Women In Games

I've begun posting my notes from WiG 07. More to follow shortly.

Flow and Seduction

I've come across a blog post about a paper by Torill Mortensen called "Flow, Seduction and Mutual Pleasures". The post makes the paper sound really interesting, but I haven't had time to read the latter yet. Here are some quotes from the blog,


"Mortensen takes a look at Csikzentmihalyi's theories on flow and Baudrillard's theories on seduction as they may be applied to the pleasure players derive from online gaming."

"The flow experience ... is one of achievement, not interaction, an achievement that is rewarding in itself, not through the rewards from others."

"the quest element in gaming is only seductive when it is unresolved"

"Mortensen points out that players who derive their pleasure from mastery and control of the game - from being functional and productive - fit Csikzentmihalyi's theories on flow. On the other hand, players who value the social, interactive and uncertain nature of gaming fit Baudrillard's theories on seduction"

Flashmob: 5th April 2007 @ Victoria, London

On Thursday, the 5th of April, a 4000 person strong flashmob occurred at Victoria train station in London. Sounds like great fun!



It's just like a real club when everyone cheers together! Or pehaps it's rather a simulacrum of a club. Or is it just playing at being a simulacrum of a club...?



I love the guy with the glowsticks!

FBI visit Second life!

It seems it's not just academics who are visiting Linden Labs' Second Life. The FBI have reportedly visited casinos in the virtual world to assess their legality, given recent changes in online gambling laws in the States.

Someone on a gaming forum I frequent asked in disgust whether they'd be taxing people for moeny made in virtual worlds next... but I'd assume that if you are converting income in Linden Dollars into Real Life money then you should probably declare it in your accounts, but if you don't convert it then what?

Anyway - guess this is an example of people playing at gambling, but who may actually be gambling... if you get my drift ;)

Video games are bad III

At first I thought this might be an April Fool's... but it looks like it is genuine. It's certainly the usual well-balanced fare you would expect from the Mail. Rather than try and analyse the cause of the 'problem' they take the usul lazy approach of using video games as a scapegoat. It could be argued that it's the increased fear of abduction, that tabloid journalism has done such a good job of instilling in parents, that means they don't let their kids play outside. The other problem with this is the implication that 'childhood' is some kind of sacrosanct period in a person's life; isn't the concept actually an invention of the 20th century... and limited to wealthy, developed countries?