Pac-Man Persuasion - Videogame Theorist Ian Bogost on the Politics of Videogames

Georgia Institute of Technology professor Ian Bogost saw potential in the power of games with political content. But when he saw the dearth of quality in political games available, he decided to make them himself.

In his New York Times article, "The Ivy-Covered Console" about the growing academic field of game studies, Michael Erard mused that someday a professor "might hold the Grand Theft Auto endowed chair at a prestigious university." For now, noted Erard, but there isn't a "game-studies Aristotle" capable of both studying the field and changing it.

Aristotle, meet Ian Bogost. Bogost, Aristotle.

If you haven't heard of Bogost yet, you probably will. An Assistant Professor in the Information Design and Technology program at George Institute of Technology, Bogost teaches courses in information design and is designing a class in videogame rhetoric. Along with game designer and videogame critic Gonzalo Frasca, Bogost co-edits Water Cooler Games, a blog focusing on the use of videogames as a form of advocacy in politics, an advertising medium and business promotion. And, as if he wasn't busy enough, he's the co-founder and lead game-designer of Persuasive Games, a videogame developer that specializes in games for advocacy groups such as the Illinois House Republican Organization.

Ian Bogost considers which gaming field to conquer next. Photo Ian Bogost. © Ian Bogost, 2004

Bogost studied the humanities, taking degrees in philosophy and comparative literature. His main interest, as a student, was in "the convergence between the humanities and information technology." Exploring this passion, Bogost wrote his dissertation for his comparative literature PhD - he's now reworking it into a book - on videogames.

"It was an approach to videogame criticism specifically, and criticism of technology artifacts in general," Bogost said.

Bogost also jumped into the field of videogames during the dot-com boom. Working in advertising and software for companies such as Sony Pictures, Lexus, and Nestle, he became an expert in "advergames," a type of game companies to sell products. Due to legal constraints, Bogost was unable to supply immediate samples of his work on advergames.

But for some examples of advergames, visit Adverblog: Advergames Archives. This blog expertly collects and archives dozens of advergames on-line such as NikeFootball.

His work on advergames piqued his interest in games with a purpose, moving him to co-found Water Cooler Games with Frasca, who has written extensively for academic gaming sites such as Ludology.org and GameStudies.

"About a year ago, [Frasca] and I decided to put together a blog," he said. "The time was right to start building an academic resource on political, advertising, [and] business games."

It was this same pretext that Bogost and Frasca launched their London art exhibit, Games With an Agenda from October 16 to November 7 at the Curzon Soho, which featured pieces from developers in South America (Frasca's own game September 12), Europe la Molleindustria's TurboFlex), and North America (Bogost's Horde of Directors.)

Controls with controllers? © Big Picture Media Corporation, 2004

"The goal of the exhibit was to expose the general public to some examples of videogames that carry a social and political message," Bogost said.

According to Bogost, one of the most interesting developments in the past few years is the use of videogames as a political tool. Politicians “endorsing and using [games] as part of their communications strategy [is] undeniably new," he said.

However, such games are in their infancy. Bogost criticized games such as those on the GOP website for their lack of quality and poorly targeted messages.

"I was pretty [unhappy] with the GOP games because they are crude," Bogost said. "The GOP seems [not] to have expressed their own policies. I mean, Tax Invaders features a disembodied George W. Bush head firing bullets at Kerry's tax policy. Does the GOP really need more images of Bush shooting things?"

The birth pains of political gaming inspired Bogost to found Persuasive Games. If groups needed games to advance their causes, he thought, they should hire someone with industry experience to make them.

The company's initial effort was last year's Howard Dean for Iowa Game, paid for by the Dean campaign. In it, players budgeted and allocated money to get enough voters to rally around Dean in Iowa. The goal of the game was two-fold. It was supposed to help raise awareness for Dean himself and give players an insight into the process of promoting a political candidate. It received major coverage in publications such as Game Developer, a major victory for an upstart game company.

You can see how happy your constituents are in the Take Back Illinois Game. © Persuasive Games, 2004.

Persuasive Games' two most recent launches have attracted international attention, from CNN.com to the website for the French publicationLiberation. The games, Activism: The Public Policy Game, and The Take Back Illinois Game, were funded by members of the Democratic and Republican parties, respectively. A non-partisan player, Persuasive Games had no compunctions about making games for opposing parties during the volatile 2004 election.

Bogost didn't do it just for the money.

"[I'm] anti-partisan," he said. "I'm not just independent; I'm in favor of wholesale change in the way Americans think about their policy and leadership. The games take on specific issues that can and I hope do go beyond a 'team color' or 'mascot.' Games are a way to expose the complexity of issues by affording them more representation than a two-second sound bite. And they're much more consumable than the prose of a complex written argument. It should come as no surprise that many people might find their opinions 'crossing party lines [as a result of playing a political game.]"

Bogost’s political plans may be a step in the right direction for gamers. Videogames as a medium have been often subjected to attacks, many times with more hyperbole and less evidence. In an industry that earns more than movie box-office receipts by $1 billion, attacks have resembled those on the Tobacco industry, with claims that videogame developers are marketing dangerous products to children. Recent political games by Bogost and essays by game commentators such as Frasca that deconstruct more mature games for mature audiences are turning the tables on these nay-sayers. It would appear that games designed around topical issues and academic discourse are paving the way for games to be accepted as a viable medium for expression.

But games with political elements aren't new. According to Bogost, election simulation games go all the way back to President Elect in 1988. Much like 2004's Political Machine, President Elect allowed players to use resources such as campaign contributions and political advisors to swing states during an election.

Ever the humanities scholar, Bogost believes that games, a product of their times, mirror contemporary politics.

"Videogames are cultural artifacts," he said. "They are steeped in ideology. In this very broad sense, all games are political."