In my opinion Koster’s credibility as an author comes into question when he asks things like, “Would fire drills be more effective if they were fun activities?” (Koster 50). He leads up to this question asking “Do we avoid the notion of fun because we view the content of the fire drill as being of greater import?” (Koster 50). I personally would stop to think for a little if after the fire drill they handed out candy or some prize for who gets out first, while the sucker who lost is dying of smoke inhalation. Does this fit into Ludus Agon you think? Ok, sorry enough jokes. Now I’m going to bring up a few things I have problems with in Chapter four.
Koster lays out a variety of things that can be learned via games, and since he cites various video games I am going to use games interchangeably with videogames. Koster sums up the advantages of videogames by stating that “we have fun mostly to improve our life skills” (Koster 60). I have a problem with this which stems mostly from my aversion to videogames and affinity for Ludus Agon. Caillois and Koster both say videogames teach by simulating reality. Whats wrong with kids learning from “good ‘ol fashion’ playing outside. In an outdoor setting children have to use more imagination to entertain themselves, utilize teamwork to reach the highest branches and above all asses risks. An interesting study would be comparing the childhoods of our grandparents and parents as opposed to our own and seeing the pros and cons of videogames. Thus far we have discussed the pro’s of game play, but would we be able to come together and fight a world war like our grandparents, would we be able to suffer the physical hardships reminiscent of the Great Depression and would we really be able to survive a caveman existence if the only way we learned was via simulation? I believe experience is one of the strongest teachers and it is something our generation lacks now that we learn in games with checkpoints, autosaves and memory cards. Our ancestors either did something right or wrong. Climbed on a branch too thin and fell, then they got back up and knew not to climb on that weak branch. Are my views antiquated or does anyone else share these sentiments?
Actually, people have conducted such studies, comparing how different generations of children play. Henry Jenkins offers up his own anecdotal comparison of his childhood to his son’s childhood, in which he argues that videogames (for better or worse) have replaced the “boy culture” of outdoor, backyard play.