Association through Action: Identity Development in Real and Virtual Video Game Environments

Abstract

Jeremy's1 arms extended behind his head, breaking at the elbow in order to suspend a Band Hero guitar above and behind his shoulders; his fingers on his left hand scuttled about the colored keys on the neck of the guitar, and his fingers on his right hand furiously and repeatedly hit the strum bar on the guitar's body. Almost simultaneously, Kyle, who sang on the microphone, reached a temporary vocal pause in the song, raised and rotated his hands in the air several times, and then, holding onto the microphone wire, twirled the microphone in front of him. Though these middle-school boys did not converse, their actions revealed their knowledge of and personal association with the game and the game environment.