The missing piece that very few people want to touch is that, at the heart of the industry (as with all industry), they intend to use games as a mechanism for social control. That becomes extremely difficult if they can’t change and adjust everything in response to modern issues.
I am always impressed about how much I learned about the I.A.E.A from Metal Gear Solid. A fantastic example about how to educate your audience without being “edutainment”.
Sure I had a job to do, bad guys to sneak around, super weapons to sabotage…but boy did I just keep spamming codec calls to hear EVERYTHING those people had to say before I moved on. It was really interesting!
You’re thinking in far too limited a scope. It can be as basic as implanting certain ideas about how tasks are performed through the structure of gameplay.
Hell, it could just be implanting newly developed subliminal messaging through background acoustics, or adjusting the general mood of themes.
Hell, if you want conspiracy: They could train a generation from a specific culture on heroic epics, then train another generation of the global population with grievance porn to create villains.
I mean, I do personally think that’s an issue, but I think that it’s an issue which has been thoroughly astroturfed so any time someone attempts to use that term to succinctly describe the issue it evokes an antagonistic paradigm which prevents discussion of the actual issues. That’s actually a great example of how social media and journalism can be used to pre-program the conversation, to prevent real discourse.
The important thing to recognize is that the types of people who do these things will gladly use any issue at all which happens to serve their purposes. Treating the world as though certain issues are always good and other issues are always bad will make you easy prey for those such as them.
The missing piece that very few people want to touch is that, at the heart of the industry (as with all industry), they intend to use games as a mechanism for social control. That becomes extremely difficult if they can’t change and adjust everything in response to modern issues.
Circuses, you say?
But are you also saying they need to impart social ideologies with them? Like what ones? Where you going with this?
Glorifying/justifying war? Or are you talking stuff in the realm of equal representation?
Video games like Assassin’s Creed normalise murdering rich assholes who exploit people.
Video games like Halo normalise thinking for yourself instead of participating in genocide.
Video games like Metal Gear normalise anti-war views and action.
Video games like Mario normalise working class people opposing the unjust actions of kings.
Clearly, Capital and the State have a vested interest in spreading these kinds of sinister narratives.
Nice list! Very well done.
I am always impressed about how much I learned about the I.A.E.A from Metal Gear Solid. A fantastic example about how to educate your audience without being “edutainment”.
Sure I had a job to do, bad guys to sneak around, super weapons to sabotage…but boy did I just keep spamming codec calls to hear EVERYTHING those people had to say before I moved on. It was really interesting!
Hell yeah.
You’re thinking in far too limited a scope. It can be as basic as implanting certain ideas about how tasks are performed through the structure of gameplay.
Hell, it could just be implanting newly developed subliminal messaging through background acoustics, or adjusting the general mood of themes.
Oh, that’s even more engineered and conspiratorial than I was thinking. You’re right.
I mean, it’s just musing on what is possible. Certainly the motive exists to explore whatever is possible.
Hell, if you want conspiracy: They could train a generation from a specific culture on heroic epics, then train another generation of the global population with grievance porn to create villains.
Ah, ok. I was worried the W word was going to come up. 😬
I mean, I do personally think that’s an issue, but I think that it’s an issue which has been thoroughly astroturfed so any time someone attempts to use that term to succinctly describe the issue it evokes an antagonistic paradigm which prevents discussion of the actual issues. That’s actually a great example of how social media and journalism can be used to pre-program the conversation, to prevent real discourse.
The important thing to recognize is that the types of people who do these things will gladly use any issue at all which happens to serve their purposes. Treating the world as though certain issues are always good and other issues are always bad will make you easy prey for those such as them.