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Gamer Theory

By McKenzie Wark

(2)

| Hardcover | 9780674025196

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Book Description

Author Interview Podcast
McKenzie Wark speaks about his new book in a feature hosted and produced by Heron & Crane (right-click or option-click to download the 8 min., 7.5mb MP3 file).

Ever get the feeling that life's a game with changing rules and no clear sides, one Continue

Author Interview Podcast
McKenzie Wark speaks about his new book in a feature hosted and produced by Heron & Crane (right-click or option-click to download the 8 min., 7.5mb MP3 file).

Ever get the feeling that life's a game with changing rules and no clear sides, one you are compelled to play yet cannot win? Welcome to gamespace. Gamespace is where and how we live today. It is everywhere and nowhere: the main chance, the best shot, the big leagues, the only game in town. In a world thus configured, McKenzie Wark contends, digital computer games are the emergent cultural form of the times. Where others argue obsessively over violence in games, Wark approaches them as a utopian version of the world in which we actually live. Playing against the machine on a game console, we enjoy the only truly level playing field--where we get ahead on our strengths or not at all.

Gamer Theory uncovers the significance of games in the gap between the near-perfection of actual games and the highly imperfect gamespace of everyday life in the rat race of free-market society. The book depicts a world becoming an inescapable series of less and less perfect games. This world gives rise to a new persona. In place of the subject or citizen stands the gamer. As all previous such personae had their breviaries and manuals, Gamer Theory seeks to offer guidance for thinking within this new character. Neither a strategy guide nor a cheat sheet for improving one's score or skills, the book is instead a primer in thinking about a world made over as a gamespace, recast as an imperfect copy of the game.

1 Review

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  • Reading this book on a fixed time frame made understanding it difficult. For myself, Wark's wandering through philosophical analysis on video games came across as mere wandering for wandering's sake. It was all a bit heavy for a quick read through. These problems may have been solved by a second rea ... (continue)

    Reading this book on a fixed time frame made understanding it difficult. For myself, Wark's wandering through philosophical analysis on video games came across as mere wandering for wandering's sake. It was all a bit heavy for a quick read through. These problems may have been solved by a second read, or a much slower read, however this was not an option for me.

    The book's open development online was an excellent format for a work like this. Reading it alongside conversation threads and comments is much more enjoyable than the book form.

    If both video games and critical theory are part of your favorite subjects to read about; this book could very likely be a big hit for you. Unfortunately, if critical theory is not your cup of tea, Gamer Theory is a bit overwhelming.

    Is this helpful?

    Tyroeternal said on Sep 13, 2008 | Add your feedback

Book Details

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  • English Books
  • Hardcover 240 Pages
  • ISBN-10: 0674025199
  • ISBN-13: 9780674025196
  • Publisher: Harvard University Press
  • Pub date: Apr 30, 2007
  • Dimensions: 1355 mm x 839 mm x 129 mm Just how big is that?
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ISBN Edition List Sale Seller
9780674025196 Hardcover $22.00 $18.81 bn.com
$22.00 $15.84 The Book Depository
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