REALITY IS BROKEN | WHY GAMES MAKE US BETTER AND HOW THEY CAN CHANGE THE WORLD | JANE MCGONIGAL |

Summary

Zhang Huijing
Fashion Marketing English 2nd Year
We always regard “GAMES” as “pastimes”, but in reality the functions of games are more than that.

First Part_ Introduction: Reality is broken
Games have had enough of reality.
You are one of gamers or you definitely know some of them.
Who are the gamers?
From different professions, ages of people could be the gamers. They play different types of games from World of Warcraft, Guitar Hero, Rock Band to Halo3… and the gamers are from different countries. They may have jobs, goals, school works, families, commitments and real lives they care about，but they devote more and
What you eventually discover as you continue to play is that Portal is a game about escaping from rooms that operate according to rules you are unaware of. If you don’t learn the rules of the game—you’ll be stuck there forever, listening to the AI system repeat herself.
Any well-designed game—digital or not—is an invitation to tackle an unnecessary obstacle. Gamers don’t want to game the system, they want to play the game. The game matters because the goal is truly compelling and the feedback is motivating enough.
Why do unnecessary obstacles make us happy?
Games make us happy because they are hard work that we choose for ourselves, and it turns out that almost nothing makes us happier than good, hard work.
A game is an opportunity to focus our energy, with relentless optimism, at something we’re good at (or getting better at) and enjoy. In other words, gameplay is the direct emotional opposite of depression. Therefore, gameplay can provoke positive emotions. When we’re playing a good game—when we’re tackling unnecessary obstacles—we are actively moving ourselves toward the positive end of the emotional spectrum. Others choose hard work that requires us doesn’t activate our happiness system. Game industry is fulfilling our need for better hard work. It helps us to choose the right work in the right time. The right hard work takes different forms at different times for different