Game Analysis: Controversies About Video Games
Game Analysis Guidelines
In the final assignment for ** Games and Play, you are required to write a 2,000 word essay responding to one of the five questions below.
This essay should have a clear argument and solid theoretical framework, which means that it should demonstrate your in-depth understanding of a key concept from one of the readings through the analysis of a game(s). Your essay should also demonstrate academic research beyond the set readings, and we encourage you to draw on your own experiences and expertise as a player.
While the essay questions each map to a lecture topic, it is expected that your essay draw on content from other weeks as well (but not necessarily every week). You are expected to select a question and bring a draft of your argument to the tutorial in Week 13 for preliminary feedback.
Essay Questions
1. The concept of the "gamer" is one that has been studied by games scholars (e.g. Shaw, 2012) and one with significant historical complexity. Select two readings which address the "gamer" identity - either from this course, or found yourself via the USyd library or Google Scholar - and analyse either a) what the gamer identity means in the modern day, or b) how the gamer identity has shaped contemporary gaming.
2. Identification with the player-character is widely recognised as being crucial to the player experience of games in the role-play / roleplaying / RPG genre. Select a game which is not an RPG and analyse the role identification plays in the player experience of that game, primarily through using two journal papers from the course or found yourself. Make explicitly clear which papers these are.
3. Select one of race, gender, sexuality, class, politics or disability, and select a game which engages with one of these topics in an interesting way. Select two primary readings (from the course, or found yourself) and use them to analyse that aspect in that game. Make explicitly clear what your two core papers are.
4. Witkowski (2012) discusses esports play while Taylor (2016) discusses the watching of games. Compare and contrast the findings of these papers (as well as others) toanalyse the relationship between the production and the consumption of digital gaming video content.
5. Controversies about videogames, or within videogame culture, are commonplace. Select a controversy about games or from games culture and unpack what it tells us us about videogame design, our values toward games, or the attitudes we have about games in society. This could be a media panic around the inclusion of transgressive content in a game, arguments over rules in games or sports, or a high-school banning Fortnite. Focus on what a controversy tells us, rather than trying to argue one way or another. For instance, an essay analysing a lootboxes controversy wouldn’t argue that lootboxes are definitely bad, but what does the lootbox controversy reveal about the way we value things in games? Select two journal articles as the core of your paper, and work them strongly into your argument.
6. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are exciting new technologies for games, with significant promise in other areas including film, education, work and automation. They also bring with them a myriad of issues, from their expansive data collection capabilities and in the potential for top-down control by big-tech organisations. Select one emerging promise or issue in VR / AR, and two core papers that discuss this (either from the course or found yourself), and analyse that promise / issue.
All submissions for Assignment 3 should follow the APA 6th Referencing and Citation Style.
Some questions explicitly request you to engage with two papers - for these questions the two chosen papers should be the core of your work, but we expect more citations than that in order to demonstrate a grasp of the field.
Notes
You must identify the question clearly at the top of the first page of your essay.
Some questions explicitly request you to engage with two papers - for these questions the two chosen papers should be the core of your work, but we expect more citations than that in order to demonstrate a wider grasp of the field.
You may use examples already discussed in the seminars but you should also show evidence of your own research and thinking by using new examples and case studies. Do not choose an essay topic that is too similar to your seminar presentation topic. If you are not sure, check with your Coordinator.
The essay needs to clearly address the essay question in the introduction and throughout the essay. The essay should also show your argument and develop a clear position on the essay question, but it is important that this point of few is clearly argued, illustrated with examples, and backed up by references and quotations.
The essay questions are designed to enable you to demonstrate your understanding of relevant critical ideas and theories that have been introduced in the Unity of Study. You are expected to show your understanding of key theories and the critical context of your topic through paraphrasing, referencing and quoting from key readings and then apply these ideas to specific examples or case studies. You are also expected to show your independent research by finding additional relevant theoretical references to help support your own ideas and arguments. As a general guide, there should be at least five reference sources in your bibliography that go beyond the set readings. Some suggestions for further readings can be found at the end of this unit profile.
The audience for the essay is an ‘intelligent reader’ but one who is not necessarily an expert in the field, i.e. the typical academic essay audience. Hence students will need to explain key terms and theories, etc. and write in an academic but accessible manner.
Lastly, we know ChatGPT exists - and we can detect essays that use it. Academic misconduct is a serious offence that can have you fail this course, or even worse. Just write your own work!
Distinguishing your essay from the group assignment
You are strongly advised not to draw on Bogost's procedural rhetoric or the ideas around game design values in developing your argument.
Question 5: Controversies about Videogames
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Question 5: Controversies about Video Games
Videogames are surrounded by controversies, especially on how they affect players and the wider society. According to Karlsen (2015), controversies around video games arise because the public is concerned about youths and children, who are the main target of video games. The key areas of video game controversies include violence, addiction, gender representation, and sexual content, among other social issues, especially polarizing ones. This paper's aim is to explore video game controversies, specifically a video game that has caused significant media panic due to its depiction of violence. The videogame in question is Grand Theft Auto (GTA) V, which involves missions that require the player to drive and shoot. In GTA V, a group of three criminals team up with the goal of pulling off heists in Los Santos to ensure they survive and procure their financial future. They get involved in criminal undertakings such as gang wars, carjacking, and murder. There is also a depiction of violence, which is the focus of this paper. However, violence is not the only controversial issue in GTA V. There are many instances of sexual content in the game, prostitution, and drug use. According to Tassi (2013), some of the scenes that have raised controversy in the game, other than violence, include nudity, sexual acts, alcohol consumption, cocaine, and marijuana use, driving under the influence, and the use of indecent language. While these are serious issues, especially regarding children and youth, they did not receive as much controversy as the torture scene.
The playable characters include the three criminals: Trevor Philips, Franklin Clinton, and Michael De Santa, all playable throughout the game. It also has supporting characters like Jimmy, Tracey, and Amanda De Santa. Players in GTA V take either a first- or third-person perspective and engage in an action-adventure game. The players are expected to complete a set of missions-often involving criminal activity- to progress in the game. One of these missions sparked a lot of controversy from the public. In a mission titled "By the Book," two of the main characters in the game-Trevor and Michael- are tasked with identifying the location of a terrorist and killing him on behalf of the fictional version of the FBI. They must obtain information about the suspected terrorist from an uncooperative individual named Kerimov. To this end, Trevor uses enhanced interrogation, torturing Kerimov until he provides the needed information. Specifically, players playing Trevor’s character use violent methods such as beating up Kerimov with a wrench to a bloody pulp, shocking him with a car battery, waterboarding him, or removing a tooth with pliers. Every time Kerimov is about to die or become unconscious, he is given an adrenaline shot by Trevor to continue the torture.
This particular scene raised a lot of concern from different groups of people. For instance, the Guardian reported that some stakeholders from the Freedom from Torture organization and other activists campaigning against torture were angered by the torture scene (Hern, 2013). These stakeholders believed the game was a mockery of their work in their fight against torture. In addition, they believed that the game was traumatizing to survivors of advanced interrogation and torture, an additional injury to their already scarred mental and physical well-being (Hern, 2013). Also, the players are forced to move the controls, exposing them to the type of violence they inflict on the victim. Controversy arising from such concern for the players is not unheard of. According to Karlsen (2015), a media panic ensues when the public is concerned that a new medium is psychologically harmful to the players. The public wants to protect players from any perceived psychological or emotional harm. In addition, gaming sites also criticized the game and raised concern over its depiction of torture. For instance, Eurogamer characterized the torture scene as the most disturbing in the game, as reported by NBC News (LeJacq, 2013). While the scene's goal was a satirical representation of the United States (US) use of torture, not everyone gets this point. As Maier-Zucchino (2022) notes, the game puts the player in a morally unjustified position in the torture scene, which is why some people are concerned. Again, when a video game is perceived as immoral, it is a cause of concern and media panic among the public (Karlsen, 2015).
The GTA controversy reveals that most people still hold negative attitudes toward video games. For instance, the controversy shows that most people believe video games contribute to social vices. There is a perception that video games significantly impact the player or spectators. Specifically, it reveals that people still view video games as a significant source of violence in society. GTA is designed around car theft and violence, and players in the game perform acts of violence and get awarded points (Wills, 2021). In GTA V, the player performs acts of torture, which have been the main cause of moral panic and public controversy around the game. While this depiction of torture is insensitive (Maier-Zucchino, 2022), it allows players to act out their dark fantasies or ironies (Wills, 2021). It is not unnatural for people to assume that players will identify with the character and incorporate some of the character's qualities and actions in real life when given a chance. In fact, this assumption can be explained using the concept of gamer identity. According to Christoph et al. (2009), videogame players are likely to identify with the character and the character's role, perceiving themselves as being more like the character and embodying the values and feelings of the character. Therefore most people assume that the interactivity of video games allows players to be immersed in the world of the character. Whether the player brings this world into his real life remains the question. However, this interactivity has influenced the public to believe that video games contribute to social vices, such as violence, among the players. Karlsen (2015) states that there are mixed results on whether violent video games contribute to violence in society. Regardless, many people believe it does, and the GTA controversy confirms that most people view violent video games negative...