Discussion of "Stories for Eye, Ear, and Muscles"
from page 148: "The video game experience consists of different phases. The first time a game is played, it is experienced with a certain unfamiliarity; the world is new and salient and poses challenges and mystery. By playing the game numerous times, the game world will become increasingly familiar. The peak result of such a learning process may be a trancelike immersion in the virtual world, because of the strong neuronal links that are forged between perceptions, emotions, and actions. ... first unfamiliarity and challenge, then mastery, and finally automation."
Is this the inevitable path of video game play? Think of some games that follow this progression. Are there games that don't?
page 149 suggests two types of coping: exploratory and dynamic. "In a video game, curiosity takes the form of explorative coping. The game only develops if the player performs a series of explorative actions. ... Other [games] ... are based on the experiences of personal agency as being dynamic coping by interacting with other dynamic agencies."
What genres of game tie into these kinds of coping mechanisms? Can you think of other kinds of 'coping' players use to interact with games? Do these interactions surface in other situations? Does this relationship to the world only apply to games?
