Transform yourself, Its good for you.

While dissecting the book, What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy, our book club has discovered not only a tangible analysis of hands on learning principles but also a guide toward understanding the hidden processes within the acts of reading and writing, that without the illustration that video games have given us, would be otherwise unnoticed or less stressed. It is possible to examine literacy as a force of identity, as well as a force of transformation within the context of said identity, to better understand the catalyst that ultimately propels players of video games such as Arcanum, or System shock, to fail forward and to practice learning, most times more efficiently and more truthfully than the learning practices introduced to students in school. What James Paul Gee explains in his book in detail, is the effort that video games put into the creation of a transformable identity, one that can be controlled in detail by the player, so that one engages with the literacy at hand in a way that teaches players by their own efforts, quickly and without the negative stigma of learning useless information. The information given in video games is needed for the transformation of these identities, and it is understood by the player that he or she may better their identity throughout the game, without the worry of being exalted from the game. If he or she takes time to accumulate the skills necessary for transformation, he or she will win the game.

One way a players identity can be transformed is through the built in learning principles that are found in most useful games as Gee puts it. These principles are subset, or simple domain introductions, incremental stages, concentrated sample missions, and bottom up skill sets. James Paul gee says that,“Starting them with cases that are basic or fundamental in a sense that they lead the learner to discover and practice what are, in fact, fruitful patterns and generalizations. Fruitful patterns and generalizations are ones that allow the learner to make real progress in the domain and that can serve as the correct basis for more complicated patterns.”, to learn and discover can be seen as a way to transform the identity of the player. Our group talked a lot about how this bottom up learning is so attached to the positive reinforcement of the identity of the player. In school when one fails, there is no underlining transformation that takes place. The opportunity for learning is since lost. We discussed the narration of the gameplay of Arcanum by James Paul Gee, to connect with another game, System shock, in which the element of bottom up learning gave confidence to the players nearing the end of the games. In system shock, you learn that the person training you is the final boss you must defeat in order to beat the game. This can be seen in every way as the game providing the necessary skills to transform your character, or identity, or avatar, the concept is the same.