Are videogames changing narrative structure for boys?

[villager]

<snip>

Harry Potter — and graphic novels — notwithstanding, boys are generally perceived as somewhat more reluctant readers. While I haven’t personally experienced this in my admittedly skewed travels to school bookfairs, meet-the-author gatherings, etc., it’s a staple of demographic perception among those who make publishing decisions (those still with publishing decision jobs, that is).

In its route to getting published, the first “Danger Boy” tale experienced a year’s worth of rejection from various publishers, the most interesting note in that time being that the narrative was “overwhelming.”

And yes, it jumps around a lot — three different narrators (the aforementioned boy, girl, and dinosaur), often in different historical moments, telling their pieces of the given story. But it didn’t strike me as overwhelming. Not from a perspective informed by not only comics, but, in the case of my oldest son — then in early grade school — by videogames, as well.

For said son — now in high school — he’s progressed from 2-D Kirby and Pokemon adventures on a Nintendo 64 to the bloody, immersive apocalyptic pleasures of games like “Bioshock” and “Fallout 3″ on the Xbox 360.

But for him and his friends, I could see that videogaming was changing the pace and shape of narrative for them, compressing it and radicalizing it more than films and TV’s steady, cathode presence did for those of my generation. The literal, often instantaneous shifting of landscapes, characters who weren’t necessarily innate to those landscapes (a larger existential problem, metaphorically, vis-a-vis our species-wide environmental problems, and a blogpost for another day), but always investigating them — all of these were, and are, familiar ways for story to unfold for boys (who may be at consoles more, but of course, have no particular advantage when we bring computer — other digital — screens into the mix, about which, more in a moment).

<snip>

http://www.poptech.org/blog/index.php/archives/2700

[Lost in CT]

1. Videogames are better for kids than television.... and depending on the quality

can be better than books.

The reaql question isn't why is Johnny playing... it is why isn't Jane.

[leftchick]

2. better than books??

omg.... :eyes:

[Lost in CT]

3. Is playing a deep interactive game such as fallout 3 that utilizes your creative

skills and imagination better than reading Sweet Valley high or Twilight... good lord yes.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

5. Not to say anything of the philosophical implications of Bioshock's story,

nor the creative horror of the Lovecraft-ian Eternal Darkness, nor the morals of war and genetics with the Metal Gear Solid series. Or even the emotional experience provided in Shadow of the Colossus.

The stories and themes in each of those games are far more impactful than most literature.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

4. Not a gamer, I see.

Yes, you read it right - depending on the quality, video games can be much, much better than books. And for the record, I have a degree in Literature.

I know it's sacrosanct to say, but the utter, vast majority of books are - to put it nicely - total shit. That's not a condemnation - you can say the same for just about anything in this world, frankly. So with that said, why is it so shocking to believe that top notch games might be better than most books?

[leftchick]

9. ooooh boy

My 14 yr old son does not own an xbox or any other gaming system. He loves to read and has read 1984, Animal Farm, The Jungle, Slaughter House Five among many. Though I don't expect you to be familiar with any.

One of his best friends has all of the Game systems, and a cell phone and all sorts of computer games. He has been allowed to use them with no limitation and has paid for it. His brain is mush, as he has about all failing grades. In addition he is way over weight, has very little social skills and has ZERO ambition. Except for his games.

Having said that, gaming is great for adults who want to waste their time, have at it. I think it is terrible for most children trying to develop critical thinking skills.


http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/is-technology-producing-a-decline-79127.aspx


Is technology producing a decline in critical thinking and analysis?
Studies shed light on multi-tasking, video games and learning
By
Stuart Wolpert
| 1/27/2009

As technology has played a bigger role in our lives, our skills in critical thinking and analysis have declined, while our visual skills have improved, according to research by Patricia Greenfield, UCLA distinguished professor of psychology and director of the Children's Digital Media Center, Los Angeles.

Learners have changed as a result of their exposure to technology, says Greenfield, who analyzed more than 50 studies on learning and technology, including research on multi-tasking and the use of computers, the Internet and video games. Her research was published this month in the journal Science.

Reading for pleasure, which has declined among young people in recent decades, enhances thinking and engages the imagination in a way that visual media such as video games and television do not, Greenfield said.

How much should schools use new media, versus older techniques such as reading and classroom discussion?

"No one medium is good for everything," Greenfield said. "If we want to develop a variety of skills, we need a balanced media diet. Each medium has costs and benefits in terms of what skills each develops."

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

10. ....

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

First of all, I can likely guarantee that I've read more books than you and your son, combined. What part of "I have a degree in Literature" didn't you understand?

Secondly, I had a situation similar to your neighbor growing up. I was a three sport varsity athlete (started on varsity as a freshman for a team that won the state championship), was class Vice President, president of my fraternity, and am currently a high level director at a major national organization, and still managed to read the aforementioned littany of books (and even wrote several, though they weren't very good). Your anecdote is clearly, clearly not the rule.

Thirdly, if you got off your high horse for a moment, you'd realize that anecdotes are not exactly exhaustive empirical evidence. Not that I'd expect you to know what empirical evidence is.

[leftchick]

13. .....

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

for all I know you are a keyboard commando in your mother's basement. Which you sound like. Aka a LOSER! A Literature major who loves games more than books! Okie Dokie! ;)

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

15. And for all I know,

you're an overbearing ignorant Applachian mother that has more in common with Octomom than a rational human being.

edit: Ad hominems are fun, aren't they? Or did you not teach you what that word means in "Charlotte's Web"?

[Recursion]

16. Oddly enough, the game industry employs a lot of lit majors

And a major in video game development usually requires the equivalent of a minor in comparative literature and mythology.

[Lost in CT]

14. 1984, Animal Farm, The Jungle, Slaughter House Five among many.

Um those are junior high school books like Moby Dick and The Scarlet Letter... every 14 year old reads those... what next he reads Catcher in the Rye...

If your going to brag about what your son reads try to include some adult books that are not part of the curriculum for any decent school system.

And why would he be best friends with a fat loser??? Maybe if you got him an Xbox360 he would hang out with a better crowd... and maybe he could learn problem solving skills and socialization skills that are necessary for employment ion the 21st century.

[surrealAmerican]

19. Yes the vast majority of books are, as you say, total shit,...

... but, by your own reasoning, so are the vast majority of video games. Books, having been around much longer, have had more time to produce many more very valuable, insightful, life-enriching specimens. There is great potential in games as a medium, but there are very few truly great games. Most gamers end up spending vast quantities of time with "mindless nonsense", just like most readers do.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

22. Most video games are, indeed, crap.

The point is that the person I'm responding is poo-pooing the notion that any video game might be superior to books, which is flatly wrong.

And you bring up a good point - People have a tendency to pine for the good ol' days of books, movie, TV... you name it really. They cite a handful of classics and say with some sort of authority that we've somehow declined in our creative abilities, completely ignoring that for every older classic they cite, there were at least a hundred truly awful works that were put out at the same time. For every Shelley or Yeats, there were plenty of contemporaries of them that are totally forgotten and were totally forgettable.

[Alcibiades]

23. Dean Koontz

The more popular the author, the more crappy the book.

[kaygore]

21. Thank you so much for sharing this

I wanted to give you a recommendation but 24 hours had passed. Sorry about that!

[Taverner]

6. Agreed

EEG scans show a childs brain in a near-coma like state when watching TV

When playing video games, however, the brain lights up like a Christmas tree

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

7. The author needs to read more books, obviously.

Their writing is atrocious. 78 word sentences only work if your name is Dickens.

[keroro gunsou]

17. or victor hugo....

victor hugo: master of the run on sentence. i've read les mis... great book, but hugo needed an editor with a weed-eater for some parts.

[fasttense]

8. Narrative jumps and

overwhelming details with constant changes are common mistakes of new writers. They are so eager to write they throw everything at their first book. They don't pick a theme, style, narrator and stick to it.

But, who knows, maybe it's time to print such books in order to keep the attention of overstimulated minds.

[Peace_Sells]

11. reading books overated

Reading books has always been overated. The idea that something like harry potter or twilight will make you smarter is laughable. Video games exercise your brain because they require you to think and solve things. Most of the people who are pushing the book bullcrap have never played a video game other than pac-man. If they were talking about reading science books it would be different but novels aren't going to make you one bit smarter. In fact, something like twilight will proably make you dumber.

[villager]

12. Isn't that just as small-minded as people who dismiss every single videogame out of hand?

You've just claimed, in essence, that a book like "Moby Dick" or "One Hundred Years of Solitude" is somehow trumped by, say, "Time Splitters" or "Saints Row."

Isn't that just as ridiculous as insisting every "Twilight" book is innately "better" than "BioShock?"

[StarfarerBill]

18. We have come to a pretty pass...

...when a self-described English major touts video games as superior to the reading of books for the honing of young imaginations.

Of course, we have no way of knowing the validity of this person's claim that they do indeed possess a degree in literature...but I'll simply take them at their word. I myself do not possess such credentials; I'm just an avid reader.

But, please: do be so kind as to recommend a single video game that, in your opinion, exceeds all literature in its ability to fire the imagination and stir the creative juices.

Oh, and while you're at it...defend the brutality and sadism inherent and glorified in many of these games, aimed primarily at young men...

[4lbs]

20. There has been some success with elderly people playing videogames to improve their hand-eye

coordination and cognitive thinking skills.

In fact, a research paper has been published to that effect.

(PDF Document): http://www.bcs.rochester.edu/people/Daphne/TCN_of_VGP.pdf

"The Cognitive Neuroscience of Video Games"

published December 2004

[wackywaggin]

24. Videogames destroy creativity.

When I was a child I read thousands of comic books and other books and had to play outside and improvise using my imagination for entertainment... Today, on a beautiful day, I rarely see any children playing outside in our area which is full of children, even with a large wooded area and park near our homes.