From pre to neo ludology

The first major work on gaming in the western world was written in Spain at 1283, by king Alfonso the 10th, AKA Alfonso the wise. the book was a complete game guide, with rules for games like Chess, Backgammon, dice and cards. It was dictated by Alfonso to three monks and he truly felt that it is god's will for people to play. I couldn't agree more.

"...those who like to enjoy themselves in private to avoid the annoyance and unpleasantness of public places, or those who have fallen into another's power, either in prison, or slavery, or as seafarers, and in general all those who are looking for a pleasant pastime which will bring them comfort and dispel their boredom. For that reason, I, Don Alphonso... have commanded this book to be written."

Alfonso X. It was certainly wise of him to bring his own Wiimote and nunchuk.

I Love this introduction. games help you deal or avoid with the unpleasantness of public. next time when i think of grabbing a beer at my local, I will re-think it through and turn on my box360 or my PS2. though probably when he wrote the book he didn't saw through the relation ship problem that might arose, or to be more specific the game-envy that your significant other might develop.

this help us to draw a line that starts with the pre-ludo which is mainly about the game as set of rules and/or as a part-time activity. the modern ludology which started with Huizinga's "Homo ludens" or Caillois's " Les Jeux et les Hommes" or even with fresca's "ludo vs. narratology" that address games as an important cultural texts. and the Neo -Ludology (which I will dedicate my life to develop) that will see the games , as life, as a whole, which through understanding games we can analyze and critic the whole cultural structure. neoludo will see every phenomena or situation as a ludic one, one that consists of conditions of possibility which by the way the character ( the person) or the game (society) symbolizes will lead to an outcome that can be important or not by the same standards (person or society or both symbolization).

Homo Ludens. Yes... it is practically our ludic bible.

of course what I offer here is an insufficient outline partly because I myself cant see the full picture (yet.. I hope). but from very close reading of the current ludic work, It is easy to see that there is a lot of work need to be done. and the episteme or the cultural ground that is based on is mainly modern/structural episteme (and even more common is to use a hip post thinker and subordinate him to his terms and/or to a structural theory). neo-ludo should give the respect to video games as a a new form that couldn't be described or analyzed by the old categories. it is no longer sufficient to speak about the Author but the experience. the spotlight shouldn't be on the character but about the person in the dark, the gamer and his real and virtual spatial experience.