The Nature of Computer Games: Play As Semiosis (Digital Formations;, V. 16,)

Rating:
Summary: Myers manages to make computer games dull
Review: I criticize this book not because I disagree with what the author has to say. I criticize it because the author doesn't write it in a more clear and presentable format. It's fine if the author wants to say that computer games are semiotic paradoxes, and filled with recursive, self-referencing, but all that is gibberish to people who don't know what you're talking about.

Over half the book is spent on the very abstract level. The author gives sparse examples of games to illustrate his point. His examples are good, but from a structural point of view, they need to be better embedded in his argument in order to make himself more understandable.

This is not your average book on video games, and it is not remotely as readable as James Gee's book on video games. Perhaps advanced knowledge of semiotics is necessary because even though I understood his terms, I still had trouble following his argument. This makes James Joyce feel like airport reading.