September 24, 2014

Today

1) Keeping up with the Gamedashians2) Discussion: Arcades3) That Fiske!4) Group Time: Let’s talk presentations

Things to remember:1) League play tasks are due Friday!2) Make sure you’re up-to-date on you weekly gameplay, too (photo bomb, Avengers, Hearthstone, and Card Hunter)3) Your first analysis paper is due Friday, too.

ARCADES

Video Arcade:an establishment containing a collection of video games that can be played by a customer for a fee.

Most arcades forced you to trade your quarters for tokens– tokens were usually

quarter-like, but had no cash value.

Key Elements of The Arcade:

1. Essentially created the video game audience.

2. Insured game access to those with less money/means.

3. Was a haven for gamer culture/nerd culture

4. Pushed innovation in gaming… for a long time

5. Insured that video games before the “net” could be social (a requirement for

board and card games)

6. Social learning and distributed education through community.

Jonathan Fiske: “Video Pleasures”

Fiske comes from the tradition of cultural studies. Because of that, you will see a focus on people and actions (and not on technology) in his work. This piece proposes an interesting concept, though.

First… the five objections to video arcades , from Fiske:

1.Addictive2.Cause truancy/distract from school3.Cause petty crime4.A waste of money5.Vandalism/Hooliganism

Does this list remind you of anything?

The same five claims are made in the 1980s in the United States about

recreational drugs as part of the “war on drugs.”

“With the video game machine, the machinist works not with the machine but against it– the time his… 25 cents buys is

extended to the degree he can resist, work against, the machine. The better the

machinist is, the less he pays, and the lower the profit of the owner.” p. 80

WHAT?

Fiske went Marxist on you.He’s saying that the video game

machine=societal control.So when you drop in a quarter, you buy some time with the machine. The longer you can play, the more you’ve taken away from “the man” having a chance to make money.

For this week, I want you to “play” Second Life.

Here’s hoping it works on our computers in here.

SL is not a game, really, so do whatcha like once inside it.

Take some time with your groups.I want you to know what you’re going

to present on soon.

For Friday

Read: virtual worlds stuff (see schedule)

In class: we talk about Second Life. Have an account by class time.