Fun, Taste, & Games: An Aesthetics of the Idle, Unproductive, and Otherwise Playful

Fun, Taste, & Games: An Aesthetics of the Idle, Unproductive, and Otherwise Playful
ISBN-10
0262039354
ISBN-13
9780262039352
Category
Games & Activities
Pages
256
Language
English
Published
2019-03-12
Publisher
MIT Press
Authors
John Sharp, David Thomas

Description

Reclaiming fun as a meaningful concept for understanding games and play. “Fun” is somewhat ambiguous. If something is fun, is it pleasant? Entertaining? Silly? A way to trick students into learning? Fun also has baggage—it seems inconsequential, embarrassing, child's play. In Fun, Taste, & Games, John Sharp and David Thomas reclaim fun as a productive and meaningful tool for understanding and appreciating play and games. They position fun at the heart of the aesthetics of games. As beauty was to art, they argue, fun is to play and games—the aesthetic goal that we measure our experiences and interpretations against. Sharp and Thomas use this fun-centered aesthetic framework to explore a range of games and game issues—from workplace bingo to Meow Wolf, from basketball to Myst, from the consumer marketplace to Marcel Duchamp. They begin by outlining three elements for understanding the drive, creation, and experience of fun: set-outsideness, ludic forms, and ambiguity. Moving from theory to practice and back again, they explore the complicated relationships among the titular fun, taste, and games. They consider, among other things, the dismissal of fun by game journalists and designers; the seminal but underinfluential game Myst, and how tastes change over time; the shattering of the gamer community in Gamergate; and an aesthetics of play that goes beyond games.

Get the book

Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Search the book
eBay.com
eBay.com
Search the book

Other editions

Similar books

  • The Ethics of Poker
    The Ethics of Poker
    By Todd M. Furman

    ... deals made with a drunken person violate the informed consent rule and are immoral. how ... morally accountable for his action(s) if the action(s) 4.

  • Treading Through: 45 Years of Philippine Dance
    Treading Through: 45 Years of Philippine Dance
    By Basilio Esteban S. Villaruz

    That body is whole because it is a thinking ( Mabel Todd's ) and conceptualizing body . ... Both processes have to deal with the idea of beauty in dance ...

  • We the Gamers: How Games Teach Ethics and Civics
    We the Gamers: How Games Teach Ethics and Civics
    By Karen Schrier

    K. Schrier and D. Gibson (Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2010), pp. 239–261). 15. Becker, “Choosing and Using Games in the Classroom.” 16. For further information, see D. Simkins, “Assessing Video Games for Learning,” Learning, ...

  • Playing with Sound: A Theory of Interacting with Sound and Music in Video Games
    Playing with Sound: A Theory of Interacting with Sound and Music in Video Games
    By Karen Collins

    Leonardo Music Journal 14 : 97-104 . Gibbs , M. R. , K. Hew , and G. Wadley . 2004. Social Translucence of the Xbox Live Voice Channel . In Entertainment Computing , ed . M. Rauterberg . 377–385 . Berlin : Springer - Verlag Gibson ...

  • A Parent's Guide to Video Games: A Practical Guide to Selecting and Managing Home Video Games
    A Parent's Guide to Video Games: A Practical Guide to Selecting and Managing Home Video Games
    By Jason Rich

    Production Staff Lead Editor : J. L. France Copy Editors : Cover Design : Irene , Alphonse & Manfred Additional Concepts One on One Graphics Carolyn Porter Page Design : Cover Credits DuckTalesTM and © 1991 The Disney Company .

  • Really Clever Crosswords 2
    Really Clever Crosswords 2
    By David Levinson Wilk

    C rossword lovers will welcome this second volume of clever, challenging puzzles by David Levinson Wilk.

  • Crosswords
    Crosswords
    By David Levinson Wilk

    Fill the coffee cup, find a pencil, and grab a chair: it’s time to solve some crosswords! What a great way to take a break, relax, and give the brain a fun challenge, too.

  • Suburban Xanadu: The Casino Resort on the Las Vegas Strip and Beyond
    Suburban Xanadu: The Casino Resort on the Las Vegas Strip and Beyond
    By David G. Schwartz

    Levinson was a prominent member of the Detroit - area “ gambling fraternity . ” He collaborated with Samuel Garfield , a Midwest betting and gambling operator and friend of Moe Dalitz.26 Levinson's two brothers , Mike and Louis ...

  • The Hogwarts Library Collection: The Complete Harry Potter Hogwarts Library Books
    The Hogwarts Library Collection: The Complete Harry Potter Hogwarts Library Books
    By J.K. Rowling

    This collection includes the updated edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, with a new foreword from J.K. Rowling (writing as Newt Scamander) and six new beasts!

  • Bridge Strategy at Trick One
    Bridge Strategy at Trick One
    By Fred L. Karpin

    21445-1 Paperbound $ 2.50 THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF Oz , L. Frank Baum . America's finest children's book in facsimile of first edition with all Denslow illustrations in full color . The edition a child should have .