Oh the irony!

Thank you Ian Bogost for arguing that games are systems intended to be learnt through play-I totally agree. The process of learning the system (in any game) is done through play- is that not what ‘play’ is? Bogost’s argument suggests that there is an educational element that can be found in some games. Just how educational a particular game is can be discussed by applying the concept of procedural rhetoric to a game.

Procedural rhetoric is the practice of using processes persuasively by using systems of rules to present arguments and claims about what those systems model. Agency is what the concept of persuasive games and procedural rhetoric depend on. With all this in mind, let us look at The Sims 2.

Google Images: The Sims 2

Rhetorical Dimension in The Sims 2

A rhetorical dimension in The Sims 2 can be found in this rule of the game: In order to survive, one must have money (called Simoleons in this game). This is made obvious in the early process of creating a Sim or Sim Family-you are faced with the decision of what house to buy or what plot of land to buy to build a house on from scratch. In The Sims 2 there are multiple ways of dying: lack of quality shelter (e.g. no roof for your house), lack of food, the lack of interaction with other Sims, for some. The common denominator for all these threats to the Sims survival is, fundamentally, your Sims account balance. Agency in this game depends on this rule. The amount of money (simoleons) your Sims have will dictate, in general, your Sims quality of lifestyle and in consequence, your experience of play. The ideology that this games system models is simple; money equals opportunity in life.

Ironic Component in The Sims 2

The irony of this rhetorical dimension is that as a strategic life simulation game, a game where pretty much the aim is to earn money and live life, and not to mention a game played by millions of people from many different cultures, ethnicities and geographical locations around the world, The Sims 2 fails to include real world factors which influence ‘life’ for many on a daily basis and on an international scale. As a game which emphasises the importance of money in life, The Sims 2 excludes social factors which gain or restrain certain people or subgroups of society access to money.

Let us take race and employment as an example. In The Sims 2, when creating a character (a Sim), you can choose his/her colour of skin. There are three options: light, medium and dark (the racism here is clear, but this is not the subject I will focus on in this blog). Now, no matter what colour skin your Sim is in this game, you will always get the job you apply for in the game. This is a great design of the game, as employment means money, and in this game, we know how important that is. But let us not be naive here. In the real world, there is racial discrimination that no doubt influences employment options for many.

The same goes for education and employment in The Sims 2. When applying for jobs in the game, your chances on getting that job are not influenced by having qualifications such as a University degree, Masters or PhD. In fact, there is no application process. Most of you reading this will know this does not mirror the real world at all. In the game, you can make your Sim look up available jobs on their computer (which requires Simoleons to own of course). All it takes to get a job is a skim through the options, finding a job description that appeals to you and simply clicking on that particular job. You are notified of your first day and your hours, and that is it-you are employed.

Let us look at another example. A child’s default activity in the game is to go to school Monday-Friday. A yellow school bus comes to pick the child Sim up conveniently outside their house and takes the child off to school for the day with little effort required of you, the player. This is a poor depiction of real life. The Sims 2 does not include single parents whose kids stay at home because education is just out of the family’s financial reach. The Sims 2 does not include children who work at the home to tend to the land in order to support the family’s only income. The Sims 2 fails to include social workers to help physically and emotionally abused and neglected children get into the schooling system.

Why does the irony matter?

The Sims 2 blatantly ignores social factors which correlate to real world issues revolving around people’s access to money: for example poverty, war, crime, health care, education, and employment. Class, age, gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, are not represented in the game to make an effect on your Sims life, as they affect real people in real life.

The irony of this game is highlighted by the absence of ‘real life’ factors in the game. The Sims 2 offers a simplified version of what life really is. You can be married in the game, but do not have to go through the process of marriage (learning to trust, compromise, offer emotional support etc.). Your Sim can go to work every day but you, the player, get to stay at home and play another Sim, or simply fast-forward time.

This simplified version of life may just be why The Sims games are some of the most played video games in the world today. The Sims 2 offers an escape from ones real life, but not into a Zombie infested, or war-ridden world, but into a simpler version of our own world, a simple society where inequality does not really exist, where you can look pretty much how you want to look, and where you can start life all over again whenever you feel like it and without real world consequences.

The Sims 2 structural design does a good job at letting players know agency is dependent on simoleons. However the irony of the game, the educational element of the game, does I believe an even better job at letting players know just how influenced and at times restricted we are in the real world, of our free-will due to real social factors around us.

Overall, ironic components that are recognised within game systems/design illustrates that players do have the opportunity to step back, and look objectively at the games messages and decide what meaning they will take from its claims and ideologies. There is space for players to think for themselves. Video games are not ‘rotting the minds of our youth’.  Video games, just like all other forms of media will in their own right make claims and aim to deliver certain messages or ideologies and apparent social norms. But just as we are free to criticize the opinions imbedded within newspaper articles, television characters and film messages, we are free to critique what we are shown in video games-we are free to think what we want.