Blood Stains and Intergalactic Politics How Games Test Real-Life Problems
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Abstract
In this essay, I examine the way video games can be used to address and play out issues from the real-world. I put James Paul Gee's claimes on game-based learning up against the lived experience of gamer and interviewee Patrick Holderman. The experience of Holderman provides insight into the gaming Discourse and adds to or complicates Gee's theories in the following ways: (1) the gaming community is skeptical of new players and gaining membership is much like initiation other societal groups, (2) video games may test critical thinking skills by providing both true and false information that must be evaluated, (3) video games may encourage pooled player knowledge and game play to achieve goals, and (4) some video games such as Minecraft and Eve Online provide a space for players to incorporate outside knowledge and ideologies with game knowledge and structures. All of these components work together to demonstrate the potential for video games as spaces to test out theories for real-world use, and I suggest, to even learn something about human nature.
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