Rating:
Author: Greg Costikyan
ISBN : B00BSA7ARW
New from $9.99
Format: PDF
Direct download links available Free Download Uncertainty in Games (Playful Thinking) [Kindle Edition] for everyone book 4shared, mediafire, hotfile, and mirror link How uncertainty in games—from
Super Mario Bros. to
Rock/Paper/Scissors—engages players and shapes play experiences.Books with free ebook downloads available Free Download Uncertainty in Games (Playful Thinking) [Kindle Edition]
- File Size: 229 KB
- Print Length: 150 pages
- Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0262018969
- Publisher: The MIT Press (March 8, 2013)
- Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00BSA7ARW
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray:
- Lending: Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #87,715 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #51
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Humor & Entertainment > Puzzles & Games > Board Games - #65
in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Puzzles & Games > Board Games
- #51
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Humor & Entertainment > Puzzles & Games > Board Games - #65
in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Puzzles & Games > Board Games
Free Download Uncertainty in Games
This book had some interesting analysis of games, particularly vintage video games & new social games like CityVille. But overall it was a bit disappointing to me. It wasn't what I thought it was about, it wasn't what it *said* it was about, and the thesis was thin and uneven.
This book is part of a series (by MIT) on playful themes. The author's thesis is that games are a fictive & nonthreatening way to "play" with uncertainty, and vicariously experience some control over uncertainty even though uncertainty is generally terrifying to most of us (in life).
I find this thesis absolutely fascinating. We discover in Chpt 3 that the thesis was extracted from quotes by sociologist Roger Caillois. But the thesis is proposed, then dropped. The book does not argue for the thesis at all. It is merely an idea thrown out there, a belief really, with nearly zero discussion to follow.
As we read on, we discover the entire book is like that. It's more a collection of musings than anything else. The author definitely poses interesting questions, but these questions are definitely better answered by somebody else (a psychologist or philosophers perhaps?). It also raises the question, how did this book sneak past the editorial board at MIT?
In chapters 2-3, the author argues that we have innate impulses to play. I agree, but again, I would have liked to see an argument or some research here. Instead, it just feels like a complete shift in thesis. Remember the initial thesis - that game-play is a psychological tool to cope with the terror of uncertainty. Now the author is comparing us to animals, stating that playfulness and fun are apparently innate to mammals.
Here (chpts 2-3), the author goes out on a limb, on topics completely outside his purview.
-
Download Link 2