An article not just for Gamers.
An interesting interview with Tom Bissell, the author of a book called: 'Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter.'
http://au.ps3.ign.com/articles/110/1103407p1.html
Excerpt from interview:
"Games can have a lot of resonance on the gameplay level and almost no resonance on the traditional level. You can have a game like Gears of War, which is a pretty silly, goofy, violent game, and it just feels good. It feels good to play it. Trying to explain to someone who's watching you play Gears that all the resonance in that game has to do with the really elegant combat controls is tough. I say in the book that's one of the most suspect things about the form, a game with incredibly dopey story but a really compelling mechanical set of resonances can still be a great game. I don't know if there's really a way to talk about that with people who aren't sold on the form. You just have to care about games to get that, period. And care about them in a way that goes beyond, "I like this," or "I don't like this." You have to care about the actual feeling you get from playing games."
http://au.ps3.ign.com/articles/110/1103407p1.html
Excerpt from interview:
"Games can have a lot of resonance on the gameplay level and almost no resonance on the traditional level. You can have a game like Gears of War, which is a pretty silly, goofy, violent game, and it just feels good. It feels good to play it. Trying to explain to someone who's watching you play Gears that all the resonance in that game has to do with the really elegant combat controls is tough. I say in the book that's one of the most suspect things about the form, a game with incredibly dopey story but a really compelling mechanical set of resonances can still be a great game. I don't know if there's really a way to talk about that with people who aren't sold on the form. You just have to care about games to get that, period. And care about them in a way that goes beyond, "I like this," or "I don't like this." You have to care about the actual feeling you get from playing games."