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Gaming 227Tom’s case shows how video games can become tools of production forstudents eager to combine the literary (the Decline and Fall of the RomanEmpire series) and the visual (film). Rather than being alternative to traditionallearning practices, digital games can become complementary and enrichingeducational experiences: the pedagogic values of such practices lie not only inthe information apprehended but also (especially) in the technical, social, andpersonal domains that they entail. Above all, creating a machinima allowedTom to be apprentice and producer, learner and circulator of meanings.The activities of augmented gaming are highly varied, and in comparisonto the other genres of gaming practice we describe, are a less clearly definedcategory of practice. We have included practices varying from gamestrategyguides to secondary fan productions, cheats, and customization.What is common throughout all these practices is an orientation thatpoints outward from the competitive practices of game play toward engagingmore broadly with gaming culture. In her study of Yu-Gi-Oh! play,Mizuko Ito (2008b) suggests that these practices of personalizing gamesand engaging with the viral knowledge exchange surrounding games arekey sites of learning and “hypersocial” exchange. Through games, kidsengage in sophisticated forms of knowledge exchange in a context wherethey are personally invested and identified. This is not about a genericposition of spectatorship but rather an active subjectivity where gamerscan acquire unique, esoteric knowledge tailored to their interests, anddevelop their own custom content as part of this engagement. This kindof relationship to media content is a quality that has been present infandoms surrounding traditional media, but it is much more pervasive ininteractive media formats. This orientation toward remaking and customizingmedia is in many ways a hallmark of the digital era and a key trainingground for learning critical engagement with media; it is also a pathwayinto various forms of creative production, which we describe in chapter 6.Flows and Boundaries of GamingGaming has been at the center of ongoing cultural debate over what areappropriate forms of media for kids. A substantial part of this debate hasincluded discussions of age and gender appropriateness. In our discussions