My video gaming is mostly confined to using Pokémon Go as a way to entertain myself during my walk to and from work; I like AR (Augmented Reality) games since they can make everyday reality a bit more fun. My husband is more of a traditional console gamer and recently has gotten into VR (Virtual Reality) gaming on the Oculus (you can check out the VR experience for yourself during our Makerspace Mondays). My son is part of the new generation who enjoys watching let’s play videos of game run throughs and gaming tournaments as much as playing the games himself. The many ways we enjoy gaming continues to expand. Kanopy has a variety of thought provoking documentaries that offer both positive and critical views of games and gaming culture that are available for you to stream.
State of Play: The World of South-Korean Professional Video Gamers
all images in this post from kanopy.com
Could someday professional video game tournaments replace the Super Bowl or the World Cup? Thousands of Koreans attend the Proleague in Korea every year. The documentary State of Play follows three Korean gamers specializing in Starcraft, who are at different stages of their video game careers. The documentary is also available from Hoopla. If you enjoy this documentary you can also check out A Gamer’s Life: The Lives of Professional Video Game Players.
GTFO: Get the F**k Out – Women in Gaming
GTFO was an Official Selection at the SXSW Film Festival; it looks at misogyny in the realm of professional gamers, game designers, and players online. The film captures a variety of experiences of those who have felt discriminated against or harassed. The documentary was interesting, though I would have liked to have seen more men interviewed to give more insight into why the behavior is so often occurring and why it is seen as OK by those who are the perpetrators.
Gaming in Color: The Queer Side of Gaming
Much like GTFO, Gaming in Color examines the discrimination faced by some gamers, especially those who identify as LGBTQ, but it also looks at some of the positive experiences that queer gamers have had as well. It briefly shows a few of the games which have begun to incorporate same sex relationships and visits GaymerX, which seeks to be an inclusive video game convention. Gaming in Color is also available from Hoopla.
Besides these three documentaries you can find ones on topics like violence in video games with Returning Fire: Interventions in Video Game Culture and Joystick Warriors: Video Games, Violence & the Culture of Militarism; the impact of gaming on education in Mind Games – The Power of Video Gaming; and even the marketing potential of Virtual Reality in Infinite Reality with Jeremy Bailenson (part of the Stanford Executive Briefings Series).
If you are looking for historical perspectives on gaming than click over to Hoopla where you can learn about the history of gaming with the documentary Gameplay: The Story Of The Videogame Revolution. Learn if the myth of the buried ET games is true and about the demise of Atari with Atari: Game Over.
Whether you agree or disagree with the perspectives in these documentaries, they open up important conversations about the future of gaming and how it will impact our lives.
And if you want to check out a new game, stop by the Hoboken Public Library where you can borrow everything from Super Mario Maker for the Wii U to Call of Duty WWII and God of War for the Playstation 4.
Written by
Aimee Harris
Head of Reference
Hoboken Library Staff Picks 