Playfulness

In "Bootleg Culture" the issue of play is addressed by the different mash ups that are frequently made these days. This involves taking someones instrumental music and adding someones vocals to it usually completely opposite genres; ex. the Rick Astley vs. Nirvana Never Gonna Give/Smells Like Teen Spirit we saw in class. It's not always a song but it can also be a video with different audio. Play is also addressed when artists use pastiche and kitsch. Pastiche being an imitation of work previously done by a different artist mixed with other factors and made into something new. Kitsch being a low quality work thrown together. The power of bootleg comes about when people begin to use recordings of audio or video that hasn't been legally released by artists or any other authority. So the power of play here is a threat to the legal and economic side of the world because if enough people steal music there's no need to buy it and the artists don't make money. Also people violate copyright when they use people's music/products in mash ups with out permission.

In "Billy Sim" the issue of play is addressed when Chuck talks about how the Sims is a game where you can do what you do in everyday life. Kids play this and while it makes them grow up faster and educates them, it also makes them think like a computer. Computers and video games are limited in the way they operate, they have fixed rules so what is, is and we accept it as that. The power of the Sims shows that buying stuff for the character makes them happy, they're materialistic and say that's how it is in life too. It was said in the Jane Mcgonigal video that humans are happier working hard then relaxing which is what happens in video games with all of the various journeys, etc. Power in video games has a heavy influence on people these days and sometimes people even lose touch with reality.