Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World (53 page)

 

(Chapter 8) Send someone you know a +1 inspiring, +1 kindness, +1 humor, or dozens of other positive strengths at
http://plusoneme.com
, created by Clay Johnson.

 

(Chapter 7) Download sample curricula and assignments at the world’s first game-based public school, developed by the Institute of Play, at
http://q2l.org
.

 

(Chapter 13) Contribute to the
Spore
galaxy by creating your own
Spore
creature for free at Maxis/Electronic Arts’
www.spore.com
.

 

(Chapter 7) To learn the rules for this injury or illness recovery game, or to share them with friends and family, visit
www.superbetter.org
.

 

(Chapter 14) To view the archive of this future-forecasting game, created by the Institute for the Future, go to
www.superstructgame.org
. To learn more about the game and download game results, visit the Superstruct blog archive at
http://iftf.org/search/node/superstruct
.

 

(Chapter 10) To learn the rules of this cemetery poker game, invented by Jane McGonigal for 42 Entertainment, visit
www.avantgame.com/tombstone
.

 

(Chapter 10) You can view the first prototype of this dance adventure game, developed by Jane McGonigal, at
http://topsecret.ning.com
. Future versions of the game will be announced at
www.realityisbroken.org
.

 

(Chapter 14) Explore a week-by-week replay of the peak-oil simulation, presented by ITVS and produced by Writer Guy, or download lesson plans for teachers, at
http://worldwithoutoil.org
.

1
Suits, Bernard.
The Grasshopper: Games, Life and Utopia
(Ontario, Canada: Broadview Press, 2005), 159.

1
Castronova, Edward.
Exodus to the Virtual World
(New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007), xiv-xvii. This condensed passage from the preface appears with the permission of the author.

2
“China Bars Use of Virtual Money for Trading in Real Goods.” Press release from the Ministry of Commerce, People’s Republic of China, June 29, 2009.
http://english.mofcom.gov.cn/aarticle/newsrelease/commonnews/200906/20090606364208.html
.

3
“Newzoo Games Market Report: Consumer Spending in US, UK, GER, FR, NL, & BE.” Newzoo, Amsterdam, May 2010.
http://corporate.newzoo.com/press/GamesMarketReport_FREE_030510.pdf
; “Games Segmentation 2008 Market Research Report.” The NPD Group, May 2010.
http://www.npd.com/press/releases/press_100527b.html
.

4
These regional statistics are drawn from a variety of industry reports and market research studies conducted over the past three years, as follows: “An Analysis of Europe’s 100 Million Active Gamers.” Strategy Analytics, September 2008.
http://www.strategyanalytics.com/reports/ix7hx8in7j/single.htm
; “IA9 Interactive Australia 2009.” National research prepared by Bond University for Interactive Games & Entertainment Association, August 2009.
www.igea.net/wp.../2009/08/IA9-Interactive-Australia-2009-Full-Report
. pdf; “Online Games Market in Korea.” Pearl Research, July 2009.
http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reportinfo.asp?report_id=1208384
; “Games Market Summary: Russia.” Prepared by Piers Harding-Rolls for Games Intelligence/Screen Digest, June 2010.
http://www.screendigest.com/intelligence/games/russia/games_intel_russia_100/view.html?start_ser=gi&start_toc=1
; “Emerging Markets for Video Games.” Chris Stanton-Jones for Games Intelligence/Screen Digest, March 2010.
http://www.screendigest.com/reports/10_03_18_emerging_markets_video_games/10_03_18_emerging_markets_video_games/view.html
; “Online Games Market in Vietnam.” Pearl Research, November 2008.
http://www.mindbranch.com/Online-Games-Vietnam-R740-14/
; “Study: Vietnam, India Gaming Population To Hit 25 Million By 2014.” Pearl Research, March 2010.
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/27525/Study_Vietnam_India_Gaming_Population_To_Hit_25Million_By_2014.php
; “Gaming Business in the Middle East.” Game Power 7 Research Group, February 2010.
http://images.bbgsite.com/news/download/gaming_business_in_the_middle_east_KOGAI_2009.pdf
; Menon, Naveen. “Insights on Mobile Gaming in India.” Vital Analytics. March 2009.
http://www.telecomindiaonline.com/telecom-india-daily-telecom-insights-on-mobile-gaming-in-urban-india.html
. “The Global Entertainment & Media Outlook: 2010-2014.” PricewaterhouseCoopers, June 2010.
http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/global-entertainment-media-outlook
. The gamer market statistics are constantly changing; the global trends are upward in every country, so higher numbers are likely to be accurate for each region with each passing year since the studies were published.

5
“Major Findings of the 2008 Annual Review & Five-Year Forecast Report on China’s Video Game Industry
.
” Niko Partners Research, San Jose, May 2, 2008.
www.nikopartners.com/pdf/npr_050208.pdf
.

6
“Games Segmentation 2008 Market Research Report.” The NPD Group.

7
Dromgoole, Sean. “A View from the Marketplace: Games Now and Going Forward.” GameVision Europe Ltd., March 2009.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/13714815/Sean-Dromgoole-CEO-Some-Research-Gamevision
.

8
In 2009, the annual spending on games in the United States was $25.3 billion; in the United Kingdom, it was £3.8 billion; in Germany, 3.7 billion euros; and in France, 3.6 billion euros. “Newzoo Games Market Report.”

9
Rawlinson, George, trans., with Henry Rawlinson and J. G. Wilkinson.
The History of Herodotus: A New English Version
(New York: D. Appleton, 1861), 182.
http://www.archive.org/stream/historyofherodot01herouoft#page/n5/mode/2up
.

10
The first such taxes have already been proposed; for example, in Texas in 2006 and by lawmakers in New Mexico in 2008. Reported in “Texas Politician Proposes 100 Percent Game Tax.” GameSpot, January 25, 2006.
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6143114.html
; and “New Mexico’s Videogame Nanny Tax.” CNET News, February 11, 2008.
http://news.cnet.com/New-Mexicos-video-game-nanny-tax/2010-1043_3-6229759.html
.

11
“Essential Facts About the Game Industry: 2010 Sales, Demographic and Usage Data.” Entertainment Software Association, June 16, 2010.
http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/ESA_Essential_Facts_2010.PDF
.

12
Reinecke, Leonard. “Games at Work: The Recreational Use of Computer Games During Work Hours.”
Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking
[formerly
CyberPsychology & Behavior
], August 2009, 12(4): 461-65. DOI: 10.1089/cpb.2009.0010.

13
Fahey, Rob. “It’s Inevitable: Soon We Will All Be Gamers.”
The Times
(UK), July 7, 2008.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article4281768.ece
.

1
Csíkszentmihályi, Mihály.
Beyond Boredom and Anxiety: The Experience of Play in Work and Games
(San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1975), 206.

1
Suits,
The Grasshopper
, 38. Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman were among the first game researchers to outline these three characteristics as essential to a game, drawing on the work of Bernard Suits. I am indebted to them, as are many other game designers and researchers, for drawing attention to Suits’ definition. Salen, Katie, and Eric Zimmerman.
Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals
(Cambridge: MIT Press, 2004).

2
Tetris
has been named “The Greatest Game of All Time” by
Electronic Gaming Monthly
, Issue 100, among others. “The Best Videogames in the History of Humanity,” an extraordinary compilation of greatest-games lists compiled by J. J. McCullough, can be found at
http://www.filibustercartoons.com/games.htm
.

3
A master’s thesis written proving that
Tetris
is literally unwinnable: Brzustowski, John. “Can You Win at
Tetris
?” University of British Columbia, Master of Science, Mathematics, 1992.
http://www.iam.ubc.ca/theses/Brzustowski/brzustowski.html
.

4
Csíkszentmihályi,
Beyond Boredom and Anxiety
, 36.

5
Carse, James P.
Finite and Infinite Games: A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility
(New York: Free Press, 1986), 3.

6
Sutton-Smith, Brian.
Ambiguity of Play
(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001), 198.

7
This kind of real-time data collection helps researchers collect much better data than traditional surveys or questionnaires. It’s much easier to report your activity and mood in the moment than to try to remember what you were doing and feeling hours or days afterward.

8
Csíkszentmihályi, Mihály.
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
(New York: Harper Perennial, 1991). See also: Csíkszentmihályi, M. “Optimal Experience in Work and Leisure.”
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
, 1989, 56(5): 815-22; Csíkszentmihályi, M., and R. Kubey. “Television and the Rest of Life: A Systematic Comparison of Subjective Experience.”
Public Opinion Quarterly
, 1981, 45: 317-28; and Kubey, R., R. Larson, and M. Csíkszentmihályi. “Experience Sampling Method Applications to Communication Research Questions.”
Journal of Communication
, 1996, 46(2): 99-120.

9
Kash, Thomas, et al. “Dopamine Enhances Fast Excitatory Synaptic Transmission in the Extended Amygdala by a CRF-R1-Dependent Process.”
Journal of Neuroscience
, December 17, 2008, 28(51): 13856-65. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4715-08.2008.

10
Gregory, Erik M. “Understanding Video Gaming’s Engagement: Flow and Its Application to Interactive Media.”
Media Psychology Review
, Issue 1, 2008.
http://www.mprcenter.org/mpr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=207&Itemid=163
.

11
Yee, Nick. “MMORPG Hours vs. TV Hours.” The Daedalus Project: The Psychology of MMORPGS, March 9, 2009, vol. 7-1.
http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/000891.php
.

12
Ben-Shahar, Tal.
Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment
(New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007), 77.

13
Nicole Lazzaro deserves the credit for introducing this term to the game industry via her presentations at the annual Game Developers Conference.

14
Hoeft, Fumiko, et al. “Gender Differences in the Mesocorticolimbic System During Computer Game-Play.”
Journal of Psychiatric Research
, March 2008, 42(4): 253-8.
http://spnl.stanford.edu/publications/pdfs/Hoeft_2008JPsychiatrRes.pdf
.

1
Csíkszentmihályi,
Beyond Boredom and Anxiety
, xiii.

2
Ibid., 37.

3
Ibid., 1, 197.

4
“Study: Women Over 40 Biggest Gamers.” CNN, February 11, 2004.
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/fun.games/02/11/video.games.women.reut/index.html
.

5
Sutton-Smith, Brian, and Elliot Avedon, eds.
The Study of Games
(New York: Wiley, 1971).

6
Thompson, Clive. “
Halo 3
: How Microsoft Labs Invented a New Science of Play.”
Wired,
August 21, 2007.
http://www.wired.com/gaming/virtualworlds/magazine/15-09/ff_halo
.

7
Sudnow, David.
Pilgrim in the Microworld
(New York: Warner Books, 1983), 41. Full text available online at
http://www.sudnow.com/PMW.pdf
.

8
Ibid., 35.

9
Ibid., 9.

10
Ibid., 20.

11
Corey Lee M. Keyes explains how flow fits into the bigger picture of positive psychology in “What Is Positive Psychology?” CNN, January 24, 2001.
http://archives.cnn.com/2001/fyi/teachers.tools/01/24/c.keyes/
.

12
Hoeft, Fumiko, et al., “Gender Differences.”

13
Thompson, Clive. “Battle with ‘Gamer Regret’ Never Ceases.”
Wired
, September 10, 2007.
http://www.wired.com/gaming/virtualworlds/commentary/games/2007/09/gamesfrontiers_0910?currentPage=all
.

14
Jenkins, David. “Chinese Online Publishers Sign ‘Beijing Accord.’” Gamasutra News, August 24, 2005.
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=6312
.

15
Lyubomirsky, S., K. M. Sheldon, and D. Schkade. “Pursuing Happiness: The Architecture of Sustainable Change.”
Review of General Psychology
, 2005, 9: 111-31; and Sheldon, K. M., and S. Lyubomirsky. “Is It Possible to Become Happier? (And if So, How?)”
Social and Personality Psychology Compass
, 2007, 1: 1-17.

16
Originally described by Brickman and Campbell in “Hedonic Relativism and Planning the Good Society.” In M. H. Apley, ed.,
Adaptation Level Theory: A Symposium
(New York: Academic Press, 1971), 287-302. Most recently assessed in Bottan, Nicolas Luis, Pérez Truglia, and Ricardo Nicolás. “Deconstructing the Hedonic Treadmill: Is Happiness Autoregressive?” Social Science Research Network, January 2010.
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1262569
.

17
The term “autotelic” was originally coined by Csíkszentmihályi in
Beyond Boredom and Anxiety
, 10.