No Quitting without Saving after Bad Events: Gaming Paradigms and Learning in The Sims

In this paper, we argue that rather than seeking some general definition of game or gaming, game scholars, particularly those interested in video games and learning, should focus on gaming paradigms. Currently scholars lack a common framework for differentiating among the potential of various sorts of games, with varied configurations of players and practices, to support diverse kinds of learning. We propose the concept of gaming paradigms to shift the emphasis away from both broad generalizations about how games support learning and discrete analyses of learning within particular games that make drawing comparisons difficult. Gaming paradigms consist of the game, game play, and game social interaction, as well as how various player identities interact with these aspects of gaming. Identifying how different gaming paradigms represent different approaches to learning can contribute to a broader understanding of the dynamics of learning through new media. We examine one paradigm of gaming associated with The Sims in order to spell out how an approach centered on gaming paradigms might work and to explicate some differences and similarities this one paradigm has to other paradigms, including those more commonly associated with games played primarily by men.