Video Gaming in My Textbook

On 03/06/2017 at 07:08 PM by Super Step

No, really. Page 183 of Media/Impact: An Introduction to Mass Media (12th Ed.) by Shirley Biagi actually mentions the Israel-Palestine game Snee was talking about in one of his blogs (PeaceMaker).

In the in-set on p. 183 titled "Can Video Games Be a Force for Good?" by Edward Helmore, Asi Burak talks changing the perception of games as "shallow, violent, and childish."

There's talk of the video game industry being worth $66 billion (when including mobile gaming; it's $58 billion without smart phones and tablets according to DFC Intelligence via Reuters) and the demographic expansions in the industry, including more women and the average gamer age being 30. MineCraft gets a shout-out as a creative and engaging experience for children.

But what interests me more than changing gamers' image in the mainstream; which I frankly care little about as someone who openly admits to liking Lady Gaga and a handful of Limp Bizkit songs; is the potential for video games to create empathy. Snee will have to tell me how PeaceMaker goes, but what about a first-person adventure game where you are mistreated the whole way through, having to fight harder than the NPCs around you for everything you have. At the end of the game, it's revealed the reason for this is because you're [insert minority here] and the game provides some stats a la the pre-credits information in a "based on a true story" movie to explain why this would be a likely real life experience.

Now my first thought is "it'll get picked up by political media before the game ships and huge swaths of the populace will boycott the game before it ever gets a chance to take off." But what if the secret really could be kept under wraps somehow? Could it change someone's mind? Maybe there doesn't need to be a plot twist. Maybe just make a point by including stats like "most likely to be pulled over" in the character selection menu. Again, going to get boycotted and flamed in the news, but hey, there's no big reveal. It'll just force people to recognize choosing a particular character comes with certain benefits.

I don't know if I can go as far as Bernard Suits, who argues in a perfect world, games would be the only reason to go on living ... or maybe I can. I guess you'd have to fill the void of your own purposelessness somehow. Obviously, I don't think he means only video games would count. But I do think there are some interesting possibilities with the medium.

"the purpose of civilization and growth is to be able to reach out and empathize a little bit with other people. And for me, the movies are like a machine that generates empathy. It lets you understand a little bit more about different hopes, aspirations, dreams and fears. It helps us to identify with the people who are sharing this journey with us." - Roger Ebert

What if we could replace the "movies" in that quote with "video games?" I know how Ebert felt about that when he was alive, but I think it's an interesting discussion.

Do you WANT games to make attempts at producing empathy? Have you played games that already produced empathy for you (I seem to remember Julian saying something about his experience as a virtual black man in L.A. in San Andreas)? Is there some other societal good you think video games could or do produce?

Let me know in the comments.

And yes, I'm reading for a class I'm teaching tomorrow. Calm down, I've already taught it twice. I just forgot this section was in the textbook.

KnightDriver

03/07/2017 at 12:01 AM

Games have a lot of potential to influence us for good. Maybe the mechanics of gaming gets in the way a little bit. You're always doing something active and so gameplay is somewhat like a sport. How can you derive empathy from a sport? I'm not saying it can't be done. Certainly it can. Maybe it's just hard to get someone to kick a ball for truth.

Super Step Contributing Writer

03/07/2017 at 12:17 AM

I understand what you mean as far as needing action, but i don't see why a mass effect or gta style game couldn't work subtle things into the story and have npcs treat you differently because you're lower class while still having puzzles and gunplay.

Games should still be used for pure escapism, fun, and fantasy but I'd like to see some games aim for empathy.

03/07/2017 at 12:21 AM

Yea, I've had a few games effect me with their story or with the situations I was put in. More could be done with that. There's a lot of power there when you are controlling a character. You're more inside the story and it can effect you more. We just need more games that aren't just action movies, I guess.

03/07/2017 at 01:08 AM

What games did that for you?

03/07/2017 at 06:37 PM

Max Payne and Bioshock both gave me the shaky nerves after a while. Max because of a crying baby in the dream sequence and Bioshock after hours listening to the splicers screaming. Max Curse of Brotherhood nearly had me crying. Halo 4 made me laugh derisively as Cortana expressed her love for Master Chief. There's more, I'm sure, those are just what lept to mind.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

03/07/2017 at 01:56 AM

actually, I was talking about 1979 Revolution: Black Friday, which is about the Iranian revolution. I don't really know what Peacemaker is, but it sounds cool.

I have no problem with games that make you empathetic. All great art does that, especially reading, I think.

03/07/2017 at 08:00 AM

My bad. I guess they sounded similar to me. I'm still working on memory loss after last year. I used to have excellent memory.

I agree, though i can.see why some folks just want games to be fun and not much else. I think there's room for everyone.

03/07/2017 at 10:26 AM

yeah, i mean there are books that are just fun or thrilling, and music that's just like pop candy, so why not?

goaztecs

03/07/2017 at 01:41 PM

I think it would be interesting for a game like mentioned to be created but in this current time of boycott everything, it wouldn't get made because its such a hot potato of a subject. Society has gotten to the point where if you don't agree with something you shout it down all while claiming first amendment rights, and then the hysteria of boycotts.

I don't know if you're going to bring this topic up in your class but I'm interested to hear what today's college kids have to say on the topic.

03/07/2017 at 02:48 PM

The professor next door to me said his pastor's wife told her she's not to go to Beauty and the Beast because their church is boycotting due to the gay character. Said professor is Jewish himself and seems to be looking forward to the movie. lol He even told me a funny story about one of his colleagues at Baylor who turned out to be gay (which is why they found some way to get rid of him, according to my Jewish professor friend). So yeah, boycotts and negative media attention before the game even hits could ruin everything.

I really only got a lengthy response from one older, black/female student who thought it would be cool and mentioned growing up in Germany experiencing racism and noticing how many white Barbies there were and her brother wanting a white action figure. Something about wanting to be treated like those action figures. It was an interesting analogy.

Another student said he didn't think games should try it, but when I said "ok, why?" (inquisitively, I was genuinely curious why, not trying to shut him down) he actually said "ummm ... I actually can't think of a reason." Which sucks, cause I wanted to hear why. Maybe he just isn't interested and doesn't think others would be either, which is a valid point I think.

Only other response I remember is someone bringing up what age you play games and how that affects creativity, knowledge, etc. She said her brothers were young and learned better through gaming on the Wii etc., but thought once you became a teen you would play more violent stuff.

Another girl just said there's a line between using video games responsibly to achieve some of those positive things and becoming obsessed (this was related to the "real v. virtual happiness"/meaning part).

If you haven't noticed, SFA is about 64% female and so are my classes. lol

I also asked them about MOOCs (I think you took a course like that for web design) and Touch Technology (where you can supposedly feel silk or smell pizza via your phone). To my pleasant surprise, most said they still prefer face-to-face courses and there was some mention of not wanting smells to come from your phone (touch was fine though).

The chapter was on Internet if you're wondering why it seems to be so all over the place. They're next test is over movies, television, and Internet.

03/08/2017 at 11:34 AM

Wow, Baylor has a lot more problems on its plate than a prof's sexual preference.

Interesting answers by the students in your class. I would have expected more outrage. I agree about the smells coming from the phone.

03/08/2017 at 05:06 PM

Well, yeah. lol I've heard quite a few negative anecdotes from other former Baylor professors (one of whom I took for a Freshman anthropology course and now see at university-level faculty meetings ... weird) and former students who were not Protestant and felt like they were not welcome. I cannot confirm or deny any of that, but there are people I liked who went to Baylor. I dunno.

I think social media conditions us to think the next generation walks around outraged all the time. I've had students involved in protests, but you wouldn't know about it from the way they act in class. They do the same stupid bullshit any 18-year-old would, but frankly I'd guess this upcoming generation is more well-behaved and hardworking than many give them credit for. It just sucks that Texas public schools literally don't focus on grammar any more, which ... hurts them in college.

PixlBit