Social and Political Values in Games — Can they still be fun to play?

Gameplay Journal Entry #7

Video games are something that are meant to be enjoyed and to get away from the pressure and stress of the real world for a little while. When we consume media like video games, we expect it to be apolitical, non-biased, and not pushing social issues. Unfortunately, we are human and almost every human that has designed a game or directed a movie or show has expressed some social issue and/or expressed some political opinion. Does this take away the enjoyment of a game? Absolutely not, there are plenty of popular games that have obvious political leaning or confronting social issues. A perfect example would RPG games, such as Mass Effect, which can convey both political and social issues through it’s mechanics and allowing the player to make decisions based on the choices that the designers themselves felt appropriate for the game’s setting.

One part that really stands out in Mass Effect (the first one), in terms of expression of political views, is the conversation that you have with the NPC, Charles Saracino, that wants your vocal support for a conservative party called Terra Firma Party. Normally, something like this can be seen as pushing someone towards a certain viewpoint, however, in this instance you are in a conversation with this NPC and you as the player learn about Charles Saracino’s party. Based on what you hear and what your personal views are, you can take what this person says as either right or wrong and choose either or not to support Terra Firma. Ian Bogost said, “While some political opinion is black and white, most issues occupy grey areas, heavily influenced by other public policy issues.” (Bogost. 2006) This particular quote from his journal holds true for both politics in video games and real life, it can be plainly seen how Bioware implemented politics into their games while keeping it enjoyable for the player. Mass Effect is a great example of using grey issues in politics and allowing the player to make their own choices while you face the consequences, no matter the choice, later on in the game.

References:

Bogost, Ian. “Playing Politics: Videogames for Politics, Activism, and Advocacy.” First Monday, 2006, doi:10.5210/fm.v0i0.1617.

Video: Terra Firma: Charles Saracino (including various scenarios) 1080p 60fps HD, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6iJBjhPVcE