Required Reading

Johnny Gamer:

• Golub, Alex. “Being in the World (of Warcraft): Raiding, Realism, and Knowledge Production in a Massively Multiplayer Online Game”. Anthropological Quarterly 83.1 (2010): 17–45.

This paper addresses a lot of the positive effects of online gaming, and also addresses the diversity in the online gaming community.  Johnny has experienced a lot of this himself and agrees with much of what the author says about the positive effects of these experiences.

• Khoo, Angeline (2012): Video games as moral educators?, Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 32:4, 416-429

Johnny appreciates this paper a lot because it addresses both sides of the issue.  Khoo writes about the negative effects of excessive gaming, such as obsession and ADHD, but also speaks about how we need a balanced perspective and need to also address the positive effects such as increased motor skills and improved problem solving.

• "QuadStick: The video game controller for quadriplegics" Dave LeClair. Gizmag. 10, Feb. 2014. http://www.gizmag.com/quadstick-quadriplegic-game-controller/30781/ 

Johnny particularly likes this article because it shows something about video games that doesn't get a whole lot of media attention, the fact that they are incredibly useful for rehabilitation.  Engineers have created devices that allow handicapped people to play games, and that has changed a lot of lives.

Good Games Inc.:

• ESA, Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry. Entertainment Software Association, 2015. http://www.theesa.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/ESA-Essential-Facts- 2015.pdf

GG Inc. likes this info-graphic a lot because it disproves many of the stereotypes about games and who they are marketed for.  It shows how few games published are M rated and thus disproves the idea that all video games are violent.

• Williams, J. P. and Kirschner, D. (2012), Coordinated Action in the Massively Multiplayer Online Game World of Warcraft. Symbolic Interaction, 35: 340–367

This paper is useful to GG Inc. because it highlights the positive effects of gaming, particularly the social aspects that are reinforced by online games.

• "ESRB Ratings Guide" Entertainment Software Rating Board. https://www.esrb.org/ratings/ratings_guide.aspx

GG Inc. Directly mentions the rating system and it's role in preventing adult content from falling into the hands of minors.

Suburban Susan:

• "Do Children Who Bully Their Peers Also Play Violent Video Games? A Canadian National Study." Crystal J. Dittrick , Tanya N. Beran , Faye Mishna , Ross Hetherington , Shaheen Shariff . Journal of School Violence. Vol. 12, Iss. 4, 2013

Susan finds this paper helpful because it informs her of the possible and probably correlation between violent games and aggressive behavior, something she is highly concerned about.

• "Violent Video Games Are Linked to Aggression, Study Says" Alexandra Sifferlin. Time Magazine. 17 Aug. 2015.  http://time.com/4000220/violent-video-games/

This article also supports Susan's views on the issue, but relates more specifically to aggressive behavior rather than bullying as the other source does.  It also supports Susan's opinion that the pure volume of studies on the subject is cause enough for concern.