Smart People and Political Videogames
Another quick look, this time at blogs and smart folk who talk about videogames in relation to the campaign.
We’ll start off today’s post with something a little light.
Despite the humor of the piece, the editorial goes a small way to showing that there is a growing field of research into how videogames work as commentary on life, especially in a political environment.
As previously mentioned, Water Cooler Games is dedicated to such a research.
Popular videogame website Gamespot recently had a fantastic feature on the growing academic field of videogames.
Ludology.org is another blog that looks at games in the same context. The advantage of Ludology.org is the ability to cross-reference papers and websites on gaming. Many of their papers, such as Videogames of the Oppressed, deal with issues directly relating to using videogames to promote beliefs.
Recently, they reported on Videogames With an Agenda, an on and off-line art exhibit looking at games used as a form of political and social activism.
The International Game Developers Association is another great source for research into games. The essay Ideological Videogames by Gonzalo Frasca brings up the concept that on-line media, especially games, are good for promoting political views as they are both appealing to the eye and easy to spread.
Frasca also wrote a longer piece called Playing for the White House about the changing political climate and how it caters to a new generation. Frasca proposes that as videogames mature as a medium, they will grow to gain a prominence in campaigns similar to television ads and documentaries.
Frasca’s not the only expert in the field. Justin Hall is a media critic that occasionally writes about games on his co-edited website Game Girl Advance. They even have a specific politics section(warning: shameless plug to Lightspin on the site).
Game Journalism is another useful resource. They often write articles such as this on the government producing videogames. This is a great place to check for new updates on the more independent scene of gaming, a producer of games such as Activism.
Finally, Social Impact Games is a blog that comments on games and gaming events that specifically work towards social activism.
Hopefully these sites give a bit of background to all the craziness we’ve presented so far.
We’ll start off today’s post with something a little light.
Despite the humor of the piece, the editorial goes a small way to showing that there is a growing field of research into how videogames work as commentary on life, especially in a political environment.
As previously mentioned, Water Cooler Games is dedicated to such a research.
Popular videogame website Gamespot recently had a fantastic feature on the growing academic field of videogames.
Ludology.org is another blog that looks at games in the same context. The advantage of Ludology.org is the ability to cross-reference papers and websites on gaming. Many of their papers, such as Videogames of the Oppressed, deal with issues directly relating to using videogames to promote beliefs.
Recently, they reported on Videogames With an Agenda, an on and off-line art exhibit looking at games used as a form of political and social activism.
The International Game Developers Association is another great source for research into games. The essay Ideological Videogames by Gonzalo Frasca brings up the concept that on-line media, especially games, are good for promoting political views as they are both appealing to the eye and easy to spread.
Frasca also wrote a longer piece called Playing for the White House about the changing political climate and how it caters to a new generation. Frasca proposes that as videogames mature as a medium, they will grow to gain a prominence in campaigns similar to television ads and documentaries.
Frasca’s not the only expert in the field. Justin Hall is a media critic that occasionally writes about games on his co-edited website Game Girl Advance. They even have a specific politics section(warning: shameless plug to Lightspin on the site).
Game Journalism is another useful resource. They often write articles such as this on the government producing videogames. This is a great place to check for new updates on the more independent scene of gaming, a producer of games such as Activism.
Finally, Social Impact Games is a blog that comments on games and gaming events that specifically work towards social activism.
Hopefully these sites give a bit of background to all the craziness we’ve presented so far.
posted by Mike Drucker at 7:05 PM
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