Creative CommonsAttribution 3.0 (except most images)

creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Persuasive Games

Foundations of Interactive Game DesignProf. Jim Whitehead

March 10, 2008

Help sessions

• Help sessions‣ Help for Game Maker, RPG Maker, C#/XNA

‣ Monday, March 10❖ 6:30pm-8:30pm

❖ Engineering 2, room 180 (Simularium)

‣ Bring your laptop with game code❖ Otherwise, bring your game on a USB drive/CDROM, etc

Game Demonstrations

• Originally planned on having every student demonstrate their game in class‣ Not logistically possible

• Game Demo Night‣ Friday, March 14, 5pm-9pm

‣ Engineering 2, room 180 (Simularium)

‣ If you want to demo your game, come to this event and show it off

‣ Game Maker: just tell us YoYoGames URL

‣ RPG Maker, C#/XNA: bring laptop ❖ or CDROM/USB Drive if you don’t have a laptop

Final Class Game Demonstrations

• The best 6-7 student games created this quarter will demo their games in front of the entire class

• Monday, March 17, normal class time• Judges from the games industry will be present• Selected teams will have 5 minutes each to demo their

game• The best game team will win a Nintendo DS for each

team member (limit 2)• A fun, intense event

Final Game Submission

• Final game projects are due Tuesday, March 11, at 1:45pm‣ Turn in to box outside Prof. Whitehead’s office door

‣ Engineering 2, room 273

‣ Or, turn in on class Monday (easy option)

• Read submission instructions online, on class website‣ www.soe.ucsc.edu/classes/cmps080k/Winter08/final-project.html

Game Maker Final Game Submission

• Game Maker

‣ Submit your game online to the YoYoGames website❖ Register for the site

❖ Share your game by clicking on the “Share” button

❖ To submit game, will need:

• Title, brief description, genre, username of collaborator (if collaborator also has a username on the YoYoGames site)

• At least 2, and no more than 10 images for your game

• The Game Maker (.gmk) file for your game

❖ A series of screens at the YoYo Games site will ask you for this information

❖ Do not wait until the last minute. This process will take some time. Start at 11am Tuesday at the very latest.

‣ Turn in a typed, printed out game manual❖ Must include the URL of your game on the YoYo Games website

Other Game Submission

• Non-Game Maker‣ Submit a CDROM or USB drive with:

❖ All source files to your game

❖ Executable image for your game (if possible)

❖ Any files needed to play your game• Image files, sound files, etc. for RPG Maker, for example

❖ Label the CDROM or USB Drive with your game name, team name, and member names. • Your final class grade may suffer if we are not able to associate your team’s grade with you

• USB drives: write this on a sheet of paper, fold it, and then tape it to the USB drive

‣ C#/XNA❖ See details in lecture notes from March 4 lecture

Game Manual

• Title page‣ Game name, group name, member names

• Main text‣ 1-2 paragraph summary of game

‣ Brief description of how to play the game❖ Does not have to be long

‣ Description of how player wins or loses the game❖ What are win conditions and lose conditions? Do not assume we can just figure this out.

‣ Description of the controls of the game❖ How does player move? What actions can they do? How does the player cause the player avatar to do those

actions?

❖ If there are cheat keys, describe those

‣ Inclusion of screenshots and artwork from the game is desirable, but not required

‣ Must be typed, and printed out. No electronic submission.

‣ Game Maker: Must include URL to your game on YoYoGames site

Can Games Persuade?

• Games can entertain, and tell stories• But, can games make persuasive arguments?

‣ Is it possible to embed an argument or political viewpoint inside a game?

‣ Can you change a person’s opinion, or cause them to take action by playing a game?

• Is it possible to have a procedural rhetoric?‣ Procedural: algorithmic, following a series of rules

❖ As in the rules that create a game experience

‣ Rhetoric: persuasive argumentation

‣ The practice of using processes persuasively❖ Verbal rhetoric: using oratory persuasively

❖ Visual rhetoric: using images persuasively

Games as Simulations

• Computers can execute complex simulations‣ A unique quality of games compared to other media

‣ A game makes a simulation playable

How a Game Might Persuade• Create a simulation of some facet of the real world

‣ The simulation will simplify some aspects, and perhaps amplify others

‣ Should be recognizable as a model of the world

‣ May include biases❖ Cannot do well in SimCity without building mass transit

• Add a game goal on top of it‣ Create a game as rationale for interacting with simulation

• As players interact with simulation‣ Develop improved understanding of relationships among element in

simulation❖ In SimCity, relationships between growth, traffic, pollution, taxation, etc.

• Improved understanding can lead to change in attitude, behavior‣ Perhaps more willing to support land use policy that concentrates growth

Procedural vs Visual Rhetoric

• A procedural rhetoric involves the construction of a world simulation that players interact with

• Contrast with a purely visual rhetoric that tries to persuade by the display of images

• Video games can engage both forms of rhetoric‣ Just because a video game tries to persuade, it doesn’t necessary

engage in procedural rhetoric

‣ Procedural rhetoric: Freaky Flakes❖ Simulation of cereal box

‣ Visual rhetoric: John Kerry:Tax Invaders❖ No simulation: just reskinning of

classic Space Invaders

Political Procedural Rhetoric

America’s Army• Free game created by US Army as a recruitment tool

• Procedural rhetoric of the game:‣ Encodes many aspects of Army’s ethos

‣ Enforces US Army’s strict rules of engagement❖ Players end up in the brig, or banned from the game if they violate rules

❖ Players must collaborate to accomplish short missions

‣ Missions are politically decontextualized❖ Game provides no broader context for the missions being accomplished

❖ Successful completion of missions ordered by higher authority brings rewards

‣ Each side plays the role of the US Army❖ Each side sees the other as “the enemy” other

‣ Extensive in-game training that is similar to actual military training❖ Over 9 million registered users

❖ www.americasarmy.com (source of images on following pages)

Combat Medic Training

Basic Rifle Marksmanship

A Force More Powerful• A game about non-violent regime change

‣ A procedural model of non-violent revolution

• Game play‣ Players choose from 10 prepackaged scenarios

❖ Ending authoritarian rule, ending corruption, winning rights for workers, women, minorities, etc.

‣ City Map❖ Lets players gather information about the town, locate groups

❖ Which neighborhoods support the movement, which don’t

‣ Coordinator Choice Screen❖ Pick a coordinator for each tactic used

❖ Choice depends on influence, competencies (organization, writing, negotiating…)

‣ Government rally❖ Regime conducts rallies to build its support

• www.afmpgame.com (source of images on following pages)

City Map

Coordinator Choice Screen

Oil God• A game about the price of oil

‣ A simplified procedural model of what drives oil prices

• A god game‣ Player takes role of all-powerful being

‣ Can inflict war, earthquakes, economic change, and more

‣ Each change affects gas price

‣ Goal of the game: increase price of gas to goal point

• Humorous‣ Voice acting conveys lighter tone

• Serious point‣ War is one of the most effective ways to raise gas prices

‣ http://www.shockwave.com/gamelanding/oilgod.jsp

Oil God Screenshot

Airport Security

• A game about the seemingly arbitrary nature of airport security rules‣ A model of airport security as the enforcement of randomly

generated security rules

‣ No toothpaste, no cow skulls, no shoes, … no pants!

‣ Your score increases the better you enforce all rules

• Game uses humor to expose absurdity of airport security‣ Model of airport security explicitly designed for this intent

‣ Not a realistic model

‣ Model created for rhetorical effect

‣ Analogy: editorial cartoon in newspaper

‣ www.shockwave.com/gamelanding/airportsecurity.jsp

Airport Security

September 12th

• A game about the effects of the military war on terrorism‣ A model of how terrorists are created

• Player controls a gun turret‣ Can choose to shoot or not shoot

‣ If you shoot, knock down buildings, kill people

‣ Other people come to mourn

‣ Civilians then turn into terrorists after mourning

• Point of the game‣ The “surgical strike” armaments of the military are not effective at

fighting terrorism

‣ www.newsgaming.com/newsgames.htm

September 12th

September 12th Controversy

• But, this game is not without controversy‣ Costikyan had a strong response

• Now.... I see. Terrorists are perfectly peaceable people who toddle around until nasty, evil Western imperialists destroy them and half of their neighbors through indiscriminate missile attacks. Yes, and it has certainly been US policy to mount indiscriminate attacks on terrorists, wherever they may be found regardless of the huge number of civilian casualties that my result.

• But to call this a “simulation,” as the creators do, is f*king obscene. Simulation of what? Where's the research? What systems are simulated? What intellectual depth is brought to the consideration? What is the point—and have they even though through their point, smug, superior schmucks that they are?

• www.costik.com/weblog/2003_10_01_blogchive.html#106548725908817670

Procedural Rhetoric for Advertising

Persuading Consumers via Games

• The goal of advertising is to change consumer behavior to buy a product‣ Games have been employed for this purpose

• Some games use visual rhetoric‣ Re-skinning existing game mechanic with images of a product

‣ Product placement inside a game

• Other games go deeper, engaging procedural rhetoric‣ Create a simulated world, in which the player uses the product

‣ Causes players to mentally engage the product’s capabilities

John Deere American Farmer

• A tycoon game about running a farm‣ Player uses John Deere equipment to run a farm

‣ Player hires farmhands, makes decisions about whether to grow crops or raise livestock

‣ Can spend earnings on new home or pool

‣ Commodity market simulation

• Successful franchise‣ John Deere American Farmer

‣ John Deere North American Farmer

‣ John Deere American Farmer Deluxe

‣ Also, John Deere American Builder Deluxe (construction)

‣ http://www.universalfarmer.com/

John Deere American Farmer Deluxe

John Deere American Farmer Deluxe

Advertising Role of American Farmer• Ian Bogost, in Persuasive Games

‣ We could conclude this game functions illustratively, simply by displaying John Deere products, but that seems like a gross oversimplification.

‣ I would suggest that the game uses demonstrative advertising to create a conversational space between the farming and nonfarming communities. This space need not entail actual spoken conversation; it can also include conceptual conversation—empathy. When John Deere supports empathetic relations with the lifestyle their products help support, they accomplish political and social end, not just commercial ones.

‣ Whether or not die-hard urbanites will raise fists for farm subsidies after a few rounds of American Farmer is an open question. But they might have a different sensation when such topics arise, or even when passing a John Deere dealership on the interstate.❖ pp. 182-183

Curry House CoCo Ichibanya

• PS2 game simulating the operation of a CoCo Ichibanya curry house‣ Simulation of the food preparation and service operation of a

restaurant

‣ CoCo Ichibanya is well-known restaurant chain in Japan

‣ Player must press button to yell out “irashaimase” (standard greeting) when customers enter store

‣ Player takes order, then prepares it

‣ Food preparation is a detailed multi-step process

‣ Description and screen shots at:

‣ www.siliconera.com/ps2/curryhousecoco/040521.htm

Curry House CoCo Ichibanya

Curry House CoCo Ichibanya

Final Thoughts

• Games create playable simulated worlds• These worlds can be constructed with rhetorical intent

‣ Creates an opportunity to persuade the player

• Demonstrate that games have deeper potential than entertainment‣ Games can be used to make sense of our environment, and provide

commentary on current events

‣ Allows games to have a humanistic mission

‣ They provide us a window by which we can try to understand ourselves, as humans