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ENGINEERING PLAY A Cultural History of Children’s Software Mizuko Ito The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England © 2009 Massachusetts Institute of Technology All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. For information about special quantity discounts, please email special_sales@ mitpress.mit.edu. This book was set in Stone Sans and Stone Serif by SNP Best-set Typesetter Ltd., Hong Kong. Printed and bound in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ito, Mizuko. Engineering play : a cultural history of children’s software / Mizuko Ito. p. cm.—(The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation series on digital media and learning) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-262-01335-2 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Children’s software—Development—History—United States 2. Computer-assisted instruction—United States. 3. Computers and children—United States. 4. Enter- tainment computing—United States. I. Title. QA76.76.C54I86 2009 790.20285—dc22 2009006116 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Index Abu-Lughod, Lila, 13 competitive, 139 Academic achievement, 44, 85, 86, consumption of academic, 43–54 103, 188 display, in Island of Dr. Brain, The, Academic content 62–68 case study of, 50–81 and gender, 44 engagement with, 68 link to edutainment, 187 in Island of Dr. Brain, The, 62–63 in MSBEHB, 121 link to edutainment, 187 orientation, lack of in MSBEHB, 114 and marketing, 46 recognition of, 62, 68–72 shift from, 99 recognition of, in Island of Dr. Brain, Academic genre of participation, 26, The, 62 29–84, 86–87, 108 technical, in SimCity 2000, 169 defi ned, 3, 7, 39 Action-entertainment games, 90, 108, Academic performance, 43 134–139 Academic self-esteem, boosting of, 56 content of, vs. educational content, Access to games, 195n1 181 negotiations for, 178 cultural content of, 139 Accomplishment Adult/adults creative, 171 authority, challenges to, 184 technical, 166 challenges to goals of, 177–178, 181 Accountability as collaborators, 59–60, 64–65, 67–68, lack of, in SimTown, 132 69–72, 116–118, 165, 166–169, in SimCity 2000, 125, 127 172–175, 181–182 Achievement, 31, 33, 36, 42–54, 86, 88, goals of, 62–68, 116–121, 131, 132, 91, 99, 108, 132, 140, 166, 171, 188, 133, 139, 177–178, 181, 187 190 guidance by, 163 academic, 43–54, 85, 86, 103, 188 and kids, negotiations between, 187 in academic genre, 82–83 orientation toward SimCity 2000, anxiety, 101, 141, 188, 191, 83–84 163–164 assessment of, 43 resistance to goals of, 131, 133, 164, case study of, 58, 72–81 190 210 Index Adult/adults (cont.) Anger, 58–61 and SimCity 2000, as collaborators in, Animation, 90, 92, 96, 121–126. See 165, 166–169 also Graphics and SimCity 2000, goals for, 163–164 as “fun spots,” 132 and subversion, as collaborators in, in Island of Dr. Brain, The, 54–56, 57 181–182 role of in MSBEHB, 114 supervision, role of, 24 as selling point, 101 values, childhood resistance to, 88–89 Anti-authoritarianism, 86, 88, 89, 135, Adventure games, 39, 101, 103 145, 148, 184 adventure-puzzle games, 54–56 Antisocial effects, of game playing, 127 Advertising. See Marketing Anxiety, achievement, 42–43, 83–84, “Aesthetic of simulation,” 146 101, 141, 188, 191 Aesthetics Appadurai, Arjun, 16 engagement with, in SimCity 2000, Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow, 36, 37 165–166 Apple Multimedia Lab, 92, 93 and girls, 170–171 Apple II, 2, 36, 37, 38, 54, 83, 85, 86, Age dynamics, and construction genre, 92, 98, 145 184–185 Aron, Jeffrey, 19 Age-graded system/software, 50 Arthur, 35 Agency, 12–13, 15 Artifi cial life, 195n2 authorial, as marketing tool, 155–156 Artists, graphic, 95–96, 97 of children, 17–18, 90, 91, 143 Assessment claiming of, 190 of achievement, 43 computer as tool for, 145 educational, 56, 68 embodiment of in programming, 146 Atari, 29, 85 expansion of, 179, 182 Attitudes fun as, 133 Victorian, 33 struggles for, 185 toward violence in media, 91 uses in learning, 183 Audience studies, 12–14 Agendas Auditory special effects of adults, 133, 163–164, 177–178, 181 engagement with, 126–131 educational, 177–178, 181, 185 in MSBEHB, 114, 118, 120, 129–130 for SimCity 2000, 163–164 pleasure in, 126–128, 129–130 social, 187 of SimCity 2000, 159, 162–163 struggles to defi ne educational, 185 Authorial agency, as selling point, “Ages and stages,” 50 155–156 Algorithms, in SimCity 2000, 160–162 Authoring Alice in Wonderland, 32 games, 6, 144, 166 Alternate-reality games, 153 games, as subversion, 177–183 Alters, Diane F., 4, 14, 34 and girls, 148 Althusser, Louis, 80, 91 media, growth of, 148 Amazon Trail, 39 multimedia software, 144, 145, 151 Ambron, Sueann, 92–93 software, marketing, 151, 155–156 Amusement, 86–91. See also Fun spread of tools for, 192 Index 211 tools, 144, 145, 155–156, 192 Boys tools, and cultural power shift, 184 and challenge to dominance of geek Authority culture, 149–150 adult, challenges to, 184 and geek culture, 149–150, 184 fi gures, 87 and SimCity 2000, 162–163, 169–170 Authorship Boys and Girls Club, 20–22 of children, 143 Brand recognition, 48 negotiation of, 171 Braun, Jeff, 156 Automata, cellular, 160, 161, 195n2 Breakdown situations, 59–61, 63 Awards, 69 Breckenridge, Carol, 16 Bremer, Michael, 156, 159 “Bad screens,” 35 Brøderbund, 85–86, 96, 98, 109 Banet-Weiser, Sarah, 87, 91 Brown, John Seely, 14, 19 Bank Street College of Education, 37, Buckingham, David, 1, 4, 5, 10, 12, 13, 85 15, 31, 91, 191, 192 Bank Street Writer, 85 “Builder, child as,” 144 Barbie, 87, 109, 153, 154, 155 Building, world, 170–171 Barbie Fashion Designer, 99, 100, 153 Burp Gun, 88 Barol, Bill, 156 Bury, Rhiannon, 148 Bauer, Jo Anne, 25, 191 “Buzz,” as marketing tool, 183 Baugh, Charla, 23 Baumer, Sonja, 148, 170, 182, 185, 192 Call to Power, 156 Baym, Nancy K., 148 Camp, L. Jean, 147 “Beating” the game, 69–72 Campaign, JumpStart, 44–46 Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, 96 Canonical knowledge, 56 Behavior, codes of consumption, 91 Capital Behaviorism, 39, 46, 144, 187 cheats as gaming, 181 Benkler, Yochai, 148, 192 cultural, 36, 42–43, 131, 139 Bias, gender, and SimCity 2000, 170 gamer/gaming, 153–154, 170, 181, Bijker, Wiebe, 11 195n1 Bird, S. Elizabeth, 13 material, 36 Bittanti, Matteo, 148, 170, 171, 182, Cards, report, 55, 56 185, 192, 195n1 Carlston, Douglas, 85, 91 Blossom, Jon, 154–155 Carlston, Gary, 85–86, 91 Blue’s Clues, 35 Cassell, Justine, 1, 147, 149 Boellstorff, Tom, 153 Casser, Urs, 1 Bogost, Ian, 8, 161, 184 Castronova, Edward, 195n1 Bonding tools, toys as, 87 CD-ROM–based games/software, 54, 83, Books 85, 86, 90, 92, 93, 95, 96, 103, children’s, 31–32, 87 108–109, 122, 191 comic, 32, 87, 90, 96 decline of, 191 “Boosters” vs. “debunkers,” 10–11, 15 fi rst consumer release, 96 Borg, Anita, 147 introduction of, 90, 91–92 Bourdieu, Pierre, 15 spread of, 54, 86, 92, 96, 109 212 Index Cellular automata, 160, 161, 195n2 peer-focused culture, 90 Cendant, 41 software, 2, 5, 29 Challenges software, defi nition of, 6 to adult authority, 184 and technical literacy, 150–154 to adult goals, 177–178, 181 Circumvention, of game rules, 178–179 to research frameworks, 193 “Citizenship, consumer,” 91 Change Civic engagement and game play, cultural and social, 4, 10–16 195n1 educational and social, and practices Civilization III, 8 of play, 189, 190–191 Clark, Lynn Shofi eld, 4, 14, 34 role of research in, 193 Class, 139 social, 4, 10–16, 187, 188, 189, differences, 34, 36 190–191 identity, 34, 83 technology and social change, 187 link to edutainment, 187 Chat, 149 and marketing, 108 Cheats/cheating, 178–181, 182, 183, and media use, 192 190, 191, 195n1 and multimedia products, 100–101 as gaming capital, 181 and relationship to computers, 146 in SimCity 2000, 166 status, 48 traffi c in, 185 Classroom dynamics, 110–111 uses in engineered subversion, Club, Mickey Mouse, 88, 91 182–183 Clubs Chen, Sande, 7–8 as educational settings, 24–25 Child-centered philosophy of learning, fi eldwork in 5thD, 54–81, 114–139, 144 162–183 Childhood Fifth Dimension (5thD), 18–25, enrichment, 100 54–81, 114–139, 162–183 innocence of, 103 Codes institutional organization of, cheat, 178–181, 182, 183, 185 187–188 of consumption behavior, 91 sociology of, 17 secret, sharing of, 178–181 studies, 17–18 traffi c in cheat codes, 185 transcripts of, 139 Cole, Michael, 18, 19, 65 Child rearing, pleasure-oriented Collaboration approach, 90 with adults, 57 Children/children’s kids’ and adults’, in SimCity 2000, agency of, 17–18 166–169 culture, 88–89, 90, 101 Collaborative learning vs. competition, ecstacy, culture of, 88–89, 101 case study of, 72–81 literature, 31–32 Collaborators lowbrow culture, 90 adults as, 59–60, 64–65, 67–68, 69–72, and marketing, 188 165, 181–182 and media, 4–5 peers as, 65–67, 162, 163, 165, 169 Index 213 in SimCity 2000, adults as, 165 Conceptual frameworks, 4–16 in SimCity 2000, peers as, 162, 163, “Concerted cultivation,” 34, 35, 44, 165 100–101 in subversion, adults as, 181–182 Confl ict Collins, Alan, 19 between education and entertainment Comic books, 32, 87, 90, 96 genres, 187–188 Commercialism, 98 among genres, as site for change, Commercials, 88–89 190 Commodifi cation, of learning software, institutional, between entertainment 83–84 and education, 189 Communication, between humans and Consoles, 35 machines, 63 game, 85, 98, 99 Communities market for, 85 alternative, of practice, 182, 183 Consolvo, Mia, 154, 170, 181, 183, of consumers, 91 195n1 fan, 148 Constraints gaming relationship to, 195n1 on children, 103 of interest, 185 educational, 98 Internet, 146 Construction genre of participation, of practice, 12, 182, 183 27, 143–185.
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