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Serious subjects in video games?

philpouphilpou
edited October 2008 in General Chat
Hello,

i'm studying sociology and working on a thesis about video games, i would like to know if you think vidéo games can deal with serious subjects. as an exemple, i'm using Global Conflicts : Latin America, which is an adventure game about serious issues in Latin America. I think it's quite good in its genre but 'im not an expert of adventure games. you can try the demo without downloading it on :

http://www.globalconflicts.eu/gcla/demo/

i contacted the company to know if i can use the game for my work and they agreed. they say the game is designed for learning purpose.

please let any comment about it, it can be helpfull for my work.

Comments

  • ZootchZootch
    edited October 2008
    You should ask 4chan's /b/ board
  • MaxFanMaxFan
    edited October 2008
    It wanted me to install some program that I didn't care for the name of. But anyway, if the game is anything like the intro video, then it has a very populist spin. Learning purposes? Yeah, right. (that's just my inner cynic about all politics coming out)
  • BotapBotap
    edited October 2008
    Absolutely serious subjects can be dealt with in games. But all games, whether educational or simply casual time-wasters, need to have enjoyable gameplay. I think one of the main reasons learning games don't do well is because they're promoted as just that--educational. People will lose interest quickly if they feel they're being preached at.
  • BadwolfBadwolf
    edited October 2008
    I don't know if I'm starting to get a bit paranoid, but I'm sure this is a spambot.

    One time poster, linking to an obscure site, and I don't think they've been back since they posted. Well disguised, but unless they want to put me straight on this themselves, I don't think they're for real.
  • Strong Bad FanStrong Bad Fan
    edited October 2008
    Badwolf wrote: »
    I don't know if I'm starting to get a bit paranoid, but I'm sure this is a spambot.

    One time poster, linking to an obscure site, and I don't think they've been back since they posted. Well disguised, but unless they want to put me straight on this themselves, I don't think they're for real.

    I'm with him.
  • MelMel
    edited October 2008
    Well, they posted at Adventure Gamers too. They don't look like a spambot (in looking at their IP address). It could be very clever viral marketing. I think that's the only possible offense. At least it's for an AG and not WOWGOLD. :D

    Also, if you look at his user page, he/she has been back since. ;)
  • ShauntronShauntron Telltale Alumni
    edited October 2008
    Video games have contained serious subjects forever, I think it's as good a medium as any to communicate ideas. But the raging debate among people who don't know what they're talking about is whether or not player participation negates the legitimacy of games as a way of communicating ideas (and therefore serious subjects), but that's bogus. Some people breeze past the weighty themes and treat games like a sandbox, and some people can let the narrative take them away and allow the weighty themes to affect them. Anyone who plays games knows this, and everyone knows it's impossible to explain to their mom.
  • ZootchZootch
    edited October 2008
    Strong Bad Fan wrote: »
    I'm with him.

    I thought this was a given...
  • BotapBotap
    edited October 2008
    Mel wrote: »
    It could be very clever viral marketing.

    Advertising is what it seemed like to me when I first read it, but I thought it was an interesting enough topic to comment on. :)
  • Magic EmperorMagic Emperor
    edited October 2008
    Video games can deal with serious subjects, definitely. I played a game not too long ago that dealt with... well, I'm not sure if it should be public knowledge. *cough*
  • vyperspitvyperspit
    edited October 2008
    I have heard of a stradegy game called Age of Empires(or something). The gameplay has details similiar to what I learned in cultural anthropology about the construction and evolution of cities and states.
  • InvaderJim42InvaderJim42
    edited October 2008
    Shauntron wrote: »
    Video games have contained serious subjects forever, I think it's as good a medium as any to communicate ideas. But the raging debate among people who don't know what they're talking about is whether or not player participation negates the legitimacy of games as a way of communicating ideas (and therefore serious subjects), but that's bogus. Some people breeze past the weighty themes and treat games like a sandbox, and some people can let the narrative take them away and allow the weighty themes to affect them. Anyone who plays games knows this, and everyone knows it's impossible to explain to their mom.

    I agree with you in every way here. Games are as much a medium for communication of ideas as plays, books, films, and other forms of entertainment. Take for example Half-Life 2. Through the actions of Gordon Freeman, the player fights to resist an oppressive inhuman government. Whether the player is doing it for fun, for those XBox online trophy thingies, whatever, they're still exposed to thought provoking scenes in the game, such as the Civil Protection raid on peoples' homes early in the game. I kind of forgot what point I was trying to make... I've been doing too much thinking and I might've blown a fuse in my brain x_x
  • philpouphilpou
    edited October 2008
    no i'm not a spambot, not yet...

    i know that videogames can deal with serious subjects but usually, they are problems from a distant time or place and just used as a background and a marketing argument. i was asking bout the idea of merging the learning process with the game.
  • Strong Bad FanStrong Bad Fan
    edited October 2008
    Dude....I am bored just by reading that post.

    Also I had no idea what you just said.
  • ShauntronShauntron Telltale Alumni
    edited October 2008
    philpou wrote: »
    no i'm not a spambot, not yet...

    i know that videogames can deal with serious subjects but usually, they are problems from a distant time or place and just used as a background and a marketing argument. i was asking bout the idea of merging the learning process with the game.

    Yeah why not, just make a class of kids take a test right after and they will probably pay attention no matter how boring it is; just like taking them to a museum or having them sit through an educational film.

    If kids have to play Oregon Trail for a grade, they (usually) won't blow their start-up money on ammo and spend all their time hunting while their families get scurvy.
  • Tester ScottTester Scott
    edited October 2008
    philpou wrote: »
    i know that video games can deal with serious subjects but usually, they are problems from a distant time or place and just used as a background and a marketing argument. i was asking bout the idea of merging the learning process with the game.

    You actually didn't ask about merging the learning process. You only asked if we though games could handle serious subjects. You then went on to mention a game whose company told you it was meant to be used for learning. As for games using "far away" places to handle the subject matter, I don't see what is wrong. Movies and books do that all the time. Taking a subject and placing it in a different setting can give an author or designer much more leeway to help convey the point he is trying to make. I think games can be the ultimate medium for dealing with "serious" subjects as video games are all about choice. It is an interactive medium after all. Putting a player in a situation and letting them make choices to make his/her way through a tough situation is a staple of good game making. This lets a player feel out different solutions his problem and you can make consequences in the game world to help visualize the effects of the players choices. Making a parable of a current serious topic in a fantasy setting lets a player experience a tough situation with the edge dulled so that they aren't blinded by preconceptions created by the real world.
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