Most of chapter 6 revolves around the game Halo 3 and, more specifically, the accomplishment of the player base for 10 billion kills against the game series’ antagonists, the Covenant. It targets how the player base came together and helped each other reach the staggering goal in front of them. McGonigal describes the feat as “epic”, […]
Jane McGonigal began the 6th chapter of Reality is Broken by talking about the huge accomplishment by the Halo community, reaching 10 billion kills. McGonigal addressed the achievement as if it were a community of 15 million people who were all truly fighting for the United Nations Space Commands. However, while I was reading I […]
As always, Reality is Broken has evoked a mixture of feelings towards the “fix” she proposes for society. I place no argument against her idea that more can be done in unified groups and the feeling of being part of something is extremely gratifying. I still hold some hesitations though towards the entire collective idea. […]
In this chapter, McGonigal uses Halo as an example of how games can give people that are part of them a larger meaning in life. Gaming does have the ability to bring people together who normally wouldn’t be. They give people everywhere a common goal which unites them. Some people typically think of video games […]
In chapter 4 I particularly enjoyed reading about the mathematical intricacies of rock, paper, scissors and the different factors that can alter the game. One such characteristic is the game’s identity as a “zero-sum game.” Fisher explains zero-sum games as: a win is worth one point, a loss is a negative point, and draw is […]
In chapter 4, Fischer expands on on the idea of the simplistic game of rock, paper, scissors. It’s a game we use in everyday life when there is a disagreement about what to do, how to do it, etc. Using two players will result in one who dominates and one who loses. However, the introduction […]
In chapter four, Fisher discusses the game theory behind the popular game rock-paper-scissors (otherwise known as bear-cowboy-ninja, which I’ve had the pleasure as using as a tie breaker during many soccer practices). He explains that rock-paper-scissors is intransitive game, meaning that their is no single option that out-wins the others. Thus, as long as each […]
In Chapter 4, Fisher talked about the trifold balance of “Rock, Paper, Scissors” in the broader world. I was semi-confused by “Opting Out as a Third Strategy”. If I understand correctly, Fisher argued that a third choice is necessary to achieve this balance, but in his example scenario, his third additional strategy seemed harmful to […]
McGonigal starts the chapter in a very genius way by exposing and disassembling the baseless bias that surrounds gamers and gaming culture—bias that is actually pretty deeply woven into modern culture and language, much to my surprise. Nobody escapes it, not even the victims of the bias themselves: so many times do we casually associate […]
McGonigal argues in Chapter 1, that the game industry (in part) succeeds because it meets a need for “better hard work”. In other words, she claims that games provide work that is both challenging, fun, and something that the player can be invested in (all things that the real world “lacks”). When she later goes […]
