Well...DO games "count?"

Gaming is an important part of people's lives; I know it is for me and for so many others (consider the billions of  dollars the industry rakes in). When I was younger, I played computer games like Zoo Tycoon and Rollercoaster Tycoon. The chance to use my imagination and build zoos and amusement parks was so cool. Then of course, there was the first handheld gaming system, Game Boy that provided endless hours of enjoyment. Now, I mostly play video games utilizing the gaming systems: X-box, Playstation, Wii. Video games allow you to have fun and escape from reality. You can be part of a battle (yes, sometimes a violent one) or you can imagine you are on a football field, a basketball court, or on the ice playing hockey with the pros. You can have alone time or engage in social interaction like with X-box Live. I mean chatting with and "battling" people in the U.S. and other countries is fascinating. I enjoy playing video games and love the creativity involved that sometimes I think the best job in the world would be to design video games.

 One aspect that I am becoming familiar with because of this Digital Humanities (DH) class is alternate reality games or ARG for short. CNET defines alternate reality gaming as "...an obsession-inspiring game that blends real-life treasure hunting, interactive storytelling, video games and online community..." ARG is definitely a different way to play games from the traditional video games. Dr. Jane McGonigal, a Game Designer and Inventor for the  Institute for the Future describes the difference, "... traditional gaming is designed to help people escape from reality, alternate reality games are actually designed to make reality more engaging..." Interested in knowing what are the "5 Most Insane Alternate Reality Games?" Click on the link to find out.

http://www.cracked.com/article_19346_the-5-most-insane-alternate-reality-games.html

 

I have talked about how gaming can be fun and provide social interaction, but it can also promote thinking. Jeremy Antley wrote an article titled "Games and Historical Narratives" published in the Journal of Digital Humanities (Spring 2012) which describes games particularly video games as visual digital objects that "can be platforms for building, and not simply consuming, knowledge." There are universities that teach courses on this subject.

 There is much debate on whether games are considered part of the digital humanities. In his book "The Emergence of the Digital Humanities" (2014), Stephen E. Jones comments that his one problem with the DH field is that it has ignored games. I believe that DHers need to see that gaming belongs not just as part of the discussion, but part of the work. As the field continues to emerge, that is the likely scenario.

 One more thing that I took note of in my research is that Dr. McGonigal believes game designers are on a humanitarian mission and her #1 goal in life is to see a game developer win a Nobel Prize in Peace or Medicine.

Well...DO games "count?" I would instead ask, How can they not?