DANM 250E: Game Design + Documentary Storytelling + Social Activism

Week 5

We talked about some pretty heavy content this week.

Our discussion on documentary games such as the JFK Reloaded or Papers, Please allowed me to realize how the lack of critical thinking and discourse through out the history of modern digital games has greatly diminished their value as an art form and social platform. 

Audiences, players, the media and other spectators don't know how to refer to games, their ideas, themes and tones with a constant and shared vernacular. As a result, the community of gaming which is composed of these groups of individuals (not just players and designers) pull and push on one another's tolerances and ideologies. The conversations result in bitter disagreements and a lack of understanding and diverse opinions. 

Thankfully, this has begun to change, especially as more credited academic programs (such as the ones we encounter at UCSC) are beginning to invest in researching, discussing and teaching game theory which will ultimately play a pivotal role in leading the next generation's fight to make games more widely accepted, respected and sought out for social change. 

This page has paths:

  1. Alex's Journals Javier Juanillo