discussion-WedSep7

Discussion Questions for Wednesday, September 7 After reading the questions below and deciding which one(s) you want to respond to (you're expected to respond once every three classes, on average), click on the appropriate thread to write your response as a reply. If you have not yet registered an account with wikispaces and requested to join this site, you will need to do so to post a response (see the How to Wiki page for instructions).

include component="comments" page="discussion-WedSep7" limit="60"

>
 * 1) In his //New Yorker// profile of Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Nick Paumgarten describes Miyamoto as not only a "Master of Play," but as the "father of modern video games" (par. 4). Among the games Miyamoto has designed are Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Nintendogs, and the Wii console, making this designer's designer arguably the most influential crafter of what is inarguably the form of commercial drama most familiar to most people. Paumgarten notes that Miyamoto takes inspiration for his work from his experiences playing as child, and in particular his explorations of a small cavern in the wooded mountains outside his rural village in Sonobe; and Paumgarten calls "the cave story" -- true or not -- "a prototype, an analogue, and an apology -- an illuminating and propitious way to consider his games, or, for that matter, anyone else's." But Paumgarten also suggests that "there may be no starker example of the conversion of primitive improvisations into structured, commodified, and stationary technological stimulation than that of Miyamoto, the rural explorer turned ludic mastermind" (par. 2). **How is the cave story any of those things?** Be sure to quote from further on in the article in support of your answer.
 * 1) In his //New Yorker// profile of Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Nick Paumgarten describes Miyamoto as not only a "Master of Play," but as a "ludic mastermind" (par. 2). And, as the rest of the article makes clear, Paumgarten means this term in the sense outlined by J. Huzinga in //Homo Ludens//. How does he show that Miyamoto's games -- Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Nintendogs, and the Wii console among them -- exemplify at least three of **Huizinga's criteria for play**? Be sure to quote from further on in the article in support of your answer. And, if you have any first-hand experience with any of Miyamoto's games, bring that into your answer as well.