Embodiment

How does the process of embodiment occur in the playing of Minecraft? Are there any specific aspects of Minecraft that develop your identity? Are you able to express your own identity in the process of playing Minecraft?

You are able to express your own identity in the very first step. Do you want to create a new world or do you want to be a part of one that was already created for you by the designers?

The tools you choose, the mode in which you play, are two of the myriad ways in which to express your identity through playing Minecraft.Will you build a hiding place in survival mode, where zombies can't get to you? Or will you build a house in creative mode to express your unique vision? And how do you navigate these spaces, based on the experience of embodiment?

What is embodiment?

[|Embodiment] is when the player makes choices as to how the story is going to proceed in terms of their perceptions, actions or dialogue. It is the state of being part of the story, body and mind whether reading a book, living life or playing a video game. Embodiment while playing a video game will be different from embodiment while reading a book. In a book, a reader has to use their imagination about the plot, characters and setting. Video games may not provide as rich a story as a book because the plot is worked out according to choices the gamer makes and a game has to work out other futures. It is not that video games are better or worse than books. They provide different forms of engagement with the text or storyline and allow for variety of embodiment experiences.

As Gee points out, "The embodied nature of video-game stories brings out a crucial feature" like sense-making (81). Different players create different [|identities] in the course of the video games like Minecraft. That is why it is important to revisit and reconsider the benefits of games, in this case Minecraft, because "the learner is taking on a projective identity--actively, reflectively, and critically interfacing, at a meta level, his or her real-world identities with the new identity being formed in the new semiotic domain" (94).

Players of Minecraft can express their unique identities by building different [|houses]and taking different approaches during the game. For example, someone is interested in building a beautiful house while others might decide to keep it simple and just survive. Minecraft also helps us discover how creative we are. So, as we can see, this game has many benefits. Playing Minecraft might inspire someone into becoming a construction worker or even a designer.

Embodied as defined by Gee (79) also encompasses “covered perceptions, actions, choices and mental simulations of actions or dialogue”. This includes “in the body” and “in the mind”. In Minecraft the player is faced with survival that is predicated on the choices and actions the player makes. This stimulates the player to think what is needed to fulfill the desired goal. However, eventually surviving is not the only goal, but accumulating more resources, making more items with the resources and making a home that you can be proud of.

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Mastering the controls takes some patience. Visualizing one's self through the Minecraft characters and learning to move within the laws of physics of this world creates an experience of embodiment for the user that can be experienced solely within this environment. Although freeing, there's something a bit lonely in the Minecraft Universe. One can build anything, employing seemingly endless possibilities for tools and structures, but after a while, too many choices becomes numbing. However, this environment definitely provides a new way to learn about one's own logic, given a set of tools and certain parameters in which to use them. The exploration part is fun. The mastering of the environment is a challenge that may take patience.

The process of embodiment, according to Gee, happens in a very particular way in this game. Unlike other games (such as the ones Gee cites, i.e. Arcanum) one does not develop an avatar with personality traits and skills but what our predetermined avatars have, build, show (coincidence how they are all male or look like it?) is a direct reflection of the skills we have as gamers, the world we want to build as a reflection of our values, interests and fantasies. It is the choices we make in our process in the game that can showcase us whether we are aware of it or not. Something as simple as choosing to play creative or survival can tell if we are thrill seekers, challenge lovers, or building complexities aficionados yet it is not an avatar that speaks for us. Our virtual, real-world and projective identities mix very well in this game, specially since most players choose to play by themselves, which limits the interactions between them and the variables the software offers, could it be that minecraft players are loners?

MySkin: Below are some of the more popular Minecraft skins that are circulating the web and gaming forums. If we are to consider the Minecraft figure as a physical extension of ourselves, users seem to embody the fantastic and playful element of the gaming world. Furthermore, many of these video game characters stand for adventure. But what of the actual skins that the game provides us with, the business suit for example? Why does Markus Persson, the creator of Minecraft, include this? Is Minecraft meant to be a land of creativity for architects, designers even web developers? It seems impossible to ignore this-- the suit stands for professionalism. Gaming has begun to transcend the "child's play" platform. Recreating an entire city is possible for the urban planner.









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