User:Gabriela Gueorguieva

Gabriela Gueorguieva - St# 205997424

Retooling the Learning Game

Sept. 23, 2008 The Definition of Play and The Classification of Games by Roger Caillois =

Playing Video Games for pleasure In today’s society, many are eager to play video games because of the convenience factor. In other words, one can play video games anytime, any day and anywhere as long as one has an access to a computer. As Roger Caillois (1959) states, “play is defined as free and voluntary activity that happens only when the player(s) has the desire to play. Players are free to leave whenever they please and a player plays only if he wants to” (pg. 125). Coillois’s statement somewhat answers few of the questions that I have always been asking myself about video games. For example, why do people like to play video games? What do people get out playing video games? Continuing reading through the article, I also found to be very interesting when Caillois (1959) gives a clear definition of the word ‘play’. One would think of ‘play’ as a simple word, yet a word that carries multiple meaning. Caillois defines “play as an activity which is free (playing is not obligatory), separate (circumscribed within limits of space and time), uncertain (it can not be determined), unproductive (creating neither goods, nor wealth), governed by rules, and make-believe (accompanies by a special awareness of a second reality or of a free unreality)” (pg. 128). In other words, one must possess a great variety of skills in order to play certain games and when one plays a game, he/she is given the opportunity to win or loose in the virtual world, which is different than the real world. In the real world, if one looses then that may have a long lasting impact that may affect one’s life in a negative way. After reading Coillois’s article, and getting a good understanding of the word ‘play’, I decided to play the Wii Boxing game. Considering that I did not have any knowledge about the Wii Boxing game, I had an amazing experience while playing that game. It did not take me a long time to learn the rules of the game, and get used to quickly moving to the right, left, forward and backwards. I played the Boxing game with one of my friends, who even though had quite an experience, lost few times. The Wii Boxing game resembled the Agon, which Caillois defines “as a group of games that are competitive “(pg. 148). I enjoyed competing with my friend; my goal was to win the game even though it was not only physically but also mentally challenging. In other words, when you play the game, you must think and act briskly in order to avoid being hit by the other player.

This is the Wii Boxing Video Game I agree with Caillois when he states that “play is essentially a separate occupation, carefully isolated from the rest of life, and generally is engaged in with precise limits of time and place. There is place for play: as needs dictate, the space for hopscotch, the board for checkers or chess, the stadium, the racetrack, the ring, the arena, etc. “ (p.125). While playing the Wii Boxing game, I had the feeling that I was truly a boxer who was on the ring trying to win a victory. It was one of my favorite video games that I have ever played.

This is exactly how it looks when one is playing the Wii Boxing video game