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202 Mizuko Ito and Matteo Bittantia site where we see messing around genres of participation. When we moveto the genres of organizing and mobilizing, and the practices of augmentedgame play such as modding and machinima 4 making, we are moving intothe domain of geeking out. While these groups also have a peer-basedstructure at the core of the practice, they are more differentiated than thepractices of recreational or social gaming, and there is a clear demarcationbetween the core production community and those who use and accesstheir work.Killing TimeCertain forms of gaming have long provided opportunities to fill smallgaps in the day or longer stretches of waiting time. Tucking a crosswordpuzzle or word-search book into a commute bag, or getting out a deck ofcards for solitaire, are all examples of the solitary, time-filling gaming thatwe are characterizing as “killing time.” These are the practices in whichpeople engage with play and gaming to procrastinate or fill gaps in theday. With video games, it happens mostly through nomadic devices suchas portable consoles (Nintendo DS, Sony PSP), mobile phones, and laptops.These practices also can happen in desktop situations, such as whensomeone takes a break from work to play a puzzle game on Miniclip.Games are often used while waiting for relevant things to happen, as fillersbetween more structured events. Although we found that a wide varietyof kids engaged in killing-time forms of gaming, these practices tended toskew toward either younger or less experienced gamers, or for times whenmore sustained gaming was not an option. For example, Christo Sims notesthat students at the video-production center where he, Judd Antin, andDan Perkel observed are keen to engage in gaming activities during theshort breaks between their lessons:The Center was largely run like a hands-on class, with an adult instructorsetting an agenda and directing the students in various video production exercisesand activities. The kids had unstructured time before and after class as well asduring a short break in the middle of each day’s session. During these free moments(maybe fifteen to twenty minutes long) many kids would get on one of the labcomputers. While MySpace was a popular activity during this time, so too werecasual games on sites like Miniclip as well as Flash games on websites for candycompanies and other youth-targeted advertisers. (The Social Dynamics of MediaProduction)