How to Do Things with Videogames (Electronic Mediations)

While this is not my favorite book about video games, this is one I finished reading, closed the book and said "finally, a book about games written by a person who actually KNOWS of games". This is not the kind of book I would recommend for gamers. Instead, this is the kind of book I would recommend for people who still think that video games are for children. It is well known that this is far from true since a long time ago, so it's refreshing to see that there are people who actually take games seriously. Bogost goes further than just questioning whether video games incite to violence. He actually did a lot of research and put a lot of effort in explaining why video games are more than "toys": they are another form of media. They have show more their own implications and meanings, their own form of art. In this book you can find not only references to relatively recent games, but also about well-known movies, advertisements and other kinds of media. Additionally, you can see how they relate to games, and why they are so important nowadays.

If you are still skeptical regarding the subject "video games" as something more than "just another tech junk my nephew plays", you should definitely read this book. show less

This short and easy book hits on a number of interesting ideas relating to what videogames can do for their players. Good to read for inspiration, it is sadly lacking in depth. I will check out Bogost's other work, but this book disappointed me somewhat with its lightness.

Main thing is that I'm not the audience of this book. Video game people are. So stripped-down chapters, simplified categories, and sometimes outrageous bits (the 'designing games for Illinois Republicans' is kind of...ick), the TED-esque nonengagement with capitalism as a problem: well, that's fine, so long as I remember that I'm not who the book is for.

I'll take it as a companion volume to parts of Alien Phenomenology.

And the discussion of ET as a game about powerlessness: recommended.

Here's a relevant discussion: https://twitter.com/samplereality/status/341271358778507265

With every essay in this book, I gained a new insight into videogames. That's as much as one ought to expect from it.