I reported on a book titled “The Legend of Zelda and Philosophy” just a few hours ago. After doing so, I decided to reach out to the book’s Editor, Luke Cuddy, a member of the Southwestern College Philosophy Department, to briefly to ask him about his inspiration to do a philosophy book on gaming.

Luke went on to say:

I’ve been a gamer my whole life, whether I was playing Wiffleball, Hero’s Quest, or Zelda. Since I’ve always been a deep thinker, games are fascinating to me on more than one level. Games are separate worlds with separate algorithms; they are systems with which we interact via the avatar. Moreover, as any gamer knows, a well-made game can be a brilliant human creation. Anyone who writes videogames off as frivolous activities hasn’t really considered their components in detail. (Side note: A great book that describes the complexity of games and our interactions with them is Everything Bad is Good for You by Steven Johnson.) If we philosophize about films and books without a second thought, why not videogames? There’s a reason why we play so many games in this day and age, and it goes beyond sales.

He then added that while he did contribute an essay and introduction to the book, that the “majority of the credit goes to the other authors”. Intelligent, humble, and passionate about gaming — this guy gets my vote for President.

I will be conducting a full interview with Luke next week. Check back with us on Friday, and in the meantime feel free to visit Luke’s blog at www.neo-philosophy.com.

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Available as a 288 page paperback, The Legend of Zelda and Philosophy Book has got to be the missing link to every Zelda lover’s quest for inner peace. Not to mention that it will make a damn fine addition to your NES coffee table.

What type of information can you expect to find in the book? Hit the jump to find out.

Amazon.com summary of the book:

With both young and adult gamers as loyal fans, The Legend of Zelda is one of the most beloved video game series ever created. The contributors to this volume consider the following questions and more: What is the nature of the gamer’s connection to Link? Does Link have a will, or do gamers project their wills onto him? How does the gamer experience the game? Do the rules of logic apply in the game world? How is space created and distributed in Hyrule (the fictional land in which the game takes place)? How does time function? Is Zelda art? Can Hyrule be seen as an ideal society? Can the game be enjoyable without winning? The Legend of Zelda and Philosophy not only appeals to Zelda fans and philosophers but also puts video games on the philosophical map as a serious area of study.

Book summary via the publishers listing:

This is the first book in existence devoted to philosophy and a specific video game. It is also the first book that deals with the more general topic of philosophy and video games. The book asks such questions as: What is the nature of the gamer’s connection to Link? Does Link have a will, or do we project ours onto him? How does the gamer experience the game? Do the rules of logic apply in the gameworld? How is space created and distributed in Hyrule (the fictional land in which the game takes place)? How does time function? Is Zelda art? Can Hyrule be seen as an ideal society? What about the Triforce (one of the goals of the game is to reunite pieces of a relic called “The Triforce”)? Is there anything symbolic about courage, wisdom, and power? Why do we want to win and defeat Ganon (the evil tyrant in command of Hyrule in many of the games of the franchise)? Can the game be enjoyable without winning? Why do fans create timeline theories in such detail? Can these theories adhere to scientific standards? How is death treated in Hyrule? How do repetitive tasks done in the game differ from repetitive tasks done in everyday life?

The book releases on November 28th and can be yours for less than $20 bucks. You can pre-order it right now over at amazon.com.

Source: Gonintendo.com

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