Essay Research; Scans and Bibliography in Full

Scanned Pages/Notes of Research

Research Bibliography

Other Technologies which are changing the world; Facebook.

·         Riots in Northern Africa;
BBC Two - How Facebook Changed the World: The Arab Spring, Episode 1 . 2013. BBC Two - How Facebook Changed the World: The Arab Spring, Episode 1 . [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b014grsr. [Accessed 05 May 2013]

·         Arab Uprisings;
BBC News - Arab uprisings: 10 key moments. 2013. BBC News - Arab uprisings: 10 key moments. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20626645. [Accessed 05 May 2013]

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·         Ronny Edry TED Talk;
Israel and Iran: A love story? | Video on TED.com. 2013. Israel and Iran: A love story? | Video on TED.com. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.ted.com/talks/israel_and_iran_a_love_story.html. [Accessed 05 May 2013]

·         Ronny Edry Quote;
Ronny Edry | Profile on TED.com. 2013. Ronny Edry | Profile on TED.com. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.ted.com/speakers/ronny_edry.html. [Accessed 05 May 2013]

Procedural Rhetoric - Bogost

·         A game's packaging is an important part of procedural rhetoric's affectivity/ success in games; "Videogames created with a more genuine persuasion may still underplay procedurality in favour of visual images..."
Bogost, Ian 2010. Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames. Page 48,1st Edition. The MIT Press.

·         Quote detailing Bogost's interest in rhetoric; "...the function of procedural representation as it is used for persuasion, and in video games as a sub-domain of procedural media."
Bogost, Ian 2010. Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames. Page 52,1st Edition. The MIT Press.

Games as Persuasive Devices

·         The following quotes are from the book listed below,  at the corresponding page numbers:
Koster, Raph 2004. A Theory of Fun for Game Design. 1st Edition. Paraglyph Press.

o   Page 178 - Talking about how good games are written; "They have intent behind them, and they have the purpose of achieving something in particular..."

o   Page 180 - "The formal systems must be capable of invoking desired learning patterns"

o   Page 203 - "People get scared of the influence games have over them..."

o   Page 212 -  "...games are not only entertainment, and will probably produce some work that may shock...or present themes that challenge deeply cherished beliefs."

o   Page 221 - "...if we fail to understand why games matter...all our games are destined to be like tic-tac-toe."

Use of Rhetoric in Training/ Educational Games;

·         "If undertaken appropriately, games and simulations are the vehicle for embedding new knowledge and/or skills..."

·         "Solving problems [within a game] is what derives satisfaction [for the player]."

PIXELearning - serious games and immersive simulations for learning and development. 2013. PIXELearning - serious games and immersive simulations for learning and development. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.pixellearning.com/serious_games.shtml. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

Games changing individual's worlds;

·         'Grey Gamers' - games changing the lives of elderly players;
 BBC NEWS | Technology | Pensioners catch the gaming bug . 2013. BBC NEWS | Technology | Pensioners catch the gaming bug . [ONLINE] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3287891.stm. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

·         OAP's Happier - changing their quality of life;
OAPs happier when they play video games finds research | Metro News. 2013. OAPs happier when they play video games finds research | Metro News. [ONLINE] Available at: http://metro.co.uk/2013/03/06/oaps-happier-when-they-play-video-games-finds-research-3529191/. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

·         Mango Health - tackling medication adherence;
Uses gamified mechanics to persuade players to medicate properly (procedural rhetoric through mechanics);
"By levelling and saving up, users can unlock real-world rewards."

"...presents users with basic comparisons of their adherence [game performance] against people with similar medication regiments."

Mango Health takes aim at medication adherence with game design principles | mobihealthnews. 2013. Mango Health takes aim at medication adherence with game design principles | mobihealthnews. [ONLINE] Available at: http://mobihealthnews.com/21416/mango-health-takes-aim-at-medication-adherence-with-game-design-principles/. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

·         How Games Saved My Life - blog of personal experiences;
How games saved my life. 2013. How games saved my life. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.gamessavedmylife.com. [Accessed 06 May 2013].


How Games Saved My Life offers stories of hope from gamers | Ars Technica. 2013. How Games Saved My Life offers stories of hope from gamers | Ars Technica. [ONLINE] Available at: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2011/09/how-games-saved-my-life-offers-stories-of-hope-from-our-favorite-hobby/. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

Gaming is Good for You (Infographic) - Frugal Dad. 2013. Gaming is Good for You (Infographic) - Frugal Dad. [ONLINE] Available at:http://frugaldad.com/gaming-is-good-for-you-infographic/. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

Serious Games Institute;

·         Intelligent Digital Household Network;
Serious Games Institute (SGI) - An Intelligent Digital Household Network to Transform Low Carbon Lifestyles - The SGI - Serious About Games . 2013.Serious Games Institute (SGI) - An Intelligent Digital Household Network to Transform Low Carbon Lifestyles - The SGI - Serious About Games . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.seriousgamesinstitute.co.uk/research.aspx?section=14&item=512&category=52. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

·         CUSTOMER;
 Serious Games Institute (SGI) - CUSTOMER - The SGI - Serious About Games . 2013. Serious Games Institute (SGI) - CUSTOMER - The SGI - Serious About Games . [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.seriousgamesinstitute.co.uk/research.aspx?section=14&item=430&category=52. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

·         MIRROR;
 Serious Games Institute (SGI) - MIRROR - The SGI - Serious About Games . 2013. Serious Games Institute (SGI) - MIRROR - The SGI - Serious About Games . [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.seriousgamesinstitute.co.uk/research.aspx?section=14&item=323&category=52. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

Institute of the Future;

·         The Future of Work;
IFTF: Future of Work. 2013. IFTF: Future of Work. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.iftf.org/iftf-you/programs/future-of-work/. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

IFTF: Future Work Skills 2020. 2013. IFTF: Future Work Skills 2020. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.iftf.org/our-work/global-landscape/work/future-work-skills-2020/. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

·         Engagement Economy;
IFTF: Engagement Economy. 2013. IFTF: Engagement Economy. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.iftf.org/our-work/people-technology/technology-horizons/engagement-economy/. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

·         Games;
IFTF: Games. 2013. IFTF: Games. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.iftf.org/our-work/people-technology/games/. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

·         Collaborative Forecasting;
IFTF: Collaborative Forecasting Games. 2013. IFTF: Collaborative Forecasting Games. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.iftf.org/what-we-do/foresight-toolkit/collaborative-forecasting-games/. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

·         CryptoZoo;
IFTF: Cryptozoo. 2013. IFTF: Cryptozoo. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.iftf.org/our-work/people-technology/games/cryptozoo/. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

·         Context Aware Gaming;
IFTF: The Future of Context-Aware Gaming. 2013. IFTF: The Future of Context-Aware Gaming. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.iftf.org/our-work/people-technology/technology-horizons/the-future-of-context-aware-gaming/. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

·         Energy Reform - SmartGrid2025;
IFTF: Smart Grid 2025. 2013. IFTF: Smart Grid 2025. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.iftf.org/our-work/people-technology/games/smart-grid-2025/. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

·         The kind of Rhetoric SmartGrid2025 uses;
"...its a kind of systematic engagement or conversation engine to get people to generate and test new ideas about a scenario we are presenting..." (The future of energy consumption).

"...put yourself in the future, & give yourself the license to think about the future."

"...[the player] can immediately test your success by how much other people respond to it."

Planning the Smart Grid of 2025--Today - IEEE Spectrum. 2013. Planning the Smart Grid of 2025--Today - IEEE Spectrum. [ONLINE] Available at:http://spectrum.ieee.org/podcast/at-work/innovation/planning-the-smart-grid-of-2025today. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

·         Catalysts for Change;
Breaks down a large global issue into easy manageable goals. The rules of the game are broken down too, and visual content is used to back these up.

"It's a tool you can use in your institution to jump start the process of strategic planning and intervention in the world of poverty."

Catalysts for Change: Paths out of Poverty. 2013. Catalysts for Change: Paths out of Poverty. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.catalyze4change.org/. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

Game Developers Conference Vault;

·         Ethics of Modern Game Development;
GDC Vault - Ahead of the Game - Ethics of Modern Game Development. 2013. GDC Vault - Ahead of the Game - Ethics of Modern Game Development. [ONLINE] Available at:http://qa.gdcvault.com/play/1016557/Ahead-of-the-Game-Ethics. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

·         Social Power to Games - Jonathan Simpson-Bint;
"This talk will be about other non-sports that have followed similar trajectories in the public consciousness (X Games, poker), and how (together with the conditioning that YouTube is giving us all) these are not freakish blips on the cultural landscape, but actually messages from the future telling us how entertainment and our relationship to it is going to change." 

Game Developers Conference | March 25-29, 2013 | Moscone Convention Center | San Francisco, California. 2013. Game Developers Conference | March 25-29, 2013 | Moscone Convention Center | San Francisco, California. [ONLINE] Available at: http://schedule2013.gdconf.com/session-id/824019. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

·         Understanding Player Motivation;
GDC Vault - Understanding Player Motivation: Applying Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory to Games-as-a-Service. 2013. GDC Vault - Understanding Player Motivation: Applying Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory to Games-as-a-Service. [ONLINE] Available at:http://gdcvault.com/play/1016674/Understanding-Player-Motivation-Applying-Herzberg. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

·         Evoking Emotions;
GDC Vault - Evoking Emotions and Achieving Success by Breaking All the Rules. 2013. GDC Vault - Evoking Emotions and Achieving Success by Breaking All the Rules. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014889/Evoking-Emotions-and-Achieving-Success. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

In-depth Research into Jane McGonigal and her Work;

·         McGonigal's Research;
"Players experience phenomological pleasure in being part of a much larger co-present whole."

"The emergent genre of immersive entertainment, [is] a potential tool for harnessing collection action."

"Immersive aesthetics can generate a new sense of social agency in game players..."

Research | you found me.. 2013. Research | you found me.. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.janemcgonigal.com/learn-me/. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

·         The Puppet Master Problem;
An interesting  take on how rhetoric within games merely reduces the designer-player relationship to master and puppet.

"How do you structure a game so that you can effectively and remotely, 'pull the strings'... of players without making them feel like mere puppets?"

"To some critics, such an unbalanced power dynamic seems a bit perverse."

The Puppet Master Problem - Design for Real-World, Mission Based Gaming. 2013. The Puppet Master Problem- Design for Real-World, Mission Based Gaming. [ONLINE] Available at:http://janemcgonigal.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/mcgonigal_the-puppet-master-problem_mitpress.pdf. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

·         McGonigal's Games;
Games | you found me.. 2013. Games | you found me.. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.janemcgonigal.com/play-me/. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

·         World Without Oil (2007);
60,000 participants, 1,800 players worldwide.
"I'm a different person thanks to World Without Oil." - Player 'MTALON'

"The best way to change the future is to play with it first."

Learn About :: World Without Oil. 2013. Learn About :: World Without Oil. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.worldwithoutoil.org/metaabout.htm. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

Lesson Plans :: World Without Oil. 2013. Lesson Plans :: World Without Oil. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.worldwithoutoil.org/metateachers.htm. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

·         Superstruct (2008);
"Players might be able to construct possible solutions for the problems presented, this constructing and alternate future than the one suggested by the scenarios that comprise [the game's] theme."
virtualpolitik: Endgame. 2013. virtualpolitik: Endgame. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.virtualpolitik.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/endgame.html. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

Ian Bogost - Water Cooler Games - Superstruct. 2013. Ian Bogost - Water Cooler Games - Superstruct. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.bogost.com/watercoolergames/archives/superstruct.shtml. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

·         The Future is a High-Res Game;
Uses present and projected future cultural rhetoric in the game's rules to steer player's game-play to fit in these cultural sections. It also encourages players to take on the tasks explored in-game to the real world.

The Future is a High-Res Game. 2013. The Future is a High-Res Game . [ONLINE] Available at: http://janemcgonigal.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/sr1293_iftf2010tyf_mapofthedecade.pdf. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

·         McGonigal's ideas about rhetoric in her games;
Describes her games' procedural rhetoric as; "the science of positive psychology..."

When creating a new game concept she asks herself; "How can this game lead to real and positive impacts?"

"[Games] may prove to be a key resource for solving some of our most pressing real-world problems."

"Researchers on positive emotion have found that whenever we feel awe or wonder, we become more likely to serve a larger cause and to collaborate selflessly with others."

Be a Gamer, Save the World. 2013. Be a Gamer, Save the World. [ONLINE] Available at:http://janemcgonigal.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/the-benefits-of-videogames-wsj-com.pdf. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

·         McGonigal's games' aims;
- players use the full range of positive emotions and engagement

- stronger social connections and relationships

- resilience in the face of challengers or obstacles

- ambitious and surprising accomplishments

- service to something bigger than themselves

·         McGonigal's Inspirations;
"...the Buddhist goal of ending suffering on earth..."

"When we are immersed in a good game, we do not suffer..."

"...games seem to help us develop the seven positive traits that Buddhists believe can help end suffering..."

Games | you found me.. 2013. Games | you found me.. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.janemcgonigal.com/play-me/. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

·         Reality is Broken;
McGonigal, Jane 2012. Reality is Broken. 1st Edition. Vintage.

·         General;
Jane McGonigal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia. 2013. Jane McGonigal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia. [ONLINE] Available at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_McGonigal. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

Rules of Play

·         Cultural Rhetoric in Games;
- p 516 - When Salen and Zimmerman introduce Cultural Rhetoric in Games, they included and interesting quote on soccer from Simon Kuper; "Soccer is distinguished by its political malleability..." This term; 'malleability' is an interesting description of how games can be manipulated for procedural rhetoric.

- p 516 - Games as "ideological systems" in the sense that they can be a "set of conscious and unconscious ideas that constitute one's goals, expectations and actions."
Ideology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2013. Ideology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ideology. [Accessed 06 May 2013].

- p 516 - "Games reflect the values of the society and culture in which they are played..."

- p 516 - "Games replicate, reproduce and sometimes transform cultural beliefs and principles..."

- p 517 - When using the term rhetoric here, Salen and Zimmerman quote Brian Sutton-Smith's definition; "...a persuasive discourse or an implicit narrative; wittingly or unwittingly adopted...to persuade others...of their beliefs."

- p 517 - An additional rhetoric definition; "[is an] expression that contains underlying values or beliefs...to persuade others that it is correct."
"Rhetoric can be obvious or [it] can be subtle..."

- p 517 - A classic example of a game using cultural rhetoric to question the values of society is the Monopoly parody Mad Magazine; "[it] calls attention to conventional ideologies of greed and economic power."

·         Persuasion through Play (Page 517);
"What are the winning conditions of your game? Each of these victory conditions implies a particular set of values fleshed out through the game rules, materials and experiences."

·         7 Rhetorics of Play (Page 518-519);

Progress
"Play is valuable because it educates and develops the cognitive capacities of human youth."

Fate
"...in the form of destiny, gods, atoms, neurons or luck - not free will."

Power
"...a form of conflict and a way to fortify the status of those who control the play."

Identity
"...confirming, maintaining or advancing the identity of a community of players."

Imaginary
"...flexibility, creativity...[and] innovation through play."

Self
"...to evolve the self, by providing intrinsic...pleasure, relaxation and escape..."

Frivolity
"Play is oppositional, parodic and sometimes revolutionary..."

John Hunter's World Peace Game;

·         Games should have a lasting effect on their players in order to have used procedural rhetoric successfully; Page 8 - "[The children] learn to look beyond short-sighted reactions and impulsive thinking and instead think in a long-term, more consequential way."

Hunter, John 2013. World Peace and Other 4th-Grade Achievements. 1st Edition. Eamon Dolan/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Some additional links for The World Peace Game;


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LqJnk-jYWRM
http://www.worldpeacegame.org/educationresources/toolkitresources
http://www.ted.com/talks/john_hunter_on_the_world_peace_game.html

Game Analysis

To start off, I'd like to show some slides from our Contextual Studies Lecture on whether games can persuade. In particular, our tutor Sharon looked at the term rhetoric, and whether games can be a form of rhetoric - in order for this it needs to;

The task is to Analyse 3 Games; LA Noire, Spore and Dear Esther.
"Separate something into its constituent parts; examine it methodically and in detail for the purposes of explanation and interpretation."

What are these separate parts?

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How do the rules and conditions of the game create conflict?
& Are players struggling against each other or the game or both?

LA Noire:
The game places you in 1940s Los Angeles as a Police Officer; the narrative of the game often calls into question the morality and application of law when it come to trying to solve the murders. You seem to be surrounded by jaded, apathetic or down right corrupt members of the force, which find your 'by the book' beliefs to policing laughable. Therefore the rules of game-play are at conflict with the game's plot, and the character's within the game as a whole. Here, players are struggling against the game.

Spore:
Conflict is created within Spore by gradually restricting the amount of control a player has over their 'creation' as the game progresses through stages. Because the player is so involved in the design of their creature at the start of the game, there is conflict between their instinct to control the sequence of events, and what the game is trying to achieve. Here, players are struggling against the game also.

Dear Esther:
Dear Esther is a game which characteristically has no formal rules or conditions to its game-play - player control is very restricted to the player. As Dan Pinchbeck explains in his interview, this was a intentional conflict. The player wants to have control over the game, yet the game cannot realise its full artistic potential if the player is allowed control. Here, players are also struggling against the game.


What are the interactive experiences provided for players in the game? & Does interaction create meaningful play?

LA Noire:
The whole game-world of LA Noire is interactive. Every action you perform in the open world has a reaction, and a result because of it. Therefore the interactive experience creates meaningful game-play in that the player feels in control, and responsible for their actions - how can the game-play not be meaningful when you have direct control?

Spore:
As I mentioned before, the player interacts with the game on many levels at the start, though as the game progresses the player takes on more of an over-seeing role, and your game-play becomes more passive. The game offers forth meaningful elements to the game design, such as you following your creature from birth to full levels of evolution on beyond; however for the game to have more meaningful play, the design should have a more deep and rich narrative/process.

Dear Esther:
Dear Esther uses the narrative of the game as the interactive element of the game-play - yet not all players find this true inter-activity. The lack of game play or mechanics to the game creates a gaming experience unlike others and this has been seen to be as both refreshing change, and an unpopular experiment. Therefore the meaningful element to the game-play in Dear Esther is subjective to who is playing it at the time, though it certainly has the potential to be.


What does the game look like? & What are the possible visual influences?

LA Noire:
Obviously, the game was heavily influenced by the culture and fashion of the 1940s, and many outfits can be linked directly through research to LA fashion specific to the time. Every element of the game from the cut scenes, to the music, to the title typeface is inspired by the Film Noire movement, and other conventions in 1940s America at the time. As for character design - the actors which performed the roles of the characters in the game (motion capture) formed the design/inspiration are from the actual actors involved.

Spore:
The inventive and cartoon-like style of Spore shows influence from children's ideas and drawings of monsters. This playful style can be linked to how the game seeks to allow the player's imagination run wild, with seemingly infinite combinations of creative options.

Dear Esther:
The look of Dear Esther directly translates the mood and feel of the game when you play it - you are transported to the remote Scottish Isle, and truly feel you are there. Visual influences obviously from the highlands and islands of Scotland, and that of great novels - I pictured Heathcliffe strutting over the horizon of the island when playing the game.

Consider the game in terms of context;
Origin, Year of Manufacture, Company (house style), Target Audiences.

LA Noire:
The context of LA Noire's development is a one shadowed by the over-working of employees at Team Bondi and a disregard of individual's health versus a finished product. The development team were accused of lengthy crunch time and 12 hour work days; 'Owen put it best when he said "Crunch is not a virtue. It's poor management coupled with abusive labor practice." (Plunkett, 2011)

With this is mind, the quality of the work produced by the company and their publisher Rockstar is amazing; their use of cutting-edge motion capture software gave the game a whole new level of AI detail not seen before. Team Bondi is

http://kotaku.com/5816507/la-noires-studio-under-investigation-over-alleged-shonky-work-practices

http://kotaku.com/5815615/inside-the-seven+year-labor-pains-of-la-noire
http://www.develop-online.net/news/38125/Industry-outrage-at-brutal-Team-Bondi-crunch
http://kotaku.com/5818019/report-la-noires-development-was-hell-rockstar-no-longer-working-with-team-bondi

Further LA Noire Research;


http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/717444/la-noire-rockstar-tells-us-the-story-behind-the-game/

http://www.develop-online.net/features/1166/The-art-of-lying-LA-Noire

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2011/06/24/why-did-la-noire-take-seven-years-to-make

http://livegeekordie.com/article/making-the-most-of-the-la-noire/

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-10-09-night-and-the-city

Preparation for CS Essay

I will organise my research for this project around the Video Games themselves rather than an over-arching theme. Though the theme will be present, it will not be the focus.

Here is the brief's description of this project:

"This unit considers the potential for games to be a persuasive medium beyond mere 

entertainment, and focusing particularly on audience it poses the question: ‘Can digital 

games change the world?’ It will focus on educational, commercial and political games 

and their potential for wide-scale influence in society. 

You will analyse the various strategies that games employ to persuade the player, to 

gain and to retain an audience, and how they achieve, or fail to achieve, their goals. 

Looking at digital games from this perspective, you will explore the ethics of game 

design, and ask whether games have the power to persuade, what ethical implications 

are there for the game designer? You will research the ways in which digital games are 

represented in the media, and assess the potential effects of this representation on 

different audiences. 

In presenting the research you have done, in the form of a 2,000 word essay, you will 

continue to enhance your knowledge and experience of the skills needed to produce 

an extended research project."

This research will be kicked off with 3 games set by my tutors;

• L.A. Noire
• Spore
• Dear Esther