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"not totally sure the author did even the slightest bit of research or really understands this topic. Games have been giving political messages for years: the PETA game, the McDonald's flash title. What the piece is assuming is that since it's not a linear series of pictures or words, a game can't communicate a complex message.
Using the piece's own examples: Sim City is a generally conservative argument of how urban planning works. High taxes inhibit development, nuclear power is the most useful energy source, environmentalists protest city progress but must ultimately be ignored. By outlining a finite series of rules that define how the world works, players can compare that with reality and make up their own ideas about reality. Civilization imposes technology handicaps on all tribal groups at the start.
I understand wishing to ignore any of the complex nuances of games and just mash X all the time, but just because you don't bother to think about any of this stuff doesn't mean other people don't or that games are not already quite apt at it.
Google Ian Bogost, procedural rhetoric, political games, God anything other than just sitting and spewing what's on the top of your head at that m"
Monday, September 28, 2009
