Jesper Juul, famed video game theorist from MIT and author of ‘The Ludologist’ blog, has released a new book today in the USA. The rest of the world can buy the book on March 22nd however you can download the e-version right now. Titled ‘The Art of Failure: An Essay on the Pain of Playing Video Games,’ the book focuses on why we continue to play difficult video games, and tries to put its finger on that drive to succeed most of us gamers thrive on. This supposed paradox, expressed through the constant subjugation to humiliating failure to achieve the pleasure of success, gets a thorough dissection. Juul’s core thesis is that this experience parallels tragic literature than light and fluffy entertainment.
Jesper Juul previous book,  ‘Half-Real: Video Games Between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds’, was named as one of 50 Books For Everyone in the Game Industry by Bullfrog Productions Ernest W. Adams. His renown in the gaming world as being one of the leading academics in the field, being one of the few that cuts through the academic huffing and puffing to articulate real, accessible insight.
You can purchase the book here.
