Videogames, Avatars, and Identity (Waggoner)

In “Videogames, Avatars, and Identity,” Zach Waggoner explores the relationships between humans and the virtual realities that they engage in. The rising genre of “videogame” is – as Waggoner points out – beginning to surpass movies and television in favored form of entertainment, since they allow a person to represent themselves through an “avatar,” or virtual identity. Waggoner writes, “My relationship with my avatar seems more complicated than that. Exactly how I believe it is more complicated (for other videogamers as well as myself) and will take some explaining as videogame technologies offer users interactive and immersive experience that convey verisimilitude and beyond more with each passing year” (488).

This article seems closely linked to Bazerman’s genre theories, since Waggoner explores a particular genre (videogames), and explores the ways in which it organizes and shapes human activity, experience, and the meanings we create. Waggoner seems to be saying that it is possible for us to carry our virtual identities and experiences over into reality, and vice-versa. In addition, he stresses the role-playing aspect of certain video games, and how people often change their behavior in order to adapt to a certain situation, or to adhere to the norms that are expected of them. 

Waggoner’s article is engaging and interesting, and I found it to be a good example of genre analysis. Rather than viewing the subjects of “videogames” and “avatars” through a particular theoretical lens, Waggoner explores them from various angles in order to gather an enriched understanding the relationship between them and people. Also, Waggoner brings up some very cool ideas about reality. Prior to this, we have discussed “reality” and “fantasy,” but Waggoner explores the idea of “virtual reality” – which complicates the question of what is really ‘real?’