Since we saw in a previous article, the video games take part of a social, economic context and concrete politician. His declarations depend necessary on the determinants imposed by these variables and, in turn, they have an impact (crescent) in the contexts of production and reception that they them surround. And nevertheless his institutional recognition, his real respect like autonomous "cultural industry", has just been born.
For it it is not strange that the video game keeps on being, to eyes of an important part of the society, any more "game" than “culture“. And here it is where minusvalora, one incurs the simplification of a phenomenon more complex than it seems, and some somewhat extreme attitudes are generated. It is habitual, and for it I will not go deep any more into this question, the disqualification of the contents of the video games in the mass media and in the high instances of the politics of any countries. But the video game, in fact, goes beyond the simple prejudice on the playful experience; sometimes it constitutes a really powerful ideological weapon.
The video games designed to transmit a message of strong ideological content are named persuasive games. And the principal skill of construction of the ideological message, “procedural rhetoric”.
Influencing the user: The “procedural rhetoric”
Since we know the rhetoric it is the art of persuading or, as it establishes in a more sophisticated way the Spanish Royal Academy of the Language, “good Art to say, of giving to the written or spoken language enough efficacy to delight, to persuade or to upset.”. Therefore, an orator will use the verb, the word, to influence on an auditorium in the same way that the writer, with the use of the word, will be able to do the same with his reader.
The concept of “procedural rhetoric” (Bogost, 2007) takes the same premise, but it must be understood as regards the intrinsic nature of the video game; independently of his possible narrative, esthetic character. the video game is a ruled procedures system, that is to say, a program with laws of the game. Therefore, the “procedural rhetoric” is the art of persuading a user from the design of the laws of the game.
It is clear that we can persuade with certain esthetics (for example, modifying the enemies in some video games of First Person Shooter), but as it aims that Bogost the real persuasive potential of the video game finally takes root in how we design the interaction.
The global impact of the procedural rhetoric: Convergence mediática and collective intelligence
Let's imagine for a moment that we have the intention of creating a persuasive video game (we believe in a cause, we are of an ONG.). Previously, our production means were limited (our computer, the friend who could programme or draw.), in the same way that the distribution capacities (the diskette or like much, the CD). The technology has revolutionized completely the aptitude to create and to distribute this type of contents.
Today, the called “convergence mediática” (Jenkins, 2008??) it facilitates the distribution of any speech, he is already accepted or not for the domineering or hegemonic thought. On the other hand the “collective intelligence” (Levy.), that is to say, the Internet aptitude to unite different partial forms of knowledge to generate everything integrated one has allowed the teams creation amateur international with common persuasive targets.
Molleindustria: Critical speech and persuasive video game
According to its own web, “Molleindustria is an Italian team of artists, designers and programmers that it takes as an object to initiate a serious debate on the social and political consequences of the video games. (…) We decide to begin with games in line in order to avoid the channels of general distribution and to overcome our absence of means. (.) we hope to give a starting point for a new generation of developers of critical games.”. We will see next some of his most attractive projects from the optics of the “procedural rhetoric” and the “esthetic rhetoric“:
EVERY DAY THE SAME DREAM
“ A short and existential game on the alienation and the rejection to the work. Or if you prefer it, a musical video game ”. This way explicit and ironic is the comment that Every day the same dream accompanies.
A hyperrealistic mechanics (an interactive mímesis with our world, if it is preferred) gets together with scale esthetics of gray, a wide screen with the only direction and pronounced iconographic repetition (and, in consonance, the soundtrack). We get up of the bed, we are going to work and … we return to the bed. The capitalism led to the vital paroxysm.
I play Flash: Every day the same dream
MCDONALD'S THE VIDEO GAME AND OILIGARCHY
McDonald's The Video Game notable moralist displaces the genre of “pretenders of fiction” of his habitual focus towards a dimension. To direct the famous company of fast food is already, of for himself, the whole intentions declaration. That the clown looks like killer or that the initial screen of the game shows a salver flooded in blood there are esthetic concisions of the critical speech. But undoubtedly the real discursive construction appears in the laws of the game.
We have to direct the multinational from the cultivation of wheat and care of cows up to his sale to the public. It seems easy, but soon we discover that it turns out to be practically impossible to win (or, at least to be supported economically) if it is not across slightly ethical “attitudes”; to adulterate the genes of the wheat or the cows, to press psychologically the workpeople or to realize maniqueas márqueting campaigns are a part of the repertoire available for the player.
I play Flash: McDonald's The Video Game
We find another similar case with Oiligarchy. Here, the management moves to a multinational of the oil where the corruption (with genius staged with the pets career) and the solution to “thorny problems” (murder of African tribes or Arab populations) they will assure the success of the business to politicians. The esthetics assure a clear narrative anchoring; we exploit the oil from Washington, direct the secret operations from Washington and give the orders of extermination of entire tribes, again, from Washington.
I play Flash: Oiligarchy
OPERATION: PEDOPRIEST
The pederasty is an atrocious crime. And more atrocious it proves when it is carried out from confidence positions, from the development of the infantile innocence. In case of Operation: Pedopriest we direct the Vatican and his silence politics before the attitude of true religious. The bar of time, the duration of the game, is “attention mediática”. We use eunuchs who will serve to us to intimidate those parents who, seen the violation of his children, try to communicate to the authorities the small but habitual slip-ups of the priests of the game. All this visionado, clearly, for the God's Eye. The priests pederasts turn out to be represented like kind curved grandpas and our intimidation acts enjoy an expressive grandiloquence; the word of the Gentleman.
I play Flash: Operation: Pedopriest
THE FREE CULTURE GAME
It turns out to be strange to find deeply ideological abstract video games. Part of an essential logic; the representation of the world of reference, that one that the designer tries to criticize, turns out to be more complicated. In this case, the “world of the ideas” finds a good adequacy in this format (although it tends to certain anthropomorphic esthetics).
Here we must direct the ideas to the users located in the area of “free exchange” and prevent this "pacman" called "Market" from consuming them and making them disappear.
I play Flash: The Free Culture Game
To finish.
This article was not trying to be not much less exhaustive but give a vision general practitioner on the phenomenon of the persuasive video game. In any, if the reader feels interest to continue its own investigation, I recommend to him a visit to the web of Ian Bogost as well as to prove the game Raid Gaza!, an interesting criticism (with a devastating final moral incluída) on the conflict Arab - Israeli.
Bibliography
- Bogost, I. (2007). Persuasive games. The expressive power of videogames. Cambridge: MIT Press.
- Jenkins, Henry (2008). Convergence Culture: The culture of the convergence of the mass media. Barcelona: Paidós.
- Lévy, Pierre (2004).Inteligencia collective. Resource in line: http://www.udenar.edu.co/virtual/inteligenciaColectiva.pdf [Consulted on March 2, 2010]
References