The Art of Failure: An Essay on the Pain of Playing Video Games (Playful Thinking)

This is the best attempt I have read to explore what makes computer games so enjoyable, and how this is intimately connected to their being maddeningly frustrating. Even though this book is admirably short, it can come across as long-winded at times. And the use of figures seemed clumsy (but that might have been because of the Kindle formatting). I wish the author had aimed more for an essay and less for scientific jargon that obscures more than it clarifies.I still recommend it to anyone interested in this subject, as there is little writing in this field. Another, longer but better written book, is Tom Bissell's  Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter .

The irony with games is the fact that playing games, at least good ones, come with a stream of failure. If you've noticed that before and wondered why, this essay is remarkable in its directness and insight. If you're also interested in game studies, this essay is a wonderful illustration of at least one of the potential venues of game studies that is possible.

ugh for a class

Writes a lot about what appear to be personal complexes rather than general problems of psychology.Doesn't mention research done on failure in computer games - as a computer games researcher writing a book about failure in computer games! (I know that such research exists, as Jane McGonigal wrote about it in her book Reality is Broken.)There are some interesting parts as well, though.

all well

I just love his books! Thought provocing as ever. Even if you don't agree: always worth reading what his take on the subject is!

una lettura interessante, presenta un argomento di intrattenimento sotto punti di vista alternativi che quindi gli donano un significato diverso da quello che solitamente viene attribuito.Nonostante l'analisi che viene fatta sia approfondita, il saggio è una mera rassegna della bibliografia legata al fenomeno e non sviluppa conclusioni personali utili.Utile ma non illuminante.

Orientado a creadores de videojuegos, este libro aborda la paradoja que se crea cuando los jugadores aman ciertos juegos pese a que no se divierten con ellos (por ejemplo juegos en los que el usuario se frustra todo el rato y aún así quiere seguir jugando). En inglés, lectura ligera y amena, terminable en unos 2 a 5 días.