Why are we addicted to silly digital games?
Why are we more addicted than ever to stupid digital games? Reporter Sam Anderson says that popular games reflect the societies in which they are created and played. What can we learn about our society from our hyper-addictive gaming tendencies? What makes them so addictive?
"Stupid games... are rarely occasions in themselves," Anderson wrote in New York Times magazine. "They are designed to push their way through the cracks of other occasions. We play them incidentally, ambivalently, compulsively, almost accidentally. They're less an activity in our day than a blank space in our day; less a pursuit than a distraction from other pursuits."
Anderson will join The Daily Circuit Tuesday to talk about stupid games. Zach Gage, game designer and conceptual artist, will also join the discussion.
"If you can get someone interested in a system that they understand completely, you can get them immersed," Gage said. "Simplicity is key. You don't want to alienate them."
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