Essay Plan

Title: How is Procedural Rhetoric employed in the Worlds of Bioshock.

Introduction: What is Procedural Rhetoric, explained and sourced.

Points

Introducing the settings and major themes. Religion versus Science Columbia Vs Rapture in terms of setting and what each city promotes and the contrast of the rhetoric. Large mentions to the use of games simulating a setting that would usually be impossible due to ethics and social convention.

The risk of experimental technology and its exploitation. Rushed development= lack of proper testing=genetic degradation=Splicers. The development of Little Sisters and Big Dadies. Columbia

Both Civilisations are infact heavily controlled despite their perceived freedoms. "Thought Police"/Propagander against the outside world.  both worlds act as communes effectively against the larger world in way or another.

 Utopias falling to dystopia, involve the idea of the suppressed masses and revolution, how the Bioshock games communicate this message. Both ultimately worlds fall due to a combination of infighting and civil uprising, how this represents a warning to our civilizations and darker outcomes.

Theory vs Practice, ideal vs reality. The internal corruption and selfish ideals that bring down the system from the top eg Corporate infighting. In the case of Rapture, Andrew Ryan going back on the ideal of free market. "Some are more equal than others". Likewise Columbia with Elizabeth inheriting Comstocks ambition crusade against the rest of the world and how this backfire. Slates coup against Comstock, Daisy Fitzroy's uprising against Comstock with the Vox Populi

Conclusion
The message of a Utopia that will always suppress someone at the end of the day and this is ultimately their downfall. Both worlds in the bioshock franchise create an entertaining immersive experience through procedural rhetoric.

Utopias falling to dystopia, involve the idea of the suppressed masses and revolution, how the Bioshock games communicate this message. Both ultimately worlds fall due to a combination of infighting and civil uprising, how this represents a warning to our civilizations and darker outcomes.

Essay Draft_003

Now onto my third attempt for a draft, I've chosen to analyses in an essay the effect of procedural rhetoric in games towards making the player aware of political and or ethical messages, on the topics of human advancement and warfare, I plan to illustrate how these two are linked, but to the conclusion of the essay's purpose and how the use of procedural rhetoric can create and well constructed and potentially convincing argument by using video games as a vehicle for the motives of the author/designer. As well as proving and illustrating Bogost's concept of "procedural rhetoric".

I am planning to use at least two games that would use procedural rhetoric as a integral part,  but also to find other games where this may not have been strictly intentional yet yields the same results, effectively educating the player whether he/she notices and accepts it, the argument was still present.

Major Games (strong procedural rhetoric)
Spec Op's the Line
Bioshock
Bioshock: Infinite
Papers Please
The Walking Dead (? Research)
Animal Crossing
Assassins Creed series

Minor Games (Weak or little procedural rhetoric)
Fallout 3
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Idea for titles/themes
The Hidden Education of Videogames

Lessons in Procedural Rhetoric

How does Bioshock utilize procedural rhetoric to argue against a capitalism utopia?

Can use of Procedural Rhetoric be used to grant us a immerse education?

Can Procedural Rhetoric be used to justify player violence?

How does the Bioshock setting of Rapture utilize procedural rhetoric to communicate the downfall of utopian civilization into chaotic dystopia compared to Bioshock: Infinites setting Columbia?

Notes of interest/Links
Games validation as a interactive art on par with its peers
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/132302/persuasive_games_the_.php

http://www.bogost.com/books/persuasive_games.shtml

http://www.arts.rpi.edu/~ruiz/EGDSpring10/readings/RhetoricVideoGames_Bogost.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFaqguc_uNk

Procedural Rhetoric can detracts meaningful play

http://www.dwrl.utexas.edu/old/content/procedural-rhetoric-analyzing-video-games

Procedural Rhetoric Summary

When a is this situation a video game leads the player to commit actions that are integral in the progression and interaction to game to illustrate and persuade the players actions to support the designers/authors message.

Draft/Essay Overhaul: ‘Can digital games change the world?’

Potential Themes/Titles

Censorship relating to violece through the last 30 years and this had been culturally recived and prsented, analysing the changes and differences between the more liberal and cosertive cultural boundries in the video game industry

The use of Videogames or videogame cotent as postivie reinforcment for millitary recrutiment (few sources, but could be mentioned, see TA recruitment videos featuring game controllers for Drone control)

Video games furthering the exsploration in various sciences, as an interactive and attractive medium, effectivly using gamers already established persistence within video games.

Video game associated technology exspanding into other forms of media; Occulus rift and the Nintendo headets from the 90's and various headet gimmicks. Recent Nintendo platforms associating with mental and psychical fitness.

Want to stay away from educational games debate/content, but large field with many sources.

Titles:

The cultural impact of Violence in video games. How this changed peceptions of violence in society?

Technology inherited through videogames and its further uses in other media

Educational Impact of video games into real life applications

The use of video games in scientfic study

How has the Technology developed for video games beniftied society?

How have video games effect todays society perceptions on violence?

How have video games influenced cultural percpetions of violence?

The Educational use of videogames: Using video games as a medium for learning

Can the use of videogames in Education influence a more beneficial learning exsperience?

Can Videogames found a better medium for Education

Research_004

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2012/04/17/culturally-censored-games

http://www.destructoid.com/fallout-3-release-canceled-in-india-in-light-of-cultural-sensitivities--108734.phtml

http://www.americanveteranscenter.org/wwiichronicles/issue-xxxiii-winter-200506/hiroshima-and-the-enola-gay/

http://www.destructoid.com/censorship-in-germany-how-they-changed-your-fav-games-268854.phtml

http://www.gameplanet.com.au/features/g51d5115802299/Censored-Australian-videogame-ratings-versus-the-world/

Research_003

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=fp2AKXWF9HEC&pg=PA87&lpg=PA87&dq=Columbine+massacre+psychological&source=bl&ots=OtnvsT_g_D&sig=hXeWmgsGGbW4xVH5ihS8TJPcTJ8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=huRcU5rmKsStPMmwgZgI&ved=0CIsBEOgBMAk#v=onepage&q=Columbine%20massacre%20psychological&f=false

http://uproxx.com/gammasquad/2012/12/idiots-on-facebook-blame-mass-effect-for-sandy-hook-shooting/

http://www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2013/sep/20/video-games-cause-violence-claims-cause-violence

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/12/ryan-lanza-newtown-shooting-media-fail

Research 002

Further resources and articles of Video games trivializing warfare (For/Against)

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/gaming/news/a357960/call-of-duty-advert-trivialises-war-says-ex-paratrooper.html#~oCoCxk9S0PIaB0

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/06/29/spec-ops-review-pc/

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/26/arts/video-games/spec-ops-the-line-from-2k-games-makes-killing-personal.html?_r=0

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/extra-punctuation/9810-Crossing-Spec-Ops-The-Line

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1226588/Call-Duty-Political-storm-brutal-video-game-allows-killing-civilians-airport-massacre.html

Research_001

Columbine Massacre. Using for against argument, negative effect of simulated combat environments on society, can also be argued against due to the personalities of those involved, also media scape goat on video games industry, side note on musicians prosecuted

http://extras.denverpost.com/news/shot0504f.htm Article on Doom Levels of the school

http://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/29/technology/news-watch-game-makers-on-the-defensive-after-the-columbine-shootings.html Id software response

Sandy Hooks Shooting. More recent and multiple media sources jumping to the blaming of video games, misinformation on the Mass Effect franchise, also allusions likely To Columbine. Also person vendetta due to my and other fans take on the Mass Effect franchise supporting cross species relations and support of diversity and unity.

http://kotaku.com/5968683/mob-blames-mass-effect-for-school-shooting-is-embarrassingly-wrong Against Argument

http://digitaljournal.com/article/339124 Article mentioning the scapegoating of video games

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/crackdown-urged-violent-games-lanza-report-article-1.1292402

Argument for and against video game trivializing and glorifying armed conflict as well as promoting bias for one faction against another in historical context.

For:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-10-02-games-should-honour-the-rules-of-conflict-says-red-cross

http://www.polygon.com/2013/7/25/4553536/is-company-of-heroes-2-anti-russian

Against:
http://venturebeat.com/2012/11/09/xcom-enemy-unknown-soldier-progression/

To mention:
http://kotaku.com/5965192/what-does-a-marine-think-of-spec-ops-the-lines-violent-war-critique
Full transcrip http://direcritic.com/2012/12/02/context-sensitive-spec-ops/

Essay Draft Introduction

Putting down my intro as a reference point as I find and upload research onto my blog to hopefully keep this consistent and on topic.

A large portion of the video game industry involves the simulation of war or combat. This can be seen in games that recreate historical conflicts. For example, those based on World War II that recreate significant events; including Battlefield 1942, Call of Duty: World at War, and Company of Heroes. War-games tend to branch over multiple genres of video games. Examples of this can be seen in Real Time Strategy, like the afore-mentioned Company of Heroes, and First Person Shooters like the early Medal of Honor Games. There are even Science-fiction and fantasy titles including the Starcraft franchise by Blizzard, X-Com: Enemy Unkown/Enemy Within, and the Might and Magic series. Even games based on cinematic franchises like Star Wars Battlefront. With so many examples of how war and combat has been presented, I aim to investigate how these games may have affected societies perception of games simulating conflict.

http://www.bogost.com/books/persuasive_games.shtml

Research Task 002: Design a Mechanic to explore an issue using prodcedural rhetoric

The player in said game must take a combat enhancing drug through a gauntlet mechanism, which takes a few seconds for the drug to pass into the users metabolism, timing is of the essence. However use of the drugs develop dependency as well as the body building up a tolerance, meaning the more the drug is used the smaller amount of time the effects last. The drug "Haste" is vital to combating even some of the games basic enemies which can phase directly in out of our dimension, meaning they can jump gaps of about 20ft in under a second, meaning the player will have to use the drug often, although usage can be controlled. Haste pushes the adrenal system into overdrive (Enough to kill atypical human) widens the visual spectrum further into UV (Where a mouse trail effect of the enemy can be seen in the sub-dimension, however the player must shoot the foremost phantom in order to lay in a kill as well as be using special trans-phasic bullets). The overall ingame effect would appear as the players view shifting in the UV spectrum and time slowing down, making it easier to hit phasing enemies. The player can also go into withdrawal in which they can hallucinate enemies causing the player toe expend ammunition (which is limited) at apparitions, blurred vision, dramatically slower speed. Taking another does will automatically alleviate symptoms, but speed up the process of the bodies immune system counteracting the effects.

http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2009/07/do-most-educational-games-suck.html

Do most Educational Games suck, supporting article.

Research Task 001

Research Task

•

Analyse two games of your choice

•

One educational game (a game designed for

education rather than entertainment)

•

One game that educates whilst being

entertaining

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (taught me about the cold war although taking creative and contextual liberties) vs ______

Analyse:
Structual Framework
Aesethetic Framework
Contextual Framework