Games and Learning/Topics/Play/Action

"Action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, shooter games, and platform games, which are widely considered the most important action games, though some Real Time Strategy games are also considered to be action games." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_game

"An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action-adventure_game

Examples:
 * Quake Live "QUAKE LIVE is a new and innovative multiplayer game experience from id Software - the creators of DOOM, WOLFENSTEIN and QUAKE - that offers players of all skill levels an easily accessible multiplayer game and community through a single website. The game can be played totally free, though there are paid subscriptions with even more features and play modes available." (Windows XP / Vista, Internet Explorer 8+ / FireFox 3+)
 * medal of honor "Operating directly under the National Command Authority, a relatively unknown entity of handpicked warriors are called on when the mission must not fail. They are the Tier 1 Operators."
 * MiniClip action category

The online mode created a controversy when it was revealed that in multiplayer mode, players could play as the Taliban.[17] The developers responded by stating the reality of the game necessitated it. "Most of us having been doing this since we were 7 -- if someone's the cop, someone's gotta be the robber, someone's gotta be the pirate and someone's gotta be the alien", Amanda Taggart, senior PR manager for EA, told AOL News. "In Medal of Honor multiplayer, someone's gotta be the Taliban. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medal_of_Honor_(2010_video_game)#Controversy The defence secretary, Liam Fox, has launched a stinging attack on the forthcoming first-person shooter Medal of Honor, requesting that retailers refuse to stock the game. EA's relaunch of its hugely successful series is set amid the war in Afghanistan and the single-player campaign follows US troops as they seek to defeat the Taliban. However, the multiplayer online mode allows players to take part as terrorist operatives, gaining points for killing allied soldiers, and this is the element that Fox objects to. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2010/aug/23/liam-fox-medal-of-honor-ban Defence Secretary Liam Fox has slammed a computer game which allows players to kill British troops as a Taliban insurgent as 'tasteless'. Mr Fox called for the game to be banned and said the idea of recreating Taliban attacks on allied soldiers was disgusting. The latest version of the Medal of Honor game, published by Electronic Arts, allows gamers to opt to play the role of insurgents in a multiplayer mode and receive points for killing allied soldiers. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1305164/Medal-Honour-Defence-Secretarys-fury-Taliban-video-game.html

Dr Fox appears to have surpassed even his own exacting standards of idiocy this week, by calling for a forthcoming video game set in Afghanistan to be banned. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/aug/28/liam-fox-videogame-idiocy

Related
the Games & Violence debate

Readings
See Neurocognition section: Dye, Green, & Bavelier, 2009; Feng, Spence & Pratt, 2007.