Regularly, I am told by my parents the insignificance of computer games and what a waste of time they are. This is completely false… I believe one day, computer games (or interactive entertainment) will be the basis of education and will most likely replace television as a leading medium of media.
It has the power to influence opinion and our lives just as much as the BBC news and newspapers, perhaps more so because you live the experience rather than hearing about it.
The frontal lobe of your brain is one of the big things that gave us an advantage over other animals. it allows you to simulate things before you do them (hence why we do not have beef and onion ben and jerry’s ice cream) and games are big news… the next chess… the projection of simulation.
I watch a few gaming videos on the internet about games… some silly review stuff, some a bit more serious.
I would like to use my voice on here to direct your attention to this link.
http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/call-of-juarez-the-cartel
its a continuation on a small look into propaganda games… games that use things like xbox achievements and way that you can win the game as well as some of the fundamental mechanics (parts of a game that tell the story without words by using different means) to make you think in a different way or to lead your thinking in a certain direction while making you avoid large questions that may compromise the viewpoint they are trying to re-enforce (I say re-enforce, due to the fact that they try place you in an environment and blinker your perspective).
Please watch the video and if you need to, the previous one going into a bit more detail regarding the overall picture on propaganda games….
Ok, you watched it… this is what I think.
This game… Call of Juarez: The Cartel, is on the 2 for 20 quid section of Granger Games… this game is in full view and for public consumption… I have no issue with violent games… I have an issue with games that do not give you the full picture… this is a sequal to an old wild west shooter game for the xbox and could easily slip under the rader as a continuation of the same theme… this is breaking on issues that are big and unknown. there is a real opportunity to teach about what is happening and allow you to make a decision yourself and potentially open your eyes a little to the subject at hand and give you scope or at least a context to approach the real world issue.
what they have done is created a first person shooter that feeds you bad information and intentionally creates an emotional reaction in order to cloud your logical scale of thought and then sells you false information, or propaganda.
Its important that we are given the tools to defend ourselves against these games. we cannot censor these games or they become infamous. we must give people the tool is be prepared for this emerging art form and be aware of the evils that come with it.
Please do not go on a mission saying “we have to ban it” because we must deal with it rather than hide it away and make ourselves weak and defenceless to it when it comes knocking on your door in this form.
what say you?
