I am going to play the game Road Rash in which the player has to street race on motorcycles and the only way to win the race is by knocking off other players by beating them with pipes and chains and running from and beating up the cops. One idea I am thinking about for this game is to show that street racing leads to more serious crimes such as insurance fraud, theft, assault and robbery. In the you have to result to assault and in theory murder to win the game, therefore you go from illegal street racing to a much more serious offense, which shows that what some might consider a minor criminal offense can turn into much more.
Another idea I had about this paper was to show that there is no such thing as a victimless crime. When people street race they can hurt themselves and others, not just the other racers, but the other people in traffic and spectators. Someone who is driving to the grocery store has nothing to do with your race but if you hit them, they are a victim of your illegal activity. I want to explore how people think it is ethical to commit a crime that doesn't hurt anyone else but benefits you and how they do not realize how their actions can truly effect other people.
Finally I could talk about the ethics of crime in general and use street racing and Road rash as an example. Street racers seem to have their own code of ethics, such as secrecy and what they consider OK and not OK in a race. They also have ethics about telling what people have done to their cars or how fast they can run. They have their 'word' about what someone gets when they win a race and consequences if you don't give in after a loss. I feel like this however would be a much harder theory to use while using the game Road Rash as an example.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Two Articles on Video Games
http://www.igda.org/articles/rreynolds_ethics.php
In the article, Playing a "Good" Game: A Philosophical Approach to Understanding the Morality of Games by Ren Reynolds, he argues the point that the game Grand Theft Auto 3 is not immoral because the pleasure people get out of playing out-weighs the harm it might cause. He argues this through several different philosophical perspectives, and through his own ethical and moral views. I do not particularly agree with his argument because although he believes that the pleasure of playing the game outweighs the harms of video game violence, he does not have any proof to back up his statement and is making this assumption on his own beliefs. If a mothers child goes our and commits a violent act because he has been playing a violent video game for weeks, she would probably believe that the harm of the game outweighs the pleasure her child got from playing it. Although I do not really agree with his personal view points, it is also hard to argue and opinion that is not support by fact.
http://elearnqueen.blogspot.com/2004/08/ethics-of-video-game-based-simulation.html
In this article, The Ethics of Video Game-Based Simulation by Susan Smith Nash, she argues the point that using a simulation video game to train military personnel is not ethically sound because it promotes the idea that they player is invincible and dehumanizes killing. She argues that because the player can make their character look like anything, and not just themselves, the player does not associate themselves with the killing and makes it more like a game than a real life simulator. I agree with her points in this article because I believe it would be hard to train military personnel in ground combat with a video game. The air force has flight simulators, but you can construct an airplane and make everything very real including sounds, smells, and what flying feels like. It may be harder however to simulate the battle field in Iraq for a ground solider. By putting a controller or fake gun in their hand and letting them shoot at a screen it does not truly simulate the real life situation of killing another human.
In the article, Playing a "Good" Game: A Philosophical Approach to Understanding the Morality of Games by Ren Reynolds, he argues the point that the game Grand Theft Auto 3 is not immoral because the pleasure people get out of playing out-weighs the harm it might cause. He argues this through several different philosophical perspectives, and through his own ethical and moral views. I do not particularly agree with his argument because although he believes that the pleasure of playing the game outweighs the harms of video game violence, he does not have any proof to back up his statement and is making this assumption on his own beliefs. If a mothers child goes our and commits a violent act because he has been playing a violent video game for weeks, she would probably believe that the harm of the game outweighs the pleasure her child got from playing it. Although I do not really agree with his personal view points, it is also hard to argue and opinion that is not support by fact.
http://elearnqueen.blogspot.com/2004/08/ethics-of-video-game-based-simulation.html
In this article, The Ethics of Video Game-Based Simulation by Susan Smith Nash, she argues the point that using a simulation video game to train military personnel is not ethically sound because it promotes the idea that they player is invincible and dehumanizes killing. She argues that because the player can make their character look like anything, and not just themselves, the player does not associate themselves with the killing and makes it more like a game than a real life simulator. I agree with her points in this article because I believe it would be hard to train military personnel in ground combat with a video game. The air force has flight simulators, but you can construct an airplane and make everything very real including sounds, smells, and what flying feels like. It may be harder however to simulate the battle field in Iraq for a ground solider. By putting a controller or fake gun in their hand and letting them shoot at a screen it does not truly simulate the real life situation of killing another human.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Paper #1 Outline and Thesis
Thesis: The McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried Cruelty games are effective in conveying information about bad business practices and animal cruelty through the use of ethically and emotionally charged game choices.
Introduction Paragraph:
- Intro sentence
- Short video game description
- Thesis statement
Body Paragraph 1:
- Intro sentence
- Describe game 1 (McDonald’s)
- Describe the game’s purpose
- Explain game choices and animal cruelty
- Give examples from game for support
Body Paragraph 2:
- Into sentence
- Describe game 2 (Kentucky Fried Cruelty)
- Describe the games purpose
- Explain game choices and animal cruelty
- Give examples from game for support
Body Paragraph 3:
- Describe how both games use ethos and pathos.
- Explain how both games are effective in their purpose
- Compare and contrast the different game styles and how each is effective and ineffective.
Conclusion Paragraph:
- Restate thesis and give final thoughts
- Explain what player comes away with after playing games
- Tie up any lose ends from essay and answer all questions
Introduction Paragraph:
- Intro sentence
- Short video game description
- Thesis statement
Body Paragraph 1:
- Intro sentence
- Describe game 1 (McDonald’s)
- Describe the game’s purpose
- Explain game choices and animal cruelty
- Give examples from game for support
Body Paragraph 2:
- Into sentence
- Describe game 2 (Kentucky Fried Cruelty)
- Describe the games purpose
- Explain game choices and animal cruelty
- Give examples from game for support
Body Paragraph 3:
- Describe how both games use ethos and pathos.
- Explain how both games are effective in their purpose
- Compare and contrast the different game styles and how each is effective and ineffective.
Conclusion Paragraph:
- Restate thesis and give final thoughts
- Explain what player comes away with after playing games
- Tie up any lose ends from essay and answer all questions
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Advergame, serious game and persuasive game assignment
For my persuasive game, I played Fat World. This game really made me think about the eating choices I needed to make for my character to ensure that they would not become obese and get a disease or die. Even in making choices like having french toast for breakfast instead of eating a low-fat omelet I was upping the chances of my character getting diabetes. This game really made me think about the choices I make when eating... like going to McDonald's for lunch when I don't have time to do something healthier. I guess everything you eat plays a role in your health, even if you think that one burger won't hurt me, once a week times a year really adds up. This game has really made me think about the eating choices I make, and probably how I need to eat healthier.
For my serious game I played Oil God. In this game I have to try and double the price of oil in less than 5 years using various acts of god (hurricane, tornado etc) and through war, economic and political changes. This game was awful because when I set two oil producing countries to war, gas prices sky rocketed, and through a few acts of god, I was able to raise gas from $1.46 to almost 3 dollars a gallon. Political changes, like going from a republican country to a communist nation really altered the price of gas too. It made me think how economics and politics play a huge role in gas price. When I did an act of god, the effects only last a few days to weeks and prices dropped again however political and economic changes had a much greater affect on lasting price hikes. this game really tries to show how and why gas prices are so high.
For my advergame I played an M&Ms game called green vs. red. You have to trap your opponent and change their M&M color to green (if your red and vice verse) to try and get as many of your color on the board as possible. Who ever has the most of their color on the board at the end wins. This was a fun game because it was addicting and made you really want to win. Every time someone goes they can take more of your color, so the outcome is unknown until the very end. Also, every time red took some of my green M&Ms I wanted to retaliate as quickly as possible. Did it really make me want to eat M&Ms? No not really, but it was fun and I would go back and play again so I guess this game worked in the sense that it will get me back to the website, and maybe next time I will look around and find something good to eat and go pick it up at Publix.
For my serious game I played Oil God. In this game I have to try and double the price of oil in less than 5 years using various acts of god (hurricane, tornado etc) and through war, economic and political changes. This game was awful because when I set two oil producing countries to war, gas prices sky rocketed, and through a few acts of god, I was able to raise gas from $1.46 to almost 3 dollars a gallon. Political changes, like going from a republican country to a communist nation really altered the price of gas too. It made me think how economics and politics play a huge role in gas price. When I did an act of god, the effects only last a few days to weeks and prices dropped again however political and economic changes had a much greater affect on lasting price hikes. this game really tries to show how and why gas prices are so high.
For my advergame I played an M&Ms game called green vs. red. You have to trap your opponent and change their M&M color to green (if your red and vice verse) to try and get as many of your color on the board as possible. Who ever has the most of their color on the board at the end wins. This was a fun game because it was addicting and made you really want to win. Every time someone goes they can take more of your color, so the outcome is unknown until the very end. Also, every time red took some of my green M&Ms I wanted to retaliate as quickly as possible. Did it really make me want to eat M&Ms? No not really, but it was fun and I would go back and play again so I guess this game worked in the sense that it will get me back to the website, and maybe next time I will look around and find something good to eat and go pick it up at Publix.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)