Nieuwe media en populaire

cultuur: computergames
(2009-2010)

College 2 (17 november):

Participatie en educatief
ontwerp
 
Joost Raessens
Wat gaan we doen vandaag?

1. Computer games as participatory

media culture
2. Voorbeeld: Playing politics
3. Game design and meaningful play
4. Digital game-based learning
5. Voorbeeld: Playing history
1. Computer games as
participatory media culture

Drie domeinen van participatie:

A. Interpretatie (deconstructie)
B. Reconfiguratie
C. Constructie
A. Interpretatie

Cultural Studies breekt met:

• Hoge versus lage kunst/cultuur

• Passieve publiek, publiek als slachtoffer
(Horkheimer, Adorno over
cultuurindustrie)
Drie lezingen Lara Croft:

• Dominante lezing (“harmless dream

woman”)
• Onderhandelende lezing (“postfeminist
icon”)
• Oppositionele lezing (“female enemy
number one”)
Deconstructie

Friedman: “Learning and winning a computer

game is a process of demystification”

Turkle:
• Simulation resignation
• Simulation denial
• Simulation understanding

Mediawijsheid (Raad voor Cultuur, 2005)

B. Reconfiguratie

Exploratie van onbekende werelden en

selectie van voorgeprogrammeerde
mogelijkheden

C. Constructie

Modificatie van bestaande games en maken

van nieuwe games
Participatie in politiek-ideologisch
perspectief

• Top-down versus bottom-up

• Homogenisering versus
heterogenisering
• De realiteit versus het mogelijke: Games
en de werkelijkheid zijn open-source
(www.youtube.com)
2. Voorbeeld: Playing politics

“Politics is a fascinating game”

Harry S. Truman
33d President of the United States
Framing (George Lakoff)
Tax relief: Tax is an affliction

Result: Hero takes this affliction

away (Bush), bad guy tries to stop
him (Kerry)

“I’m against tax relief”: you’re still

trapped into a conservative
worldview

Farah Karimi (Groen Links): “The

failure of the war on terrorism in
Afghanistan”
Conservative frames:
• Taxation is an affliction
• War on terror
• Climate change
• Strict father

Democratic frames:
• Taxation is an investment
• War in Iraq
• Global warming
• Nurturant parent
“Frames are mental structures that
shape the way we see the world.
As a result, they shape the goals
we seek, the plans we make, the
way we act, and what counts as a
good or bad outcome of our
actions…
... In politics our frames shape our
social policies and the
institutions we form to carry out
policies. To change our frames is
to change all of this. Reframing is
social change”
(Lakoff, 2004, p. xv)
John Kerry: Tax Invaders
(RNC, 2004)

Massive tax increases said to be

required to pay for Kerry’s
promised spending
Space Invaders (Taito, 1978)
John Kerry’s Tax Invaders
(RNC, 2004)
Darfur is Dying (mtvU, 2005)

Based upon the (democratic)

metaphor of the ‘nurturant’
parent:

“In foreign policy the role of the

nation should be to promote
cooperation and extend these
values to the world” (Lakoff)
Goal of Darfur is Dying:

• To actively help stop the crisis in

Darfur while playing the game

• Website offers the player all kinds

of possibilities ‘to take action’
outside the game
The (conservative) metaphor of the
‘strict father’:

“In foreign affair the government

should maintain its sovereignty
and impose its moral authority
everywhere it can, while seeking
its self-interest (the econmic self-
interest of corporations and
military strength” (Lakoff)
There are three levels of medium-
specificity:

A. A reconfigurative level
B. A deconstructive level
C. A constructive level

See: ‘Computer games as

participatory media culture’, in
Handbook of Computer Game
Studies (MIT Press, 2005)
A. Reconfigurative level

New, maybe more effective ways of

propaganda

Why? Players are actors in the

scenario’s the game represents.
John Kerry’s Tax Invaders and
Darfur is Dying not only verbalize
and visualize the metaphors of
theft and the ‘nurturant’ parent,
but also turn them into embodied
activities
B. Deconstructive level

Challenging the game’s built-in

assumptions or frames as a
means of consciousness-raising

Why? To win the game you have to

figure out what will work within
the rules of the game. A game is
played over and over untill all the
game’s secrets have been
discovered
1. Simulation resignation: Players
surrender to the seduction

2. Simulation denial: They deny the

importance of the simulation

3. Simulation understanding: They

learn to deconstruct the
assumptions that are built into
the simulation
C. Constructive level

Within DIY-culture constructing and

reconstructing frames is
emancipating and liberating

Why? Meta-gaming shows that reality

is ‘open source’, meta-gamers
have the ability to rethink and
redesign worlds using entirely
new rule sets. Result: plurality of
frames (fabulization)
Two questions

1. Are political computer games

powerful tools? How do we
know?
• Effective: because they reward
the right behavior? (Konijn)
• Not effective: players know it is
just a game (Jansz)

2. Do players resist the message or

not? Do they give dominant,
negotiated or oppositional
readings?
3. Game design and meaningful
play

A. Meaningful play
B. Framing
C. Interactiviteit
D. The magic circle
A. Meaningful play

Salen & Zimmerman: “The goal of successful

game design is the creation of
meaningful play” (p. 60)

A. Descriptive definition (a description of the

way games operate): “Meaningful play in
a game emerges from the relationship
between player action and system
outcome” (p. 60)
B. Evaluative definition (an evaluation of the
way games operate): “Meaningful play
occurs when the relationships between
actions and outcomes are both
discernable and integrated into the
larger context of the game” (p. 61)

Discernability: tells players what happened

Integration: lets players know how it will
affect the rest of the game (p. 62)
B. Framing

1. Frequency 1550 als formeel systeem van

regels:

• Objecten: spelers
• Kenmerken: iedereen begint in
specifieke wijk
• Interne relaties: ene groep pelgrims
sterker dan de andere
• Omgeving: Amsterdam
2. Framing Frequency 1550 als cultureel
systeem:

• Wat zijn educatieve effecten?

• Wie speelt het?
• Wat is functie van spel? Anarchie
(decentreren) of aanpassing aan
technologie (centreren)?
C. Interactiviteit

1. Interpretive participation (JR =

interpretatie)
2. Functional interactivity (interface,
response time)
3. Explicite interactivity (JR =
reconfiguratie)
4. Cultural participation (JR = constructie)
D. The magic circle

“This is the problem of the way we get into

and out of the play or game… what are
the codes which govern these entries
and exits?” (Sutton-Smith)

“The frame of a game is what communicates

that those contained within it are
‘playing’ and that the space of play is
seperate in some way from that of the
real world”

“State of mind: lusory attitude” (p. 77)

4. Digital game-based learning

A. ‘Spelers’ zijn veranderd

B. Waarom het werkt
C. Vijf niveaus/levels van leren
A. ‘Spelers’ zijn veranderd

• Twitch speed (conventional)

• Parallel processing (linear)
• Graphics first (text)
• Connected (stand alone)
• Active (passive)
• Payoff (patience)
• Fantasy (reality)
• Technology as friend (foe)
B. Waarom het werkt

• Fun: enjoyment
• Play: involvement
• Rules: structure
• Goals: motivation
• Interactive: doing
• Outcomes-feedback: learning
• Win: ego gratification
• Conflict: adrenaline
• Problem solving: creativity
• Interaction: social groups
C. Vijf niveaus/levels van leren

• Learning HOW: hoe iets te doen,

hoe een virtuele stad besturen
• Learning WHAT: de regels van het
spel leren, wat wel/niet doen
• Learning WHY: strategie
• Learning WHERE: leren over de
wereld van het spel
• Learning WHEN en WHETHER:
waarden, morele beslissingen
5. Voorbeeld: Playing history

A. Frequency 1550
B. Leerresultaten
C. Lopend onderzoek
D. Nationaal Historisch Museum
A. Frequency 1550

• Back-story
• Technologische infrastructuur
• Doel van het spel
• Opdrachten
B. Leerresultaten

Creatie
• Constructionisme
• Instructionisme
• Exploratie, selectie en
constructie = participatie
Digitale levensstijl

• Motivatie paradigma
• Versterkingsparadigma
• Mix van beide
• Problemen: fictie/realiteit;
verhaal/game; scenario; tijd;
leren/plezier
Sociaal leren

• Afhankelijk leren: spel, tactiek

etc.
• Onafhankelijk leren: eigen
verantwoordelijkheid; specifieke
kennis & vaardigheden
Presentatie en reflectie

• Presentatie: ouders, vrienden,

klasgenoten
• Reflectie: identiteit
Geschiedenis

• Leerzaam; vergelijking
traditioneel onderwijs
• Test
• Problemen: veel opdrachten,
complex, veel leerdoelen
• “Hoog” en “laag” (Vattimo)
C. Uitgebreid onderzoek

• Kennis van geschiedenis

• Impact game-verhaal
• Cognitieve vaardigheden
• Levenslang leren
D. Nationaal Historisch Museum

• Kennis van Nederlandse

geschiedenis en identiteit
• Discussie
• “Environmental storytelling”
• Belang games