I enjoy reading Bogost’s book. I feel as if it very reader friendly, and lends to the actual reading of it with the different topics getting all the attention at once. Many of the chapters I can relate with and have my own experiences to share with the topic.
There is one chapter in particular that I have very strong feelings about. You may have read it merely for the title, as I did, to find out what it meant. I’m talking about chapter 15, Titillation. In this chapter Bogost explains the adult game genre, and how it has evolved, and what importance it has. While I agree with him that “it’s also worth turning that lens back on ourselves” I fail to see the academic importance of studying this aspect of games. Sure, there is a cultural significance in looking at these aspects (compare American to Japanese iterations of the genre) but for the study of games alone, I think this topic does nothing. Bogost remarks on “how scare and touchy sex in games still is”. I think he’s right. My own reaction could be societal imprints of some sort. But even knowing this, I cannot see the impact of this kind of study for video game academics.
Then again, the more I think about it, the more unfolds about tis topic to me. This class is titled Video Game Culture AND Theory, so focusing solely on the theory portion would be a mistake. The cultural significance of these games just makes me sad though. And Bogost wrote himself “these games may not be particularly noteworthy as culture, as games, or even as porn” and that’s a pretty sad thing to say, considering what these games are being compared to.
via Bogost 2.