My Gaming History

From our discussion on the the eight myths of gaming, there were a few points that stood out to me.  Although I enjoy video games, and have a long personal history starting with the first Nintendo, and dispite the fact that I embraced the potential for gaming in education, I still avoided writing this reflection, and I at most skimmed through the articles related to this theme.


?So, the question I present to myself here: Why would someone with a stake in this topic resist considering it?  Furthermore, what must be done to include those ardently opposed in this conversation?


There were a few points brought up by our discussion as we considered What must be done to change the conversation about gaming?  Here are a few of points that stood out to me:


      -Language: We must develop a language for discussing what games do, and what gamers do when playing.
      -Are video games art: We must develop a critical means of discussing good and bad games.  After all, we don't question the validity of film every time a sequel to the Saw series comes out.  
      -Puritan fear of addiction: The Puritan belief that goodness can only result from hard work, and anything less is a sin and must be shamed.  The prof. suggested the example of early American resistance to gambling.  
           This fear of addiction rang painfully true to my understanding of myself as a gamer.  I know that there are certain games that when I start playing, I will not be able to stop.  When I have a free moment, I will be playing, until I have completed the game.  This is the reason why I have resisted buying any of the new Zelda titles for Wii.
          This is a lot like AA's approach to drinking: One must recognize that one has a disease.  One must avoid all triggers of the disease (Including friends and family who drink, and all situations where drinking is present). 
           


For me, each of these elements maintained a sort of quiet apprehension to gaming.  I couldn't talk about what was good or bad about particular games, or what happens when I do play, and I maintained a fear that I couldn't play "responsibly."