A Report on the Games That Draw My Attention

The types of games that I gravitate towards are centered around a main storyline with player actions determined by different choices available to the player; similar to narrative games such as the Wolf Among Us and other releases by Telltale Games. What draws me to this genre is the strength and ability of the story to create an immersive player experience. Because narrative games are limited on the types of player actions, most of them boast an interesting storyline and a deep focus on the art style.

The simplicity of player actions is also another aspect that appeals to me. I think that in today's culture, games are becoming an increasingly important tool for other industries as well. The use of virtual reality is being used more and more for technical training purposes and the presence of games in the educational world has also appeared throughout the years. I believe that games can be used to spark the public's interests in certain topics and ultimately, I think that games serve as a huge source of inspiration in today's society.

Games are an entire genre on their own that is a huge impact on society because they are not only watched, but also played. While the first-person camera view might not work in a film, because the audience is passive rather than active, it can create an immersive experience in a video game. However, when it is used in a film, it represents a kind of detachment from the experience while in a game, it does the opposite. There are elements of film in video games and vice versa, specifically, there are four different types of camera views that can be seen in both cinema and games. The first-person angle that is found most commonly in films are representative of looking through the character's eyes, but it lacks realistic details like blinking.

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The subjective shot, the most realistic one that places you in the character's skull, experienced some backlash and technical difficulties in its early stages and is not commonly found in movies. Some of the common details that can be found in first-person shooter games include the subjective shot and a weapon in the foreground. Although video games propelled the popularity of FPS shots, it was invented in the cinema. Similar to how film has bled into the world of video games, games themselves have also influenced the world of cinema, coining the term “gamic cinema". For a game to have a fully omnipresent FPS shot, the game itself must have a fully rendered and actionable space, whereas films almost never have a fully constructed space.

Although cutscenes might seem to cut off the smoothness of the game, they actually provide game designers with a way to create a fluid transition in between gameplay. Films must transpire through time while video games can suspend in time via pausing or speeding up. Exidy's Death Race depicted violence that the public was not comfortable with and rather than affecting the gaming industry in a negative way, it led to increased attention and development of other similar games surrounding the theme of violence. In the legal realm, video games were ruled to be protected under the rights to free speech, but debate over the negative effects of video games continued.

Elements of violence can be seen in the film Death Race 2000, which was the inspiration behind Exidy's game, and a similar debate about the offensive material began; and in the legal field, violence in films was also ruled to be protected under free speech within the boundaries of the Motion Picture Association of America's rating system. Rating systems were no definite ways to keep obscene material away from a younger audience and the assumption that a game's accessibility determined who it was appropriate for also fueled the moral dilemma. By drawing a connection to already established media and by paying especially close attention to the graphics of the physical external aspects of the game, Exidy produced a successful marketing campaign for Death Race.

Although many other violent games were on the market at the same time, none of them attracted as much controversy as Exidy's game. The fictional story that Exidy depicted was a violent situation that was not rooted in reality, and perhaps it was this new experience that frightened the public. Death Race accumulated national scrutiny, but despite accusations, the company stuck to their argument that they would never create a game that encourages hitting pedestrians. And although many critics were against the violence in the game, there were a handful who said that they saw no problem with the suggestive gameplay. The panic behind Death Race not only helped establish Exidy as a brand, but it also provided a framework for future moral panics around other games.

Sicart opens with a gameplay experience where a beloved character met an untimely end due to specific game choices, creating a memorable moment that has lasted throughout the years. Morality is defined as a system of rules that guide behavior and it can work on two levels, one being on an individual level and the other as a guide to forming social policies. All moral systems share four similar features: everyone knows the rules, it's based on logic, they are indifferent, and they don't need any formal refereeing. Because of the informality of the moral systems, there is room for individual interpretation or negotiation.

The films and games that Sicart references to show that ethical meanings act as a part of the aesthetic, and that fiction ties closely with morality. Throughout history, and in modern day, fiction has remained as a source that people depend on to confirm or challenge their values and interpretations of reality. For a player to fully be immersed into a game, they must first surrender; they must accept the rules and commit to it until the end. When players become attached to the players in the game, it's much easier for the game designer to evoke emotion fueled ethical decisions.

The most important parts of designing ethical gameplay is to consider player behavior in the game, how the story is presented to the player, and why it matters to the player. Fiction also offers an escape for players into an alternate reality where they can live new lives. In game experiences from interacting with certain objects can be described as the aesthetics, which is also a valuable tool for creating ethical experiences. Games that have violence or unethical decisions may also be used as propaganda, which is something that game designers must be aware of.

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