Leaving on a Jet Plane

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Miracle on the Hudson

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Take Home

When I first signed up for this course, I knew there was a lot I could learn but I also knew that the content was not one that I was particularly keen. Here is what I knew about videogames:

• trivial
• child's play
• pass-time
• not for me

16 weeks later, there is so much more that I know I will take away from this course. I am mortified by by ignorance early on.

For one thing, I was happy with the text, The Procedural Power of Videogames. It was intriguing to learn that there is a rhetorical dimension to videogames. Who knew? And why not given the persuasive nature of videogames, right? 

I wasn't certain there was such a thing as the rhetoric of videogames. I was therefore surprised that I learned to form associations between games and the experiences created for gamers. That aspect certainly allows me now to understand my son's enthusiasm for videogames. I can talk with him intelligently about his greatest passion--videogames. I can interrogate the games he asks me to buy him based on such design decisions that include:

• for whom is the game designed 
  
• what was the intent, 
  
• how does it relate to other trends in the media, 

I can also interrogate the rhetorical triangle: ethos (designers' credibility), pathos (how does it appeal to audience emotions and their reaction), logos,(technical implementation and game mechanics). This rhetoric, straight from the mouth of Aristotle ceases to be a foreign-outdated concept. Who knows, I can introduce my children to the concept of rhetoric early on. As Aristotle put it, rhetoric is useful in making decisions where true knowledge is not available. Rhetoric is also about discovery and is particular to any given case. As we can tell from the array of videogames, game creators employ a lot of inventiveness in order to discover the means through which they can convey the experiences they wish to share. They also have to think through the specific moves, the tasks and challenges, and, perhaps the end result. They'd then write the code and infuse it with procedurality.

It's always amazing to me when theory and practice come together, and if it is demonstrated in this manner, it's solidified all the more for me.

One thing that stands out for me is the day we read about Advergames and product placement. That same day the media carried the story that  the Obama campaign was placing political ads in videogames. While I was familiar with the concept of product placement in movies, in reality shows, etc, I was not aware that it took place in videogames. Apparently, this marked the first time such a feat had been accomplished.

I learned that what happens in virtual worlds mirrors real-life; that's where the attraction to gaming is. 

Video games and art

Video games are interactive forms of entertainment that utilize engineering processes, which means that the software and artwork recorded are what make up the art component. But doesn't that interactive aspect render them anything, but art?

The concept of computer/videogames as art is problematic because art is thought of as being representational. So the question would be, what do videogames represent? Sculpting and painting, for example, represent people, objects, people, except abstract art is more representative of artists' mindsets or an expression of their thought process, perhaps.

Interaction by necessity interrupts the narrative and impedes the flow of information from author to gamer. Videogames can have themes, just like literature, paintings, through simulations. For videogames to be considered art, they should contain aesthetics; we must be able to assess their artistic merit in terms of design, role play, simulation, visuals, etc, and how all these things work together, just like we do movies and literature.

"Ultimately, whether or not interactive entertainment can be a legitimate art form is up to us. We’ll have to put out a lot of PR material, to let the public and the press know that we ourselves believe that what we do is an art form" (263).

video games and art

Video game art speaks of video games produced as art; art as in literature, as in film. They are a source of inspiration and a source of material for artists, who use videogame art to create even more games. Love them or hate them, videogames are now entrenched in our culture, and, more importantly are a multi-billion dollar industry. But can video games legitimately be called art? Mitchell and Clarke think so. While videogames boast richer and more realistic graphics, but I doubt that I can equate them with, say, film and literature, which are wholly dependent of the control of the producer author, respectively, rather than the gamer.

Is getting lost in a fantasy world all that there is to the gaming experience? Is there an art, or even a language of videogames significantly different from fine art, literature, and cinema/film, respectively?

What's up with creating videogames based on, say, blockbusters? So you watch Alvin and the Chipmunks in the theater and then before you know it you are playing it in a videogame, do you get a sense of newness or do you feel that it is a remix or revisioning or worse, recycling all so that a gamer can gain or feel a sense of control.

For the most part, games pander to gamers fantasies: physical looks, agility, prowess, --in a word-mindless! All these aspects are not typical of life or even of movie-like art, which embraces comedy, tragedy, life, loss, gain--the essence of life. In that sense, videogames are not quite art.

Perhaps it's all about what the definition of art and its understanding is across the board. Whatever the case may be, Art seeks to lead you to an inevitable conclusion, not a range of choices.

I don't know; is this art?



Still, the claim to art by videogames is centered around intervention and interaction.

The Purpose of rhetoric

How do we know when we've persuaded someone? I am thinking specifically about video games that make explicit arguments about violence and representation....what happens if a game is not successful in persuading every gamer.

Is engaging with processes a useful way of understanding the real-world phenomena that they represent?

I wonder if there is supplemental theoretical literature out there that might lend credence to the idea that personal engagement is important in persuasion.

Are there known instances of gamers changing their mind or behavior after playing a game?





Procedural rhetoric is persuasion through the procedures of the game.
It emphasizes the breakdown between the game and the user

Values and Aspirations

While political video games' agenda advances the action of existing/proposed public agenda, educational video games "advance the function of conceptual systems" (264).

Users can learn values that they can use in real life. Take the example of real estate investments as a way of creating wealth as opposed to saving money in the bank--a useful skill. The downside is the materialism that comes with creating wealth as demonstrated in games such as Animal Crossing. I suppose the point here is just as in the real world, so are video games--materialism. The fact is, though, that capital and finances is a much needed literacy; one that adults grapple with and for which they seek out knowledge workers.

The point is that video games can teach values and aspirations that are valued by the society. Users can learn the ideology behind certain tasks. As well, they learn to submit to the logic and value the structure of the workplace. This is how procedural rhetoric in video games opens up spaces of critical contemplation.

I liked his discussion on schooling and education on p262