In preparation for Discussion Friday #5 (which happens on Oct. 1), you should read Tom Bissell's Extra Lives. Then, post a comment of approximately 500 words using the form below. Remember that what is called for here is critique, not summary. Do not simply collect your reactions; organize your response into a complete statement with a beginning, middle, and end. The following prompts may help you focus your thoughts, but feel free to take your discussion in any applicable direction you wish. Make certain to cite specific portions of the text to support your ideas.

• How does this reading inform the experiences you have had with games during this semester or in your life outside of class?
• What, if anything, can you relate to in the book? What does this connection suggest about games and human behavior?
• Recall Steven Johnson's statement in Everything Bad is Good for You about the biological reward system of video games being similar to that of narcotics. How do Bissell's experiences support and refute Johnson's claims?
• The book's "Author's Note" states that video game reviews "tend to focus on providing consumers with a sense of whether their money will be well spent. Game magazine reviewers rarely ask: 'What aesthetic tradition does this game fall into? How does it make me feel while I'm playing it? What emotions does it engage with, and are they appropriate to the game's theme and mechanics?'" (xii). How does this book inform the possible distinction between review and critique that we encountered during the Review Project? How does it connect with situations such as the controversy over Abbie Heppe's review of Metroid: Other M?

I look forward to reading your work and discussing it in class.