Essay Plan

Essay Plan

Introduction

I will introduce how games use persuasion and then go on to talk about why these things raise questions in terms of the ethics behind games design.  Question whether games developers have a responsibility to make games more meaningful and something more than just entertaining or time-wasting.

Argument

I will begin the main body of the essay by outlining some of the problems that can occur in terms of ethics. I want to talk about responsibility of having sensitive material in games and if just putting an 18 age rating on a game means that the developer has free reign to put whatever they like in it. I will use the example of JFK reloaded and the fact that ethics are being ignored in order to make an impact by being sensationalist. I also want to use the example of Call of Duty and their inclusion of the player being able to skip certain parts of the game that may cause offense, is this a good thing or does it just encourage people to pay more attention to more sensitive parts of the game by making players curious. Games like JFK reloaded could have a very different effect if they were just portrayed differently.

I then want to talk about what happens when games are too persuasive and players become too invested in playing. Can players become addicted to games? Whose responsibility is it when players do become addicted and are some games design deliberately to cause this type of reaction?  Can the types of games that people get addicted, like MMORPGs, be used in a more positive way in the future? For example, making more of the element of teamwork and co-operation.

Conclusion/

I will conclude by saying that games can become more serious and something that could “change the world” if developers change the way that they portray games. Do games designers have an ethical responsibility to harness the possibility of games becoming something more than just a way to pass time.

Sources

Ethics and Persuasion:

The Ethics of Computer Games – Miguel Sicart

Persuasive Games – Ian Bogost

Psychological Effects of Video Games

http://www.soc.iastate.edu/sapp/VideoGames1.pdf

Video Game Addiction

http://news.bbc.co.uk/panorama/hi/front_page/newsid_9251000/9251687.stm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R83287N6kFg (Documentary mentioned in the above article)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8184386/Is-video-game-addiction-really-so-dangerous.html (offers a sort of opposing view to the panorama documentary)

Jane Mcgonigal’s TED talk. (WoW)