ForeWord reviews How To Do Things with Videogames

"You have no idea what videogames are, or what they can do" -- ForeWord on Ian Bogost's new book How To Do Things with Videogames.

You have no idea what videogames are, or what they can do. Ian Bogost—a game scholar and award-winning game designer, and author of Persuasive Games—does. In his latest book he offers a multifaceted overview of what the medium is capable of. The title is misleading—this is not a how-to manual, but an examination of how games can be used to communicate empathy, to relax, to exercise, to work. Each brief chapter examines one of these key concepts, through a combination of examples from the book's extensive "gameography," far-reaching cultural references, and Bogost's own experiences as a game developer.

In the "Kitsch" chapter, for instance, Bogost links popular social games like FarmVille and Diner Dash to Thomas Kinkade paintings. These games play to the same tropes and overt sentimentality that defines kitsch in the wider world of art, he argues. And as far as the constant stream of posts these games send to their user's Facebook walls is concerned: this array of virtual trinketry might help realize the videogame equivalent of Kinkade's million-seller art. After all, Facebook games like FarmVille boast tens of millions of players, all clicking cows and crops to show their friends, just like they might display Kinkade cottage-paintings or Precious Moments angel figurines.

Published in: ForeWord
By: Kenrick Vezina


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