The Brainy Gamer: Thoughtful Conversation about Video Games

Michael Abbott
Associate Professor of Theater, Wabash College

I originally began my study by focusing on the role of film in the liberal arts, both as a discipline worthy of study and as a pedagogical tool for courses currently offered in our curriculum. My colleagues have suggested to me that they want to enrich our students’ understanding of how film and new media work, how they communicate meaning, and how they can enhance or supplement more traditional teaching instruments.

I discovered early in my inquiry that my interest in film had expanded to include its convergence with interactive media (video games, social networking, etc.). That convergence drove me to reframe my focus away from film alone. The convergence between interactive media and film has opened up exciting opportunities for the study of narrative construction, critical reading of visual texts, representations of gender and masculinity, and other cross-disciplinary issues we are committed to investigating at Wabash. The locus for this convergence can be found in immersive, interactive narrative video games.

I have presented Humanities Colloquia and offered tutorial and seminar courses devoted to the art and history of video games and their emergence from theater, film, and literature. As I’ve spoken to colleagues at Wabash and developed relationships with film scholars, game studies scholars, and theater colleagues on other campuses, I’ve been strongly encouraged to continue pushing hard to develop a stronger more cohesive link between my own discipline and the emerging field of games studies. These conversations, and my avid interest in interactive media, have convinced me that this is where I need to be.

So in mid-July 2007, I began a project designed to test the waters to see if I could create an online resource and discussion hub that would attract serious students of video games, game scholars, game developers, and scholars from related disciplines like my own. My goal was to provoke thoughtful conversation about video games through a traditional liberal arts lens, as it were, provoking critical thinking and structural analysis of a medium that richly deserves such rigorous consideration.

I launched a weblog called The Brainy Gamer on August 9, 2007. I committed to writing regular posts on a variety of issues, inviting readers to subscribe to the blog and join the conversation. I also launched an accompanying podcast. I wasn’t sure what sort of response I would receive or, frankly, whether or not anyone would care or notice aside from the few friends and colleagues who’d been encouraging me from the beginning. It turns out, I needn’t have worried. Thanks to continuing support from a variety of readers and listeners from all over the world, the blog and podcast have succeeded beyond even my wildest hopes.