(2007-02-07) Gathman Game As Conversation Cover

E Cabell Hankinson Gathman on the Computer Game as a cover for simple conversation/connection (Social Object). At any rate, many people still prefer to feel that they're "doing" something when they're talking to other people, and perhaps most importantly, a friendly game of whatever provides an automatic topic of conversation for people who may either talk so much that they don't necessarily have any news to impart at any given time, or for people who talk so little that they don't know what else to talk about. The common stereotype that video games promote antisocial behavior is belied not only by the experiences of gamers but by the interfaces of the games themselves - there is no multiplayer game that does not provide for communication amongst players, and that includes "serious" MMOGs (MMORPG) like World Of Warcraft as well as "frivolous" or Casual Game-s like the varied offerings of Yahoo!