McGonigal: Gameness of games

McGonigal states that we have taken games into our culture and use it in our language.  She mentions that we use the words 'game' and 'player' in our everyday language. Other terms such as "Don't play games with me" and  "This isn't a game" are all things that I along with friend, family and other people that share in the same culture as me have used. (McGonigal 2011, pg: 19 & 20)  "This admonishment implies that games encourage and train people to act in ways that aren’t appropriate for real life." I think that McGonigal is making a valid point here, when we think about it we are actually aware of what we may become due to playing games. Even though these metaphors so not 'reflect' what it means to play a well-designed game, they are just reminders of our 'worst fears' about games. (McGonigal 2011, pg 20)


Gaming is becoming more and more popular year on year. "Games today come in more forms, platforms, and genres than at any other time in human history." (McGonigal 2011, pg: 20) There are many forms of games and gaming platforms in the 21^st century. There are many forms of gaming around like video games, board games, internet games, arcade games and much more, too much to mention really. This just shows the sheer size of the market for gaming. A game invites the ‘gamer’ to come up against needless hurdles which involve hard work and optimistic engagement. McGonigal believes there are four defining traits of games. They are the goal, the rules, feedback system and voluntary participation. (McGonigal 2011, pg: 21)

McGonigal points out to us that ‘winning’ and ‘competition’ are features which enhance the gaming experience. However, they are not considered as defining traits of gaming. The defining traits are broken down;

The Goal: The end achievement, the purpose of starting the game there must be a triumph

The Rules: The restrictions that the gamer must obey to get to ‘The Goal’

Feedback system:  A personal/unique reflection of the gamers performance which include levels and scores, unlocked items etc.

Voluntary participation: The gamers ability to follow the above traits in order to play the game correctly

Games have lots of benefits like being a form of physiotherapy, improve hand-eye co-ordination, induce decision making, team building and communicating, enhance creativity and can teach you problem solving, motivation and cognitive skills. I agree with gaming for all the above benefits but not all is so positive. Gaming can encourage violence, crime, alcohol and drug misuse as well as that it can effect academic studies and can even lead to addiction.

 

 

Reality is Broken But Games Are Fun!

"Games today come in more forms, platforms and genres than at any other time in the human race." (McGonigal; 2011, pg. 20)

With this quote McGonigal simply states that in today's world there is many many forms of games available to the population, these range from Board games, Card games, Puzzle games, Quiz games, Computer games and Console games. She goes onto tell us that even though there is all these kinds of games out there they all share the same attributes that essentially make them games.

"When you strip away the genre differences and technological complexities, all games share four defining traits: a goal, rules, a feedback system and voluntary participation." (McGonigal; 2011 pg. 21)

These four defining traits are what make games what they are, each one of these traits add another level of structure to a game and each one makes them entertaining for the participant. Each trait has its own purpose for a game.

The first trait the Goal is what any participant strives to achieve when they first start to play whichever game they tackle. With the Goal it gives every gamer a purpose to play.

The second trait Rules, this trait is what binds the participant to what the restraints of the game and also gives it a purpose otherwise there would be no challenge for the gamer.

The third trait Feedback System, this is the trait tells the participant how they are doing in the game and how close they are to their main objective. It comes in forms of levels, scores and progress bars.

The final trait is Voluntary Participation, the last trait is the one that combines the first three traits, this one is accepted by every player who starts the game as they agree to abide by the first three.

"A game is an opportunity to focus our energy, with relentless optimism  at something were good at and enjoy" (McGonigal; 2011 pg. 28)

McGonigal goes on to talk about the effects that games have on people outside of the gaming world. She believes that taking all the benefits that video games give to the participants and utilizing them in the real world would make the human race is some way thrive as everyone would be testing their limits daily and enjoying what they do.

Bibliography: 

McGonigal. J (2011) - Reality is Broken