Persuasion and Games

I’m sure we’d all like to think that we can remain immune to being persuaded by a game. At the end of the day, it’s just a game...Right?

I think it’s interesting to think about this in relation to some of the games that exist.

There’s a game I played a while ago on ps2 called ‘Burnout: Crash’ (I think?) where you essentially earn points for crashing into cars. You are rewarded for crashing. I was pretty amused and simultaneously shocked by the idea really.

I mean, I had played ‘Gran Turismo’ as a child and quite enjoyed it. Thinking back, it was a game which rewarded you for something you would actually be rewarded for in real life – your car racing skills. Obviously, in the real world you have car racing champions. So, ‘Gran Turismo’ is a pretty “normal” game in that sense.

However, ‘Burnout: Crash’ rewards you for the exact opposite. Well maybe not exact opposite (because it does still involve skill), but it’s something that seems absolutely absurd when you think about it. And I would hate to think that a game like this is teaching people that this kind of activity is worthy of reward and praise. Because it’s not!! (Well not in the real world anyway).

But is that really what ‘Burnout: Crash’ is teaching people?

Or is it simply a game... which is there as a source of entertainment and joy?

It’s hard to say. But in the end I don’t really think games should be seen as educational tools, rather, they are educational messengers. They are not used FOR education, but for fun. However, in the process they do remain responsible for educating people in some way – through implication or the like. So, with that being said, they do have to remain accountable for whatever they may educate.

Game creators must know that they are changing people’s views of the world and so must be responsible for this...whether they like it or not!