Wednesday 21 February 2007

GTA - Rhetoric Values

A common feature between most games that I have played such as Sonic, Mortal Kombat and Super Mario is violence, it is sad but the most popular games seem to be the most violent ones. Quite rightly Salen and Zimmerman (2004, p.613) state that “video games allow you to play a sinner as a saint”. These violent games have been the cause for much controversy and what Cohen (1980) calls ‘Moral Panics’ where the media fixates on a group or behaviour which then becomes a menace to society and dangerously deviant.

Rhetoric is behind these moral panics as the mass media hold certain values and beliefs about video games and express them to the public. Those whom do not know much about the games believe what they are told as they know no better. The information is also presented in the media as if solid fact. Salen and Zimmerman (2004, p.302) describes rhetoric as persuasive discourse or an implicit narrative that “persuades others of the veracity and worthwhileness of their beliefs”. Rhetoric is not just expressed through writing it may also be verbal or visual. Each video game expresses its rhetoric through visuals and instructions in the game. GTA or Grand Theft Auto is a very well known violent, ‘gangster’, morally incorrect game. Personally I am a big fan of the game GTA: San Andreas. As a player you become Carl Johnson whom has just been released from prison and whose mother has been murdered, you are encouraged to fight, steal cars, kill cops, use guns, gamble and kill anybody who gets in your way in order to gain respect and earn money. Obviously I know that the world outside would not except these behaviours but as long as I am in the world of GTA it is ok to behave like this and this is the message they send out. Salen and Zimmerman (2004, p.483) quite rightly point out that to be successful in games like this then you must follow their rules and beliefs whether or not you agree with what is being done you must do it to complete the game “they accept rules so that they can play a game, and they accept these rules so that they can play this game” (Salen and Zimmerman 2004, p.181). There is a suggestion that the world of GTA is much better than the real world as you can do what you want to get what you want. When watching the opening credits of Street Fighter the words “Show No Mercy” flash up on the screen, this rhetoric is much like GTA, also expressing the belief that you have the power to do what you want and not feel sorry for anybody that gets in your way.

Wednesday 7 February 2007

How do you define 'game'?

How do you define ‘game’? Ludwig Wittgenstein tries to answer this in his book of Philosophical Investigations. Salen and Zimmerman (2004) discuss the fact that Wittgenstein uses games to show that it is impossible to give a definite and clear cut definition of any real – world phenomenon. Wittgenstein asks that we “don’t think, but look”, he discusses the fact that if you look between games there is nothing common but there are similarities and relationships much like the similarities between those in a family “much that is common is retained, but much is lost” (Wittgenstein 1968, p.31). In a family there are similarities such as hair and eye colour, facial features and build. Wittgenstein says that these similarities overlap and criss-cross all over the place between all sorts of game whether played digitally online, outside (Olympics), card games, board games, etc. The word game is unregulated as it has no boundaries which is probably why games are such fun and entertaining (or most of them anyway!) as anything can become a game.

What Wittgenstein is saying has much truth behind it. When trying to define the concept of ‘game’ myself I tried to look at all the similarities between them and the usual concepts such as competitive, entertaining, there’s always a winner and a loser, there’s always an aim, they’re challenging, etc. However, after playing Samorost 2 a game where the aim is to solve puzzles and rescue your dog and Fishy a game where the aim is to eat fishes smaller than you and avoid the ones that are bigger than you online I found that it is very true that some characteristics stick with both games and others drop. Samorost 2 is a puzzle game it is entertaining, challenging and there is an aim to it. However, in comparison to other games such as Fishy the entertainment and addictive value is not as high as Samorost 2. Although what the relationship between both games is, is that neither have a winner or loser, both games have an aim/goal and both are interactive. Saunders (2000) describes these sought of games as hybrids as they could be described as both games and puzzles although, one may feel more like one thing than another. Saunders states that the hybrids help to signify what characteristics belong together within games.