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    Lost in a Good Game: Why we play video games and what they can do for us
    Lost in a Good Game: Why we play video games and what they can do for us
    Lost in a Good Game: Why we play video games and what they can do for us
    Audiobook9 hours

    Lost in a Good Game: Why we play video games and what they can do for us

    Written by Pete Etchells

    Narrated by Ryan Burke

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    'Etchells writes eloquently ... A heartfelt defence of a demonised pastime' The Times

    'Once in an age, a piece of culture comes along that feels like it was specifically created for you, the beats and words and ideas are there because it is your life the creator is describing. Lost In A Good Game is exactly that. It will touch your heart and mind. And even if Bowser, Chun-li or Q-Bert weren't crucial parts of your youth, this is a flawless victory for everyone' Adam Rutherford

    When Pete Etchells was 14, his father died from motor neurone disease. In order to cope, he immersed himself in a virtual world - first as an escape, but later to try to understand what had happened. Etchells is now a researcher into the psychological effects of video games, and was co-author on a recent paper explaining why WHO plans to classify ‘game addiction’ as a danger to public health are based on bad science and (he thinks) are a bad idea.

    In this, his first book, he journeys through the history and development of video games - from Turing’s chess machine to mass multiplayer online games like World of Warcraft- via scientific study, to investigate the highs and lows of playing and get to the bottom of our relationship with games - why we do it, and what they really mean to us.

    At the same time, Lost in a Good Game is a very unusual memoir of a writer coming to terms with his grief via virtual worlds, as he tries to work out what area of popular culture we should classify games (a relatively new technology) under.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateJun 11, 2019
    ISBN9781721386697
    Author

    Pete Etchells

    Dr Pete Etchells is a lecturer in psychology at Bath Spa University, whose field of research is the behavioural effects of videogames on the human brain. He writes the acclaimed Headquarters blog for the Guardian and blogs for cosmicshambles.com. Lost in a Good Game is his first book.

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    Reviews for Lost in a Good Game

    4.5/5

    31 ratings2 reviews

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    • 4/5
      A nice exploration of the science surrounding the social impacts of video games, bookended with memoir

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Deeply insightful, informative, and well-researched. More than these however, the book is illuminating; it provides the audience with a nuanced perspective on the role of video games in our lives, how they have interacted with our culture and society, and how they may change moving forward. The book is also informative about the current state of the field of psychology and of the gaming industry. Very thought-provoking.

      1 person found this helpful