Minecraft: The game of life

 "Place is security, space is freedom" (Tuan, P. 3, 1979) For some people place, space and networking is something not found in the real world but the virtual. For me and many others in the year 2011 place, space and networking was indeed the virtual world simulator known as Minecraft. Minecraft gives players the opportunity to get away from the stresses of the real world and jump into their own world where the only limit is their imagination.

Over the next few weeks I will be deconstructing the game and explaining to my fellow bloggers why the simple yet complex game is a perfect example of all three elements place, space and networking. “lets go to a place, where everything is made of blocks, where the only limit, is your imagination” (Vareide 2011) When first stepping into a new world in the game you are presented with space, vast plains, dry deserts and colossal mountains; a blank canvas to do with what you please, a space to be made place. “given the human endowment, in what ways do people attach meaning to organize space and place?” – the question put forward by Yi-Fu Tuan leaves people in the real world mind boggled, what is place to someone is it a home, a childhood memory; what is space to someone is it the freedom of the outside world, or simply getting out of your day job and seeing what the world has to offer, similar to the 2013 movie “The secret life of Walter Smitty”. No matter how you look at it to answer the question is complicated, although when it comes to the the virtual, simplistic world of Minecraft the answer is simple; space is the vast lands of the newly generated world and place is where battles were fought, foundations were laid and friends were met.

References

"Official Minecraft Trailer". YouTube. N.p., 2016. Web. 14 Aug. 2016.

Stiller, Ben et al. "The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty (2013)". IMDb. N.p., 2016. Web. 14 Aug. 2016.

Tuan, Yi-fu. Space And Place. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1977. Print.