Gamer Theory- Wark

This book was a good book and a hard read because there were so many theories and lots of terminologies. But i enjoyed reading it because McKenzie Wark really revealed a different light to technology and reality. I think the two play major parts with each other. I think we may have all heard different sayings about how TV, social media, video games etc. is frying our brains. I feel like that old school saying can be used as a metaphor to relate to the scenarios that McKenzie Wark is trying to rise to the surface. I chose to be on the “For” side of this debate because even before reading this book i truly believe that mass media does affect our culture and does partake in cultural changes.

In this book i find it most interesting how Mckenzie uses game space and relates it to our everyday lives. Wark says, ” game space is where and how we live today”. Almost as if he’s trying to communicate to us that games are in a sense more real than the world today. Like games more perfectly structure forms of technologically increased market based competitive play, in which information is always provided.

In a world that is washed and covered in information that seems to be devalued a lot of the time, seems to magically gain value again for no other reason than winning it in a game. We are all gamer’s whether we like it or not, whether we know it or not. You can travel anywhere in a game space but never leave it. There is real world beyond these games that we play, and Wark is trying to help make us aware. One of my favorite examples he used was reality TV. “Sure reality TV doesn’t look like reality, but then neither does reality”. The point in this here is both become a space in which gamer’s test their abilities within unrealistic and intentionally created scenarios.