{"product_id":"9780262333245","title":"How Games Move Us: Emotion by Design","description":"\u003cp\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\u003e How 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\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\u003eto art games like Brenda Romero's \u003ci\u003eTrain\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\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.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MIT Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47113582674160,"sku":"9780262333245","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780262333245_p0.jpg?v=1765232872","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780262333245","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}