Skip to main content

“I’m the One Who Makes the Lego Racers Go”: Studying Virtual and Actual Play

  • Chapter
Growing Up Online

Abstract

I had picked up a free pack of computer games on CD-ROM from PC World, a promotion for NVidia graphics chips (each game uses 3D graphics). One of the games, Lego Racers 2, quickly became a favorite with my two sons, Jo (aged four) and Alex (three). They both enjoyed the novelty of seeing and controlling Lego cars and “men” on the computer screen and the humorous elements of the game that link the virtual world with the actual world of familiar play with plastic toys. As a media researcher (as well as a parent) fascinated by video games, I began to notice some unexpected and intriguing aspects of their play. I picked up the family video camera and began recording them, unwittingly embarking on what was to become an in-depth study with important implications.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Aarseth, E. (1997). Cybertext: Perspectives on ergodic literature. Maryland: The John Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alloway, N. & Gilbert, P. (1998). Videogame culture: Playing with masculinity, violence and pleasure. In S. Howard (ed.), Wired up: Young people and the electronic media, pp. 95–114. London: UCL Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dovey, J. & Kennedy, H.W. (2006). Game cultures: Computer games as new media. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Facer, K., Sutherland, R., and Furlong, R. (2003). Screenplay: Children and computing in the home. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Flynn, B. (2003). Geography of the digital hearth. Information, Communication and Society, 6(4), 551–576.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, T. (1995). Making sense of software. Retrieved June 11, 2000, from http://www.duke.edu/~tlove/simcity.htm.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giddings, S. & Kennedy, H. (2007). Little Jesuses and fuck-off robots: On aesthetics, cybernetics and not being very good at Lego Star Wars. In M. Swalwell & J. Wilson (eds.), Gameplay: Pleasures, engagements, aesthetics. Jefferson NC: McFarland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, B., Reid, J., & Bigum, C. (1998). Teaching the Nintendo generation? Children, computer culture and popular technologies. In S. Howard (ed.), Wired up: Young people and the electronic media, pp. 19–42. London: UCL Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ito, M. (1998). Inhabiting multiple worlds: Making sense of SimCity 2000 in the fifth dimension. In R. Davis-Floyd & J. Dumit (eds.), Cyborg babies: From techno-sex to techno-tots, pp. 301–316. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kinder, M. (1991). Playing with power in movies, television and videogames: From Muppet Babies to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kline, S., Dyer-Witheford, N., & de Peuter, G. (2003). Digital play: The interaction of technology, culture and marketing. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lahti, M. (2003). As we become machines: Corporealized pleasures in videogames. In M. Wolf & B. Perron (eds.), The videogame theory reader, pp. 157–170. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Latour, B. (1992). Where are the missing masses? The sociology of a few mundane artefacts. In W Bijker & J. Law (eds.), Shaping technology/Building society: Studies in sociotechnical change, pp. 225–258. Cambridge MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manovich, L. (2001). The language of new media. Cambridge MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McNamee, S. (1998). Youth, gender and videogames: Power and control in the home. In T Skelton & G. Valentine (eds.), Cool places: Geographies of youth cultures, 195–206. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Metz, C. (1985). Psychoanalysis and cinema: The imaginary signifier. London: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris, S. (2002). First-person shooters: A game apparatus. In G. King and T. Krzywinska (eds.), ScreenPlay: Cinema/videogames/interfaces, pp. 81–97. London: Wallflower.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mulvey, L. (1989). Visual and other pleasures. London: Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Rehak, B. (2003). Playing at being: Psychoanalysis and the avatar. In M. Wolf & B. Perron (eds.), The videogame theory reader, pp. 103–128. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salen, K. & Zimmerman, E. (2003). The rules of play: Game design fundamentals. Cambridge MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sefton-Green, J. (2004). Rites: A small boy in a Poké-world. In J. Tobin (ed.), Pikachu’s global adventure: The rise and fall of Pokémon, pp. 141–164. Durham: Duke University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Walkerdine, V. (1999). Video replay: Families, film and fantasy. In S. Thornham (ed.), Feminist film theory: A reader, pp. 180–195. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, T., Boria, E., & Breidenbach, P. (2002). Creative player actions in FPS online videogames. Playing Counter-Strike, Game Studies, 2, 2. Retrieved July 9, 2004, from http://www.gamestudies.org/0202/.

Download references

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Copyright information

© 2007 Sandra Weber and Shanly Dixon

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Giddings, S. (2007). “I’m the One Who Makes the Lego Racers Go”: Studying Virtual and Actual Play. In: Weber, S., Dixon, S. (eds) Growing Up Online. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230607019_3

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics