dots easier since WoW is a popular game played today.

Hoffman, Bobby, and Louis Nadelson. “Motivational Engagement and Video Gaming: a Mixed Methods Study.” Educational Technology Research and Development, vol. 58, no. 3, 2010, pp. 245–270. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40603176.

This article highlights a study done on the effects of motivational engagement in video games. Among these motivations were self-esteem boosts and enhanced competency (246). Because of these motivations, the article argues that gamers are more engaged in the gaming experience. The article then goes on to provide quantitative research and data regarding the study. What the study concludes is that gamers need to obtain a certain amount of control within the game in order to feel some type of psychological achievement. It also showed how much gamers depend on socializations within the game to satisfy certain needs.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/40603176.pdf

Egenfeldt-Nielsen, Simon, Jonas Heide Smith, and Susana Pajares Tosca. Understanding video games: The essential introduction. Routledge, 2015.

https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=oLg0CwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=video+games&ots=fimbg24fZi&sig=OE8s1I167yRESaTlI1EHji2HVYw#v=onepage&q=video%20games&f=false

As denoted by the title of this text, the basic principles for understanding the culture of video gaming especially. It discusses the ground rules for being able to recognize and digest modern video games, with the boundaries of the discourse being implemented. However, it also discusses the reach that videogames can have; the lexical industry that has been created around the. Furthermore, it investigates the social implications that the discourse might have, both positive and negative. Though lengthy, it is a solid foundation for getting into the basic foundations of gaming and video gaming culture in general.

 

Robbins, M. Brandon. “Puzzle It out.” Library Journal, vol. 141, no. 7, 15 Apr. 2016, p. 60. EBSCOhost, proxy-wcupa.klnpa.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=114555334&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

In this article, M. Brandon Robbins writes about the evolution of puzzle games all the way from classics like Tetris to newer indie puzzle games like The Talos Principle. He talks about a newer puzzle game that hides it puzzle genre under the disguise of a first person shooter. Superhot is a level-based game where the player must shoot their way through different areas to move on to the next level. The player can slow down time amongst other video-game-esque mechanics but this time-slowing effect helps to figure out the puzzle aspect of the game. The player must identify patterns and manipulate elements within the shooting to maneuver through the levels. Robbins also cites the story to be a puzzle in a way. Players must piece the entire story together through clues and cryptic messages along the progression of the story. He says the game entices players  that primarily stick to a first person shooter type game to go out of their comfort zone and take up a more puzzle based game while sticking to some of the mechanics they are used to.

Graham, Joseph M. “Narrative Therapy for Treating Video Game Addiction.” SpringerLink, International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 14 Dec. 2014, www.bing.com/cr?IG=90066C71A5D441F2BFBA954E1528228C&CID=263BE62205F86EE42C56ED0604FE6F82&rd=1&h=uKv8-uhk-K99oIn9EKVDBGGxDJfwC–DzlSOZDvCynM&v=1&r=https%3a%2f%2fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2fnlmcatalog%3fterm%3d1557-1874%255BISSN%255D&p=DevEx,5063.1.

 

This article addresses video game addiction and treatment. It notes that video game addiction is defined similarly to gambling addiction, although emphasizes that certain skills translate online and offline. What is interesting is the emphasis the article puts on mental health professionals not to dismiss video games as having value. This is an interesting departure from the popular view that video games are time wasters, but this idea may be fading. The article suggests narrative therapy as a way to recover from video game addiction, which is a type of therapy in which the patient identifies their value and skills to help externalize the problem.

 

https://link-springer-com.proxy-wcupa.klnpa.org/article/10.1007%2Fs11469-014-9491-4#citeas

Resident Evil’s Rhetoric: The Communication of Corruption in Survival Horror Video Games by Charley Reed http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1555412015575363

Charley Reed investigates and dissects what really makes a horror video game incite a sense of dread and terror in his article Resident Evil’s Rhetoric: The Communication of Corruption in Survival Horror Video Games. Using different rhetoric theories and ideals, he delves into the different aspects and mechanisms of the game franchise that really add to the sense of dread and terror when a player invests themselves in the game. One characteristic that adds to a player’s sense of terror is how the aspects of play and story break our preconceived notions about behavior and life. Things are scarier to players when they don’t adhere to normal life, leaving the player out of control of the story and unable to expect what comes next. Another interesting point Reed pointed out is that in Resident Evil games, backstory and expositional information is normally found within non-digital objects. Players find information through books, paintings, pictures, or tape recordings found throughout the game. This grounds the game for the player making the aspect of finding information feel real. Finding information in a digital fashion like through computers in a digital outlet like an Xbox feels less real than finding physical information in a digital outlet.

Sioni, Sasha R., et al. “Internet Gaming Disorder: Social Phobia and Identifying with Your Virtual Self.” Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 71, June 2017, pp. 11-15. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/j.chb.2017.01.044.

Role playing games allow for users to entertain and socialize. However, some users have become dependent on these games leading the psychological and health problems. These individuals have been diagnosed with a disorder known as Internet Gaming Disorder. This studies observes risk factors mainly social phobia and player-avatar identification. They found that people who are uncomfortable and anxious in face to face conversations use role playing games as a way to form relationships with other individuals. They also use avatars as a way to create a unique self-identity for the players. They found that people who have social phobias and player avatar identification are strong factors associated with individuals with Internet Gaming Disorder.

Jolley, Kristie. “Video Games to Reading: Reaching out to Reluctant Readers.” The English Journal, vol. 97, no. 4, 2008, pp. 81–86. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/30047252.

This article examines the role that video games have in helping students with learning difficulties become better readers. Jolley claims that there is a connection between the gaming habits and schoolwork of an individual(81). Using James Paul Gee’s approach to learning and literacy and how he realizes the importance of recognizing games as teachable texts, Jolley surveyed 250 eight-grade students in her school about their reading and gaming habits. This empirical research concluded that students who love video games but struggle to read are more excited to read game-based books. These books (such as novels based off of the Halo video game), actually have authority and power within the reading classroom. She also explains that teachers can reach out to the students who are more game-based by having them read graphic novels. What Jolley concludes is that the role of video games can have an impact on literacy of an individual if that role is catered to appropriately within the school environment.

Lin, Yu-Ling, and Lin, Hong-Wen. “A Study on the Goal Value for Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Games Players.” Computers in Human Behavior6 (2011): 2153-160. Web.

https://ac.els-cdn.com/S0747563211001154/1-s2.0-S0747563211001154-main.pdf?_tid=7a472902-b1eb-11e7-a3a5-00000aab0f6b&acdnat=1508101238_75d03d62d77508b20d50e431311d1f00

This study contains participants who enjoy playing MMORPG’s. It analyzes what they value about these types of online gaming the most, and how these aspects benefit the gaming world economically. Most of the participants gain fulfillment out of the social interaction aspect of MMORPG’s. They enjoy creating relationships through the gaming community and benefit from them immensely. This also causes players to want to spend more time playing a specified MMORPG, because they look forward to talking with their online friends, and escaping from the real world and people they necessarily can’t connect with throughout their day in the real world.

Sioni, Sasha R., et al. “Internet Gaming Disorder: Social Phobia and Identifying with Your Virtual Self.” Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 71, June 2017, pp. 11-15. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/j.chb.2017.01.044.

Role playing games allow for users to entertain and socialize. However, some users have become dependent on these games leading the psychological and health problems. These individuals have been diagnosed with a disorder known as Internet Gaming Disorder. This studies observes risk factors mainly social phobia and player-avatar identification. They found that people who are uncomfortable and anxious in face to face conversations use role playing games as a way to form relationships with other individuals. They also use avatars as a way to create a unique self-identity for the players. They found that people who have social phobias and player avatar identification are strong factors associated with individuals with Internet Gaming Disorder.

“Might or Magic” is an article about the ways that different people interact with different games based on their personality type on the Myers-Brigs type indicator. In the article each of the 16 different personality types are broken down and explained at length and then different aspects of play are discussed such as strategy based on personality type.

Not only does this study focus on the type of games and tendencies that players of specific personality types have when playing, it also describes and explores how different personalities interact with the same game. It is also interesting to note that the people who conducted the study not only looked at the games, but the platforms on which the games are played, which show that one’s personality also has a correlation with different mediums of play, whether it be on smartphone, personal computer or on a console. The article also gives an additional category of analysis that transcends personality types in the type of fulfillment that players search for when playing: confident individualism, constant improvement, people mastery or social engagement.

https://www.16personalities.com/articles/might-or-magic-a-study-of-gamers-personality-types

https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Video_Game_Theory_Reader_2.html?id=oe0zNalKkTgC

Understanding Games as Emotional Experiences by Ari Jarvinen

In this essay, the writer points out that game studies needs to be further developed and expand into more experimental areas. In response, he attempts to establish the groundwork for a methodology to examine the emotional responses video games can elicit. He identifies game play as what he calls a “phasic process”, one that mimics the mental processing of emotion. Because of this, games are significant as aesthetic experiences that are shaped by experience based design choices rather than functional design choices. This view of games opens up many possibilities for design techniques that create more diverse experiences for players.

Galloway, Alexander R. “Social Realism.” Gaming: Essays on Algorithmic Culture, NED – New edition ed., vol. 18, University of Minnesota Press, 2006, pp. 70–84. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.5749/j.ctttss5p.7.

In this article, Galloway discusses the relationship between the physical world and the world of gaming. He focuses on games that provide real life situations and those that are simply grounded in fantasy, and applies each of these to social realism (art that depicts modern life for social or political persuasions). Because games are not only visual, but also require a certain amount of physical action, Galloway concludes that video games, such as those that train military personel, provide the player with a sense of “realism in action” (84). He then goes on to claim that video games are mediums through which players are encouraged to perform actions, which makes them valid and important forms of social realism.

http://www.jstor.org.proxy-wcupa.klnpa.org/stable/pdf/10.5749/j.ctttss5p.7.pdf?refreqid=search%3Ab7bacb8a61a1e58da348f7ad24f81821

 

 

Moon, Junghoon, et al. “Player Commitment to Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs): An Integrated Model.” International Journal of Electronic Commerce, vol. 17, no. 4, 2013, pp. 7–38.

      This study seeks to understand the popular success of MMORPGs through how they motivate players to commit to the gameplay and fictional dream.  In particular, the authors argue that MMORPGs, give players the ability to fully create and control their own avatar, which includes constructing an online identity used to navigate the game’s social community.  This, Junghoon et al hypothesize, is the relatively unexplored secret to how MMORPGs garner commitment, dedication, and loyalty from their players, so they go in-depth on how ownership and social identity can be potent forces in driving someone to play a game.  

 

1. Majewski, J. A. K. U. B. “Cultural heritage in role-playing video games: a map of approaches.” Furnace Journal (2015).

Majewski’s article deals with video games’ evocation of cultural heritage in their settings. Through the utilization of certain cultural influences (like Scandinavian influences in Skyrim), games can draw in an audience that that particular heritage appeals to. Majewski attempts to categorize the different ways games use cultural heritage, and focuses primarily on RPGs.  

https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/39112491/Majewski_2015a_-_Cultural_Heritage_in_Role-Playing_Video_Games._A_Map_of_Approaches.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&Expires=1506918307&Signature=uIoURiwoQiZjcUdC7MPWzuYeJuM%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DCultural_Heritage_in_Role-Playing_Video.pdf

De Vore, Paul W. “Technological Literacy and Social Purpose.” Theory Into Practice, vol. 31, 1, 1992, pp. 59–63. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1477055.

Technological literacy is one type of literacy that I will be discussing and exploring in my first project. The article states that we have now evolved to depend on technology so much, that failure to educate and stay up-to-date on technological literacies will impair social status. We have now come to recognize technological literacy “as a part of basic literacy” (61). This type of literacy, therefore, must become part of the education curriculum, and this article gives guidelines for such curricula. Although this article does not deal directly with video games, it can be argued that video games can be used in curricula to teach technological literacy.

http://www.jstor.org.proxy-wcupa.klnpa.org/stable/pdf/1477055.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A67d7f0d1be8669a4ceda82060f21799e

 

 

Seok, Soonhwa and Boaventura DaCosta. “The World’s Most Intense Online Gaming Culture: Addiction and High-Engagement Prevalence Rates among South Korean Adolescents and Young Adults.” Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 28, no. 6, Nov. 2012, pp. 2143-2151. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/j.chb.2012.06.019.

“The world’s most intense online gaming culture: Addiction and high-engagement prevalence rates among South Korean adolescents and young adults” is an article in which the author aims to find out how many individuals are dependent on games. Using new and previous research, the authors seek to understand behaviors associated with gaming addictions. 1332 South Korean students in 11 high schools and 1 middle school surrounding the capital of Seoul were given a questionnaire to fill out. They found that “using a monothetic and a polythetic classification system, findings showed rates ranging between 1.7% and 25.5%, with a 2.7% addiction rate when distinguishing core from peripheral criteria.” They believe that this shows that areas often associated with a large gaming culture does not have an addiction rate that was as big as it was expected to be. This is one of the only studies on gaming dependency and can be useful information.

1. Natkin, Stéphane, et al. “Creating Multiplayer Ubiquitous Games using an adaptive narration model based on a user’s model.” DiGRA Conference. 2007.

http://www.digra.org/wp-content/uploads/digital-library/07311.31560.pdf

As discussed within this piece, the idea of an obstructed division between reality and virtuality is ever investigated. The idea of mimetic gaming isn’t new, but, as this text proffers, the line between the two worlds is increasingly thinning, with purposefully genre/media-bending discourses being discovered and implemented. More so than almost any other visual media, video games in particular allow for a realistic outlet that is separated by its agency. A player can become their avatar with the right boundaries, and this article adds to the act of doing so. Particularly ubiquitous gaming comes to mind, wherein real life directly impacts the virtual ones.Though this piece acts as an academic “how to” manual for breaking that ‘fifth’ virtual wall, and is benign in doing so, the social narrative therein is of imperative import for a technology obsessed modern society.

In my Spanish film class this week, we watched Alejandro Amenábar’s film Open Your Eyes, which made me think about how the rhetoric of games and play can be found beyond what is typically thought of as games and play. In the film, César seems to be stuck in a loop of an inability to discern between real life and fantasy, which is evident in the multiple dream sequences. What this represents is how when someone feels helpless in life, it is almost as if they are playing a game of which they are unaware of the rules.

César is unable to find solace in anything, even Sofía, which seemed to be the only rule of the game he can figure out. This idea suggests that like in games, life can only be worth playing if the ones playing are aware of the rules and ideas that govern interaction. When one is unaware and does not know how to play, they want to tap out and find something different to do. Much like when playing a game with a friend who gives up and does whatever they feel like because they are unable to figure out how to play.

 

Granic, Isabel, et al. “The Benefits of Playing Video Games”. American          Psychologist, vol.69, no. 1. Jan. 2014, pp 66-78. EBSCOhost

This article discusses positive mental health effects of gaming focusing on motivation, attention, emotional and social benefits and argues that games do in fact have “real-world” benefits. Granic talks about the function of play and how it can allow children, or anyone, to have simulated experiences allowing them to advance their mental and emotional state. It also includes a section of distinction between videogames and other forms of media.

 

http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy-wcupa.klnpa.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=f9326763-3b91-4da2-87b5-f938fd471021%40sessionmgr4009

 

 

 

Alexander, Jonathan. “Gaming, Student Literacies, and the Composition Classroom: Some Possibilities for Transformation.” College Composition and Communication, vol. 61, no. 1, 2009, pp. 35–63. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40593514.

This article explores the type of literacy that can be learned through games. The author claims that gamers must think critically, and must use coordination and collaboration with other players in order to perform specific tasks (especially in multi player games). The article suggests a study that explains that games have become a more popular source of not only entertainment, but also community building and socializing. Because games are often full of text, they can also promote literacy as well. There are three types of literacies involved in gaming: visual, technological, and textual (36). Thus, gaming involves both literacy and rhetoric “in action” (37). The author brings up a good point too, that sometimes people are not necessarily addicted to the game, but play itself (36).

http://www.jstor.org.proxy-wcupa.klnpa.org/stable/pdf/40593514.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A450c02228346a112552189534951c626

 

Lyons, Elizabeth J, et al. “Engagement, Enjoyment, and Energy Expenditure During Active Video Game Play.” Health Psychology, vol. 33, no. 2, 14 Feb. 2014, pp. 174–181. EBSCOhost.
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.proxy-wcupa.klnpa.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=940da24a-0873-4be7-be2f-c4dd90acffdc%40sessionmgr4010

In this article, the authors study the effects of video games that which require physical activity and how that activity correlates between enjoyment of the game and how much energy is expended while playing. In their study, they examine data collected from a group of people playing the popular dancing video game, Dance Dance Revolution, and look at how enjoyment while playing is related to energy spent while playing. At the end of their study, they conclude that games that are more enjoyable to play may correlate to a great level of energy expended thus more exercise for the player.

Nauright, John. “Global Games: Culture, Political Economy and Sport in the Globalised World of the 21^st Century”. Third World Quarterly, vol. 25, no.7, Oct. 2004, pp. 1325-1326. EBSCOhost.

This article discusses the economic side of games, and how gaming events and the media portrays gaming as entertainment. It talks about how these events are to be “marketed” and “managed” to gain media interest and income and how this is done different globally and nationally (1326) which brings the element of culture in. This article argues that sporting events are a place where people of all cultures can be unified and share a common interest, while also being something that grows global economics.

http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy-wcupa.klnpa.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&sid=3cbbc052-15df-446f-9b31-64fbec994c1b%40sessionmgr101

Adams, Megan Glover. “Engaging 21st-Century Adolescents: Video Games in the Reading Classroom.” The English Journal, vol. 98, no. 6, 2009, pp. 56–59. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40503460.

Adams argues that since most students find more enjoyment in technology, utilizing video games as a way of learning has become increasingly important. She argues that games such as Neverwinter Nights not only help students with reading and problem solving, but in these games they also enter into a new linguistic space where they must learn and incorporate new words. Playing video games includes a lot of reading, so the incorporation of games in the classroom allows students to develop their reading skills. In doing so, video games create a sort of “virtual literacy” which Adams says “requires that students extend their understanding of technology to include understanding how to use it responsibly and how to ‘read’ authors’ intentions by making inferences and comprehending the codes involved in the online world” (58).

http://www.jstor.org.proxy-wcupa.klnpa.org/stable/pdf/40503460.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A8c3d8b3c32d9120678aefb40eb49903f

1. McAllister, Ken S. Game Work Language, Power, and Computer Game Culture. Tuscaloosa, University of Alabama Press, 2008.

 

In this book, Ken McAllister investigates rhetoric in computer games. This book is based on a realization McAllister had.Mcallister realized that ss the popularity of games and their creation increased, they were not simply a form of entertainment but of deeper human and social meaning. McAllister identifies video games and reflects on them as “artifacts of culture worthy of political, social, economic, rhetorical,and aesthetic analysis. Notonly does Mcallister analyse games in this book but also reviews of games and how reviews actas different parts of society embracing or criticising the ideas brought up in games and shows what is important to those groups.

http://journals.sagepub.com.proxy-wcupa.klnpa.org/doi/full/10.1177/1555412014565642

Matheson, Calum. Procedural Rhetoric Beyond Persuasion: First Strike and the Compulsion to Repeat. SAGE, 2014. Web.

In “Procedural Rhetoric Beyond Persuasion”, Calum Matheson builds onto Bogost’s discussion of video games and procedural rhetoric by adding his own twist: taking focus away from rhetoric as defined as an art of persuasion.  Matheson claims that Bogost’s understanding of rhetoric is Aristotelian and, consequentially, too narrow in nature, since there are a lot of rhetoricians whose explanation of rhetoric might include more (or simply something different).  To remedy this, Matheson brings the psychoanalytic side of rhetoric into the lens Bogost offers up for the examination of video gaming.  Taking a stance close within the Lacanian school of thought (particularly Lacanian subjectivity), the author suggests that video games provide a mirror of sorts for the individual to see a representation of the self and for the society to see a representation of its culture as a whole.  This idea is further elaborated on by way of a video game called “First Strike” that Matheson uses as their primary example.

Ruch, Adam W. “Grand Theft Auto IV.” Games and Culture, vol. 7, no. 5,                2012, pp. 331–348., doi:10.1177/1555412012454221.

This article accomplishes a few tasks. It briefly discusses the difficulty of defining a game, but mostly covers the environment found within Grand Theft Auto IV, the fictional Liberty City. Beyond this, the article attempts to define the blurred boundaries of Grand Theft Auto’s relationship with reality, satire, and modernism. The article references other forms of media and links them to the themes of Grand Theft Auto IV’s, such as relating the stream-of-consciousness writings of Virginia Woolf to Grand Theft Auto IV’s open-world gameplay. The article notes that “For Woolf and the other modernists, it is not the goal to tell better stories with better narratives, but to better capture the experience of life by escaping the concept of narrative entirely,” which is akin to the non-linear aspects of Grand Theft Auto.

http://journals.sagepub.com.proxy-wcupa.klnpa.org/doi/pdf/10.1177/1555412012454221

Przybylski, Andrew K, et al. “The Ideal Self at Play: The Appeal of Video Games That Let You Be All You Can Be.” Sage Journals, vol. 23, no. 1, 2012, pp. 69–76. Sage Premier.
http://journals.sagepub.com.proxy-wcupa.klnpa.org/doi/pdf/10.1177/0956797611418676

With this article, the authors of the article study how the creation of a fictitious self in a video game serves as an appealing experience in which someone can literally place themselves inside a game and give them the attributes they seem fitting. The various authors also dive into the idea of a person putting themselves into a game to create their “ideal self”. With research being conducted by the group, they were able to find that when the player had come to see their game version of themselves in the light of this “ideal self”, the more the player was to enjoy the gaming experience.

Conway, Steven. “Avastars: The Encoding of Fame within Sport Digital Games.” Playing to Win : Sports, Video Games, and the Culture of Play, 12 Jan. 2015, pp. 133–151. Ebook Central – Proquest.
http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/wcupa/reader.action?docID=1865436

In this article, Conway talks about how in sports video games they can be made to deal as though you’re in the actual game and/or playing as a famous athlete over a multitude of games. He covers how a particular character in a game that represents a real life player of that sport, has been made to mirror that of the real life athlete in not only appearance, but also in the ways in which they interact in the gaming world. He also talks about how a player of the video game must already know the actual rules of the sport of the game they are playing, or they will quickly begin to learn the real life rules.

Anne R. Richards. “Gaming/Writing and Evolving Forms of Rhetorical Awareness Potentials of Interactive Digital Media for Democratic Classrooms.” Pedagogy, vol. 12 no.3, 2012.

This article discusses the potential gaming has as a writing topic in to learn and discuss democratic learning in a new light. It offers a distinction between “game” and “gaming”, and compares a learning environment such as a classroom to a communicative gaming environment which can also be a learning setting. Two interviews are presented in the article with expert student-gamers. It discusses gaming and writing, and the different ways one can learn how to play a certain game whether it be through the visuals of the game and instincts of the player, or through a textual tutorial.

Nicholson, Scott. “Reframing Gaming.” American Libraries, vol. 39, no. 7, 2008, pp. 50–51. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25650027.

This article examines the role that games play within libraries. It is noted that games have been included in libraries since the 1800s (where they were more traditional, like cricket). Gaming can, in fact, create a community of people from different backgrounds who come together for a common goal/purpose. What is interesting is that this article reframes gaming as “participatory storytelling,” in that the creator of the game sets up the story, and we as players participate in exploring the story. There seems to be a commonality amongst the articles I have come across, and that is the argument that games allow us to engage with an atmosphere that we would not normally be present in, and explore this as a different type of social interaction.

http://www.jstor.org.proxy-wcupa.klnpa.org/stable/pdf/25650027.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A03b5fc5f08ea0bc4b7bc376669c8ba97

Hayley Annino

Ruggill, Judd Ethan and Ken S. McAllister. Gaming Matters: Art, Science, Magic, and the Computer Game Medium. University of Alabama Press, 2011. Print.

Written by professional collectors of computer games, this book asserts that games are both broad and plastic.  Following such a claim, they commit the same definition to the term “play”, as well, since they hold it as the language of video games.  Therefore, every game that comes out is a response to the structure of this language, each game asking players to assume certain perspectives, whether they’ve seen these viewpoints before or not.  This book continues to explore the relationship between play, games, and the world around them.

http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/wcupa/reader.action?docID=835624

Ryan, Marie-Laure. Narrative as Virtual Reality 2: Revisiting Immersion in Literature and Electronic Media. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2015. Print.

This book aims to examine the interplay between interaction with a text and subsequent immersion for the reader, viewer, player, etc.  Marie-Laure Ryan argues that video games, as an emerging medium, establishes the connection between textual interactivity and immersion, which increases the text’s narrativity as a result.  This assertion is further elaborated on by examples of video games (particularly Online RPG’s) that place the player in vividly constructed worlds where players must navigate a society of other members.

https://sshelco-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=01SSHELCO_WCHESTER_ALMA21122517660003573&context=L&vid=WCHESTER&lang=en_US&search_scope=default_scope&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=default_tab&query=any,contains,video%20gaming%20rhetoric&offset=0

 

Granic, Isabela, et al. “The Benefits of Playing Video Games.” American Psychologist, vol. 69, no. 1, Jan. 2014, pp. 66-78. EBSCOhost. http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=2353a274-0752-41cd-84ad-72068349ea16%40sessionmgr4006

In this article, Isabela Granic explores the benefits surrounding video games for children. She finds that through playing video games, four separate domains of child development are amplified: cognitive, motivational, emotional, and social. She also cites different video games that are directly attempting to teach children useful skills later in life, such as surgical techniques.

Shaffer, David Williamson, et al. “Video Games and the Future of Learning.” The Phi Delta Kappan, vol. 87, no. 2, 2005, pp. 104–111. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20441942.

This article argues that videogames can be an important tool in learning, especially since we are coming into an age where so much of the way we interact and engage is digitized. As a new type of social interaction, video games let the players “participate in new worlds” (105) and allows he or she to engage in new roles that otherwise could not be experienced by him or her. This helps the player learn and grow, especially if these games are catered to something specific (critical thinking, team-building, etc.). Ideally, games will evolve to include specific practice in fields of study like medicine or architecture, while building communities of gamers as well. This article looks at gaming as a positive asset to learning, and a transformative practice.

http://www.jstor.org.proxy-wcupa.klnpa.org/stable/pdf/20441942.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A9191a35a4b8c0766aefda25ceddeb1c1

Hayley Annino