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Wednesday 13 November 2013

Fun Work


The fact that we use games to relax form the hard works of life is fantastic even though games are work as well, as they set obstacles for us and give a way to over come them. “Compared with games, reality is too easy Games challenge us with voluntary obstacles and help us put our personal strengths to better use.”(McGonigal, J.,(2012) p.g.32) Games create different forms of work weather that is busywork, mental work, physical work, discovery work, teamwork, and creative work each giving us different senses of enjoyment. 

The reason we love this type of work so much it that this form of work is work that we have choose for ourselves. The ability to choose your own work is amazing; we can finally pick work for ourselves that play to each of our individual strengths, however this form of work is usually none productive and is an escape of life’s reality.  We find enjoyment form this type of work because it is good hard work that has been done based on your ability’s and strengths. 

Ok now lets break down a game and look at how someone can find enjoyment from completing work. For example if we take a look at Star Trek online. Star Trek Online is a massively multiplayer online game producing different forms of mental and team working work as your player progresses through the Star Trek universe. Mental work revs up our cognitive faculties for example in Star Trek online there are a number of different puzzles to be carried out with in the given time scale. This rush is the feeling of accomplishment when we put our brains to good use. Teamwork emphasizes collaboration, cooperation, and contributions to a large group. For example in the twenty people team assaults in Star Trek online, we take great satisfaction in knowing we have a unique and important role to play in a much bigger effort.



JANE McGONIGAL (2012). Reality Is Broken. New York: THE PENGUIN PRESS. 32.

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This is a class blog for students enrolled on the History and Analysis of New Media Module at The University of Ulster. Please keep comments constructive to help students progress with the given text