Ian Bogost
Ian Bogost
#### Full Name and Common Aliases
Ian Bogost is an American video game designer, programmer, writer, and critic.
#### Birth and Death Dates
Born on June 8, 1976
#### Nationality and Profession(s)
American Game Designer, Programmer, Writer, Critic
#### Early Life and Background
Ian Bogost was born in 1976 in Atlanta, Georgia. He developed an interest in video games at a young age and went on to study computer science at Duke University. After completing his undergraduate degree, he pursued a Master's degree in Comparative Media Studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
#### Major Accomplishments
Ian Bogost is known for his work as a game designer, particularly with the development of the Xbox Live game "Cow Clicker" and the mobile game "This Game Is A Liar." He has also written several influential books on video games, including "Unit Operations: An Approach to Videogame Criticism," which explores the concept of unit operations in digital media.
#### Notable Works or Actions
Bogost's work often focuses on exploring the boundaries between art and entertainment. His game "Cow Clicker" is a satirical take on popular social media games, while his book "Unit Operations" provides an in-depth analysis of video game design. He has also made significant contributions to various academic journals and publications.
#### Impact and Legacy
Ian Bogost's influence can be seen in the way he challenges traditional notions of art and entertainment through his work. His critiques of popular media often raise important questions about the role of technology in society. As a respected voice in the gaming community, he continues to inspire new perspectives on game design and digital culture.
#### Why They Are Widely Quoted or Remembered
Ian Bogost is widely quoted for his insightful commentary on video games and their cultural significance. His work serves as a catalyst for discussions about the impact of technology on society, making him a respected voice in both academic and gaming communities.
Quotes by Ian Bogost
Ian Bogost's insights on:
Boredom sends up a flare: meaning exists here, boredom beckons, but stranded meaning. Meaning that requires rescue.
Boredom is the secret to releasing pleasure. Once something becomes so tedious that its purpose becomes secondary to its nature, then the real work can start.
Play isn’t doing what we want, but doing what we can with the materials we find along the way.
Children aren’t only less inhibited than adults; they are also less powerful, and smaller too. They may or may not be more open-minded and liberated than grown-ups, but they are forced to live in a world that wasn’t designed for them, and one that is not primarily concerned with their desires and their welfare. And so children are constantly compromising, constantly adjusting to an environment that is clearly not theirs, not yet. That’s wisdom, not innocence.
Be contemporary. Have impact. Strive for it. Be of the world. Move it. Be bold, don’t hold back. Then the moment you think you’ve been bold, be bolder. We are all alive today, ever so briefly here now, not then, not ago, not in some dreamworld of a hypothetical future. Whatever you do, you must make it contemporary. Make it matter now. You must give us a new path to tread, even if it carries the footfalls of old soles. You must not be immune to the weird urgency of today.
Today, all our wives and husbands have Blackberries or iPhones or Android devices or whatever-the progeny of those original 950 and 957 models that put data in our pockets. Now we all check their email (or Twitter, or Facebook, or Instagram, or) compulsively at the dinner table, or the traffic light. Now we all stow our devices on the nightstand before bed, and check them first thing in the morning. We all do. It's not abnormal, and it's not just for business. It's just what people do. Like smoking in 1965, it's just life.
Play is this process of operating the world, of manipulating things. It's related to experimentation, and it's related to pleasure, but not defined by it.
Play isn't you being clever, or finding a trick, or finding a way of covering over your own misery, or persuading someone to do what you want. It's the process of working with the materials that you find and discovering what's possible with them.
You can experience play at work, not because you're messing around or wasting time or something, but because you're looking really deeply and seriously at things and asking what is possible, what can be done with them, what new ideas might emerge?
I think this dichotomy or opposition between work and play, between leisure and serious stuff, is definitely a bad way of thinking about the useful insights that play provides.