This is actually not very good, but, it's interesting. ( Saw some of it in a magazine someplace ) ( )

This is actually not very good, but, it's interesting. ( Saw some of it in a magazine someplace ) ( )

From Library

It's difficult working in a great library and seeing so many of the books pass through your hands. I've only got 5 out at the moment... and two have now been read.

This was a fascinating book - bascially a photography project undertaken by the author, where he takes a portrait of a... well, person involved in virtual worlds - I'd hesitate to call them "gamers" as there's a fair few Second Lifers in there and I know some of them (us?) don't do gaming or count SL as a game as such. Anyway, there's a portrait of the person, some info about their age, location, time online per week, and then on the opposite page a picture of their avatar and a paragraph about their feelings about avatars, the world they inhabit, etc. I was pleased to see there's a fairly big range of people, older and younger, male and female, different ethnicities, including some "famous" folk like that real estate woman in Second Life and some of the founders, also the chap who founded MUD1. I was interested to see that some people do, like me, create an avatar to resemble them accurately (including some people really steeped in the world, not just women light users like me) as well as those who enjoy the freedom to change gender, appearance, race and even species.

A fairly quick read but ever so interesting. Matthew was interested to see I was reading it, as he read an article about the project in his Edge magazine ages ago! ( )

An amusing look at a wide variety of gamers from around the world. It was incredible to see the diversity represented in both gender, ethnicity, and games played; a clear picture of how inaccurate the stereotypical "gamer" is becoming. ( )