Thursday 8 March 2007

The Magic circle and The lusory attitude with Tiger Woods



I played the game “Tiger Woods PGA tour” in which you become the character of a professional golf player and representing them in competitions, this game can be played solo or with friends. I always wanted to try this game, as all the boys I know seem to become immersed in this game. So I decided to explore this game after we looked at The magic circle as I think it works well with this idea. Huizinga came up with the idea of The Magic circle, he defines as ‘the space of play is separate in some way from that of the real world ‘ the sate we enter when absorbing yourself in play.' It’s the idea that you know you are playing a game but you become so interested and involved in the game that you lose track of the time and what is going on around you. 'The idea is that within the magic circle, magic governs your actions and state of mind in a manner that is unlike real life' as stated in www.interactive.usc. This is demonstrated well with “Tiger Woods” as you become so involved in each hole that you want to keep going on and doing better. After you finish your first 18 holes you want to carry on and do another 18 which you do at a harder level. It is a very simple game which requires some thought but not too much concentration so you can easily distract yourself for hours on end. This game does really push the idea from huizinga about how it allows you to shut out ordinary life and relax from everything on your mind. “Sims” could also be a good example with the magic circle as people can become addicted to the idea of living someone else’s life and having the control to change everyday event in which you cant in your own life. To enter the magic circle you must adopt a state of mind known as the lusory attitude. It is the idea that you accept the game you are about to play is not real and that it is not real life. However you do also accept that you will be playing the game by its rules and they must be followed in order to achieve success. This is shown when playing “Tiger Woods” in that you have to measure your hits well and know to use certain clubs in order to get the ball in the hole and potentially win.

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