Lost in a Good Game: Why we play video games and what they can do for us

by Pete Etchells

Overview

'Etchells writes eloquently ... A heartfelt defence of a demonised pastime' The Times
'Once in an age, a piece of culture comes along that feels like it was specifically created for you, the beats and words and ideas are there because it is your life the creator is describing. Lost In A Good Game is exactly that. It will touch your heart and mind. And even if Bowser, Chun-li or Q-Bert weren't crucial parts of your youth, this is a flawless victory for everyone' Adam Rutherford
When Pete Etchells was 14, his father died from motor neurone disease. In order to cope, he immersed himself in a virtual world - first as an escape, but later to try to understand what had happened. Etchells is now a researcher into the psychological effects of video games, and was co-author on a recent paper explaining why WHO plans to classify 'game addiction' as a danger to public health are based on bad science and (he thinks) are a bad idea.
In this, his first book, he journeys through the history and development of video games - from Turing's chess machine to mass multiplayer online games like World of Warcraft- via scientific study, to investigate the highs and lows of playing and get to the bottom of our relationship with games - why we do it, and what they really mean to us.
At the same time, Lost in a Good Game is a very unusual memoir of a writer coming to terms with his grief via virtual worlds, as he tries to work out what area of popular culture we should classify games (a relatively new technology) under.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781785785061
Publisher:	Icon Books, Ltd. UK
Publication date:	04/04/2019
Sold by:	Bookwire
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	569 KB

About the Author

Pete Etchells is a Reader in Psychology and Science Communication at Bath Spa University, whose field of research is the behavioural effects of videogames on the human brain. This is his first book.

Table of Contents

Prologue ix

1 Dragons and demons 1

2 A brief history of early video games 17

3 Why do we play video games? 45

4 Control and imagination 69

5 A brief interlude 95

6 Are violent video games bad for us? 111

7 Moral panics 137

8 Are video games addictive? 161

9 Screen time 193

10 Immersion and virtual reality 219

11 Wayfaring and wayfinding 249

12 Digital spectator sports 269

13 Loss 293

Acknowledgements 315

Bibliography 319

About the author 340

Editorial Reviews

07/29/2019

Biological psychologist and Guardian blogger Etchells takes a studied look at why video games are played in this convincing debut. Etchells acknowledges that “there is no universal or conclusive truths about... the effects that video games have on us, or why people play them” before tackling well-known debates surrounding video games, such as “Do video games make us more violent?” (he refers to a 2001 Harvard study, which “doesn’t map very easily onto the reality of playing video games” and lists the seemingly mild classic arcade game Centipede as 96.2% violent) and “How much screen time is too much?” (he acknowledges that games can change brain function, but questions whether it’s a bad thing). He concludes that until better research methods are developed it’s impossible to determine whether video games cause violence, and that the main attraction to and value in video games is “their ability to connect us.” Along the way, Etchell grounds the book with descriptions of his own experiences using games as an escape and a way to process events in his own life, including the death of his father. Those interested in the affects of playing video games—both positive and negative—will find here much to ponder. (July)

Publishers Weekly

'Once in an age, a piece of culture comes along that feels like it was specifically created for you, the beats and words and ideas are there because it is your life the creator is describing. Lost In A Good Game is exactly that. It will touch your heart and mind. And even if Bowser, Chun-li or Q-Bert weren't crucial parts of your youth, this is a flawless victory for everyone.'

Adam Rutherford

'Etchells writes eloquently ... A heartfelt defence of a demonised pastime.'

The Times

'An anecdotal survey that is enriching and touching, while issuing a challenge to the bad science surrounding the subject.'

New Statesman

'Pete Etchells' debut book Lost in a Good Game takes the reader on a much needed, highly informative, but still intriguingly personal journey through the much maligned yet increasingly beloved and influential world of video games.'

Dean Burnett

'Etchells writes eloquently ... A heartfelt defence of a demonised pastime.'

The Times