{"product_id":"how-games-move-us-katherine-isbister-9780262534451","title":"How Games Move Us: Emotion by Design","description":"\u003cb\u003eAn engaging examination of how video game design can create strong, positive emotional experiences for players--with examples from popular, indie, and art games.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis is a renaissance moment for video games--in the variety of genres they represent, and the range of emotional territory they cover. But how do games create emotion? In \u003ci\u003eHow Games Move Us\u003c\/i\u003e, Katherine Isbister takes the reader on a timely and novel exploration of the design techniques that evoke strong emotions for players. She counters arguments that games are creating a generation of isolated, emotionally numb, antisocial loners. Games, Isbister shows us, can actually play a powerful role in creating empathy and other strong, positive emotional experiences; they reveal these qualities over time, through the act of playing. She offers a nuanced, systematic examination of exactly how games can influence emotion and social connection, with examples--drawn from popular, indie, and art games--that unpack the gamer's experience. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIsbister describes choice and flow, two qualities that distinguish games from other media, and explains how game developers build upon these qualities using avatars, non-player characters, and character customization, in both solo and social play. She shows how designers use physical movement to enhance players' emotional experience, and examines long-distance networked play. She illustrates the use of these design methods with examples that range from Sony's \u003ci\u003eLittle Big Planet\u003c\/i\u003e to the much-praised indie game \u003ci\u003eJourney\u003c\/i\u003e to art games like Brenda Romero's\u003ci\u003e Train\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIsbister's analysis shows us a new way to think about games, helping us appreciate them as an innovative and powerful medium for doing what film, literature, and other creative media do: helping us to understand ourselves and what it means to be human.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Katherine Isbister\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0262534452\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780262534451\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e MIT Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/27\/2017\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 186\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.40lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.00h x 5.40w x 0.50d","brand":"Katherine Isbister","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44047738077439,"sku":"9780262534451","price":21.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_35faca98-c96e-45e3-b4a0-45fc4fb8924c.jpg?v=1684991908","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/how-games-move-us-katherine-isbister-9780262534451","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}