The game KillBox, created by Joseph DeLappe, Malath Abbas, Tom Demajo, and Albert Elwin, explores the technological side of military and political power. Game designer and theorist Jesper Juul, proposes three frames in which we can consider games; goal orientation, experience, and social context. These three frames interconnect and interpenetrate to give the game user the experience intended by the creators. Focusing specifically on his second layer of experience and his third layer of social context, the interactive, technological installation Killbox possesses these frames and intertwines them to form the game as a space where the user can explore the nature of drone warfare. This relationship is created due to the fact that the social …show more content…
The game explores controversial sides of drone warfare and the impacts it has both politically and socially. At the start of the game the player is given the option to be player one or two. Player one controls the UAV drone and the player has to shoot missiles at the desired target. The display and aesthetics are very technological and realistic to the theme of drone warfare. This is apparent through the sounds, design and interactive abilities. The way they explain the instructions for player one appears very technological as well, with the purpose to encapsulate the user in the mindset of the intended subject matter. The second player assigns the user as a ball, representative of a person. They can explore the land, collect items and interact with other shapes. There are numerous other spheres of different colours and sizes roaming around the land, representative of other humans and animals. The game is very loose with their rules, letting the player perceive things as they wish. A pinnacle moment of this game is when the player comes to the realization that player one and player two are set in the same location and time, just each representing a different viewpoint of the UAV missile attack. Especially if the user starts as player one and fires the missile to the specified target, then switches over to player two and realizes that they are experiencing the impact of their own decision as the previous player. Because the game allows users to view both impactful sides of drone warfare; being the victim or the shooter, the player gains a better understanding about drone warfare and all of its side effects. As quoted by T.L Taylor in Gaming Lifeworlds, “The notion that technical choices are always already tied to social choices and values plays at an explicit level here.” (Page 39) This quote can be related to the game,
Video games have become as pervasive an aspect of our society as television, with many people spending more time playing video games than watching television. There are many perspectives with which to gauge videos games’ effect on society, from a functionalist, conflict or interactionist perspective. (Schaefer, 2011) Each of these sociological theories can provide a different view of video games, how they affect society and the subcultures that develop around them.
Tom Bissell, in his essay, “Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter” has described video games and how they are unique and different from movies, books, or even interactive films. Bissell says “I came to accept that games were incompetent with almost every aspect of what I would call traditional narrative.” This is showing the readers that even though there is a plot and story line, as characters can control and alter the story line or outcome by what you do or see throughout the game.
As a hook in his article “When Life Imitates Video,” John Leo describes the Columbine High School massacre which took place near the city of Littleton, Colorado in 1999. Leo claims the actions taken by the teen shooters are due to the violent video games that* many young people play. The rest of his essay builds from this idea, arguing that violent video games desensitize players and encourages dangerous and delinquent behaviors in young children and teens. To effectively convince his target audience, those who have not yet had exposure to the idea of a connection between video games and behavior, of this idea, Leo utilizes an appeal to pathos and logos.
In every story, there are many things to analyze. In “Game” by Donald Barthelme, he shows us the way our minds start to work in stressful situations like how the narrator and Shotwell started to respond while controlling the console for the war. In “Game” the narrator’s name is never told, Shotwell and the narrator do not trust each other, but are left alone together and trusted to kill the other if they start to “behave strangely,” although it is never clarified what counts as strange and what counts as normal. Various literary devices are used throughout the story to show us Barthelme’s intended theme, some used are: repetition, symbolism, irony, and figurative language.
This shows the wide verity of this game which adds more to the reason why this game is magnificent. You might ask how this information applies to his thesis: “Why video games matter?” All of this information provides logical facts that interest gamers around the world. The game provides a traditional narrative that allows for an experience framed in terms of wandering and lonesomeness, a purpose that is needed.
The event of mass murder as known today, postal workers going postal and school massacres, has been emerging as a more regular occurrence throughout the last century (Lester, Stack, Schmidtke, Schuller & Muller, 2005). Starting with the Vietnam War era, there have been an increasing number of mass murders, which share a causal link to the increased militarization of American Society. The introduction of semiautomatic weapons in mainstream society gives the opportunity for explosive and gratuitously violent events such as have been seen in recent years (Hamamoto, 2002). The increase in graphically violent war movies and first person video games, full of violent images and massive destruction, lend a hand in the building of a society that is hyperaware of war level violence.
In a world that is centered around technology and the media, it is no wonder that Harris and Kelbold fell into the violent virtual world of video games. Doom, the boys’ favorite video game, displays you as a space marine whose mission is the kill people on the planet. High levels of violent graphics and the Satanic imagery embedded violent thoughts in the boys’ minds (“Nineteen Minutes”). The video, Natural Born Killers, also put aggressive thoughts into the boys’ minds (Rosenburg).. These media images as well as hateful music, planted the seeds of the future massacre in both Harris and Kepold’s minds. In a world of criticism, Peter also turned to the virtual world to escape. His interest turns to HTML code as well as violent music. Grand Theft Auto, his favorite game, ranks points by killing innocent people. He ends up creating his own video game, Hide and Shriek, in which his avatar runs through the school slaughtering jocks, bullies, and other popular kids. (Helium)
In the modern world, violence is an everyday occurrence, and the video game Grand Theft Auto not only promotes violence and aggression, but it also normalizes it, creating a negative impact on society. Video games have gained a lot of popularity as of late, nearly every person has some sort of gaming device, whether that is a console, handheld device, or even just a smartphone. Consequently, the act of playing video games regularly has become accepted as ordinary in today’s culture. It seems strange to think that a video game could have any effect on society, whether it be positive or negative. However, through the presentation of offensive language, aggressive behavior, and gun violence, the video game Grand Theft Auto will undoubtedly assist you in comprehending the negative characteristics that a video game has the potential to possess.
Games themselves are not the product of violence, but rather, the people influenced by the games and the interaction of the game. Just as guns do not kill, but the people and their cruel intentions, violent video games are a source that lead to effective mur-der homicides, suicides and tragedies. This is an evident problem. Yet, the problem lies in the heart of man. Until this is solved, every seemingly positive aspect in the world is merely the de-velopment of entropy awaiting
Many video games use visuals to mentally immerse gamers into a virtual world filled with seemingly living, breathing people, animals, or cities. According to Michael Samyn and Auriea Harvey, game designers for Tale of Tales, video games increasingly develop into a true medium of artistic expression (Lamb). In just forty years, video games transformed from an abuse of the new computer for entertainment purposes into a sophisticated form of popular art. The development of video games recently produced results that arguably equal other similar, representational arts. Video games share many qualities with other forms of art, but they are also artistically significant in their own way. “This seems to be something
There are now many skeptics that object to the practice of drone usage. A main idea here is that piloting a drone has no structure, as if it were you simply playing a video game. This view stems mostly from an unfamiliarity of video games. Piloting drones in relation to the experience of playing video games is however still a problem but not on the topic of desensitization but rather sensitization. Drones, much like video games, have become very submersive and can expose pilots to feelings and emotions that could be dangerous to their psyche.
Video games are progressively becoming a crucial medium today, despite the light connotation of its initial categorization. Today they are a business that produces billions of dollars and employs engineers and artists alike in an art form connecting interactive games, to virtual societies where millions of people dwell. However, like all human products, our same emotion, flaws and injustice show in the games, with the impression of hatred, racism and stereotypes that are our everyday background. What are the creators of these video games real intentions in the desire they produce in the human?
Throughout history man kind has always searched for ways to entertain himself, each time developing new activities and games. Video games have become a very popular way to spend time and have fun from the 1970’s up to now. With new developments appeared different video game genres from adventure to racing, but the violent video games appear to be the most popular ones (Shin, 2003), for example: shooters, fighting and video games where you have to eliminate, destroy, or kill your enemies.
“In video games, the category of “first person shooters” has been controversial with critics concerned about what that means to players who actually perform acts of violence within the games. Instead of merely watching a character perpetrate a violent act, the player is actively encouraged to participate. Gamers will often refer to their characters as “he” or even “I.” “This suggests some confusion is brought on by the intense identification players sometimes feel towards their avatars. Players typically remain attached to a single character they can control; thus they have a very strong following pattern. Game designer, Will Wright, has argued that games may have a unique ability to make players experience guilt for the choices their characters have made in the course of action. Because players are making choices, they feel some degree of responsibility” (242-243).
In contemporary society, the technology of violent video game become more and more advanced. The effects of media violence on video games has been increasing in people’s daily life. It is still be an issue and have a lot of debate on whether or not violent video games should be banned. In this essay, violent video games can be defined by RWJF Blog Team as those video game which represent violence as the best or only way to resolve conflict. ( Pioneering ideas 2010).