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    Persuasive Games The Expressive Power of Videogames Tan Bogost “The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts Lond, Enatand Binion) Za9steoe 1 2007 Macachuser Init of Txhlogy eae] Al igh ese. Nop hi bak my beer any im by ay eecnie ee oF mechanical mets Gncadng phoczpyng, rearing, oF ina marge ad erat iu parmisicn nmin fom the pubes Potties MIT Pr ols may be pureed at pci quniey acne buns ose pe ouricat, processes ‘rial 8. For rman, plese en pce seles@miteeemited o wero Special Sls Deparment The MIT Pes, 55 Haymard Sir, Cambie, MA 02142 ‘This ook wat set in Bell Garhi nd Gamo by SNP Bese Tpit Ld, Hong Advertsing Kong, and ws printed and odin the Unio! Sas of Aner ibe of Congres Carsagingin-Pibiction Dass re ernie game: he expe pow o viepune / fn gut —— Incas igri ect ad ink 8 PROCEDURAL LITERACY ISBN15:9780-26202614-7 Gander lk paper) 10 exercise ovisen4ssane4 2006032621 works Preface ‘Videogames ae an expresive medium. They represent how real and imugined ns work. They insie players co incre with chose systems and focm judgments about dhem, As pact of che ongoing process of undeetanding chit medium and pushing i futher a players, developers, and cvses, we mus lerstand how to construct and critique ee repeesntations of ou word i videogame form Despite thie commercial sucess, videogames still srugele fo accepeance 1 a caleural form. Ceti James Newman offers ewo possible reson. First, he sugges, videogames are perceived asa childeen’s medivm, “easily deni- arated as eivsl—something tha wll be ‘grown out of and demanding 00 raveigation. Ie is common to hear parens, educators, and policymakers xqate videogame playing with id time, cime thax could be uc ro better tse Yee, even if videogames were merely children's mediam (which sey ace ot, nd ever wer) this rexson alone dove noe adequately explain why they would escape respect. Children’ liertute has enjoyed considerable po scty in boch popular and academic contexts. For example, the Modern Language Association (MLA) msiouains group fo cide’ ineratre, which in eurn paduces an annual, CBildorsLioratune, which “publishes thcoet- cally bated ails that address key iswes in the Fld. Hollins Univesity offers masters degtees in che study and writing of chide’ lteacure? Even comics, which enjoyed broad cadeship among kids and adults alike before the adopcion of che 1954 Comics Code, sill benef fom ocasional ciel acclaim and atcention The Univers of Florida supports comics studi, ‘where English professor Donald Aale recently established a pecereviewed cae demic joural on comics and graphic novels, cles ImageTevT Even iit were accurate, the mere perception of videogame as chiens culture soe suf fciene explanation for their resulting critical inattention A mote convincing quandary emerges fram che correlation between video games and childre'sculeae. That quandary is srvality Vileopunes ae ‘considered inconsequential becuse ehey ate perceived o serve no cultura social funecion save distraction at best, moral baseness at wore, Newma cites this trvialicy as che second explination for the mediums srogale for legicimacy, Videogumes, he argues, are peteived co be “mere eres —low srt—earrying none of the weight, gravitas or ceeibiicy of more eaiional fedia™ This is noc a new peoblem in the history of eulee. Comic, elevie sion, and even film once enduted popular and critical scorn. The relative ‘macurigy of each medium explains att of the peaiem, Says noted videngurne (and comics) critic Henry Jenkins, “Fie 1910 and you ask, “What’s che ‘Hare of movies,’ I'm going to say mostly chases and pie fies. By 1915, when D. W. Geifich makes Biz of» Nation, cow I'm saying that this is rmatutestoryeling medium that has encemous power to shape che debstes ‘within our culate.” Jenkins and many other cits ia the growing Beld af same studies ae eying co ieoety and culivace a simile tend in videogumes, Jn my previous book, Unit Operation An Appraach to Videogame Critic, | too ‘rade such 8 gesture, arguing fore cmnpartiveetticism of videogames chat ‘would connect them with socalled high art—poetry,lcerature, and fn in parciculae!® Bur the groweh of videogames a a epitimatemistium requises more than jase comparisons ro other media. Jenkins casual comment might inspire the incorrect belief chat cime is a sffcens cute forthe relative immaturity of videogames. Bu creative progees on te pat of the development caesmanicy and eal progress on che part ofthe academic and joutnalitc commnuniey require a deeper knowledge ofthe way videogames work—peecsely how they do whatever ic is we would have chem do to count as expressive cultural ‘his book san analysis ofthe way videogames mount aggumenes and inflae nce plyers. Drawing on the 2,300-yearhisor of thet, ee say of per. suasive expression, I offer a genetal appratch ro how rhetoric functions uniquely in sofware im general and videogames in particular, In casial antiquity, cetoric was undetstoud asthe art of orsory. Since then, some Bld have adopted « more general understanding of theorc; fr example, median stadics now often covers visual rhetoric, che ae oF wing imagery and visual representation pecsntively in oer ro understand the Funeion of eeore in photography and file. Fellowing these eaditions, this book suggests chat videogtmes open s new domain for persustion, thane to thee core repre sn= tational med, procedural Teall cis new form proaderal rbsorc, the art of persuasion eheough role-based representations and interactions rather than the spoken word, ‘icing, images, oc moving pictures. Ths type of persuasion is ced cathe core ffordances ofthe compuce: computers rn processes, they excite cal= culations and eul-bused symbolic manipulations. Bue I wane ro suggest chat ideogames, unlike some forms of computational persuasion, lave uaigue pe susive powers, While ordinary” sfrwate like woed procesoes and photo citing applications ae often used to crate expressive arifits, shoe com- pleted arificts do aoe usually ely onthe computer in otde 2 bear meaning Videogames are computacionl arifices that have cultural mesning 4 com: putuconal acifces. Moreoves, they area popular form of computational at fac; perhaps the most prevalent form of expressive computation. Videogames sre thos = paciculalyrelevene medium foe computational persuasion and ‘Among computer sofware, L want to suggest that idengames have & imigue persussive power Recent movements in the videgae ius, tose notably the so-called Sie Games movement, which I discus below, have sought to create videogames to suppor existing socal and cultral positions Bac videogames are capable of much move. In addition co becoming inser rental rok fr intiucional gals, videogames can slso disrupt and change fundamental attcides and belief about the woed, leading to penal sige nificant fong-ceem social change. I believe tat chis power isnot equivalent to he cnr of videogames, asthe serious games community claims. aches, ‘his power lies in che wory way videogames mount claims through procedal ‘eeorcs Thus all kind of videogames, rom massnaket commercial prod ucts co obscure are objects, possess the power co mount equally meanings pression. From this vantage point, in the following chapters I ineerogte ‘hrce domains in which videogame persuasion has alr taken foem and til hs area promize: politics, advertising, and leaning Tn the domain of politics, I lok at polities and public policy, ise dit cussing the ways ideology functions in videogames, I chen examine the way lets ems ap Gere Lakh le fame fr pat a aso Unie veda dou, wich eso ay hpi a —rC—————_ rr ——_—— rr —— Incl ges Ne ple fell ily nde pin as invesigaing she tle of games pe pay al ala casey Ti thednnin aren, uc raw in avon, ne tha andi she etd coe asain te ne mov nesie by sgesing anew mio tl bs Ine sad etme’ even ‘mp creit alee msgs wt th ea en fan, Sn of gots an seep td ha many eto ng —- + =2=—EhE es a. -LUrtC sce and tf inhi attempt to manipulaeehe simulated children buying "he cereal Through maliple designs, the wser might home ia on the fog thac drives che advertisers, resulting in increased sales of his veel cet This geste epresents a procedural enehymeme-—che player lolly ils in ‘the missing portion of the syllogism by interaccing with the applieaton, but thar action is consenned by che rules. That is ost, ase of procedural eon seranes would determine which combinations of design strategies itluence ids moee and lst succes. Lec’ eevist wetland visual here’ stumbling blocks in light of these ‘vo examples of potencal procedural sheorcs, Charles Hill pointed out that images offer greater “vividness” chin vetbalnactaton or writen description Vivi informatio, he argued, “seems co be more persuasive than non-vvid information." J. Anthony Blaie counters that vive images may inctese presence, but they do not necessaily moune arguments. Even if images succesfully cause viewers fo ake certain actions, chose viewers age more likely manipalated chan hey are persuaded. Visuel erguments, argues Blur, “ack (he) dislecial asec: (fl che proces of interaction between the argues and che intelocuors, who rise question or objections "® Procedural hotric muse address wo isues that arise fom these discussion: Sst, lat is the relationship beeween procedural representation and vividness? Second, what is che lationship becween procedural representation. and “To sles the fese question, reproduce a table fom Hills essay, which he names "A compechentve continuum of vidoe Immediately one can See thar procedutal epeesntation is absene fram this continuum. Simulation does nor even make cel. Futher yt, Hill accouncs for no computational media whatoever. I would be les inlined co quibble With the exclusion had Hil noe clled the continuum “comprehensive” ind cating his inceaion to cover representational forme aed thee relationship ‘co vividness filly Procedural epesenttion i eepresenation, and chu ce tainly noe identical with accual experience, Howevet, procedural represent tion can muster moving images and sound, and solace and ideogarnes ae capable of generating moving images in accondance wih complex tule that Semlate real o¢ imagined physica and culeural processes. Parthermore, pro= cxdural epresentations are offen (out no always-—seebelom) interactive hey rely on use inceruction as meditor, something static and moving images ‘cannot elim co do, These expacces would suggest dat peocedarlity is chan moving images wich sound, and thus eens che second spac on che coetinwum, ditecy under accu experience However other fctors might affect che relative vividness of procedural epresenations. For example, sim tion thar accepes eumerical input and generates mumeccsl output igh seem more akin to an abstract, impersonal analysis o even a set of statistic, falling co the bottom of Hills continssm. Recalling Ceawfocds notion of process imensity, I would submic that procedural representations with high process inensicy and wih meaningful symbolic epnsentsions in theie proceses—spacimens like igerctve tion, softwate, and expecially videogames—ceraily can «spot above moving images on the continuum, Given this cavent, procedural repeesenaion seems equally prone to che increased persuasive properties Hill arcibutes co vividoes, What abour procedural epeesentations’ relationship 10 dialectic? Hi gues that images are comprehended “wholly and instantaneously” ‘whereas verbal eats are apprehend “relatively slowly OWE ume” a8 seule of hee “analyec nature Iacerestingly, Hill charsterizes the acer a “iad up af discrece mesningfal unis” property somente sila co my char teraation of procedulity a the configuration of logical rules & uni opeae tions. Blaie' objection co visual arguments ceneers around images’ ruc ability co advance propositions, a requtemene of ther argument. The visual argument Blair nares moet eective i the famous 1964 Lyndon Johnson celevsion spot known as che “Duisy Ad.“ Hee isan account ofthe ad as ucuraely described by Wikipatin (wor wikipetia.om "he commensal bis with sl git picking the peta fs uy whe counting slowly An aminossounding mele vit chen bard coating down whee ‘ns toward the cme, which ems until hee pupil the sce, i screen lacking it ‘ot Then the countdown rece ea andthe Haken i pled by she ash ad ‘mathroom clad fom a oul tt. A voiceover fom John falls: “Thee ve the sakes! T make a word in which ll of Gos cite cam lve, topo ne (he ack, We must iter lve exch thes, oc we muse ee" Another vuzene they 127 "Noe fr Presiden Jobin on Noverber 3. The aks ae nig for you lai agus chat cis visual image diy make an argument “in the sense of alducing few reasons ina fetcefal way." In partial, the ad invokes a Visual enthymeme chat completes slog Incr ca rien wl kl lad w de dation f hme. Goldwater supprs mula polis amie Nevertheless, argues Bait, che ad “does noc embody dialectic completly” tn attic, it “does nor permit the complexity of such dialectical mone 4 the ‘ising of objection inorder 0 refute or odheewise answer them How does such an example compate wich procedural repteentation? For fone prs, procedural sherorcs do mount propositions: each unit operon ia "procedural epresentation it claim about how pat of che syrtem ie rep. sents does, shovld, or col Function, The McDonalds Videgame makes chine shoue se business practices requited to ein 4 sucesfl global freee crmpice. My hypotheical revision of Fredy Flas makes claims about the techniques advertisers use to desig cereal bos, s well a claims about chile dren's calrraty ond paychologcally shanced espns ta spec box coms Sigurations, These propositions are every bit as logical as eal spuents sa fact intemal consistency is often assured in computational atgumencs, cine ‘microprocessors and aot human agents ate in chatge of their convitene ‘Whar abou ising objections? One might argue tha many computational systems do ot alow the user ore prvi abjections thats the player ofa videogame is usualy noe allowed to change che rales of play. May cites hve objected co this tendency, calling for games that alow players to alter core simulation dyzamics to allow akeratve perspectives. Mont famously, ‘Sherry Turkle hes criicina” Sie Cy fo its fle co inca alternative csxation-t-social services dynamics, a debate [ave discussed in detail ele ‘where Appling this objection to ovr curtene examples, one might pone ur that users of Freaky Flas cannot make alterations tothe designer cos ception of advecrising manipulation, have ewo esponses to this objection, For one pat, che type of wer alter ation Turkle and others call for i aot the same a che dialectal ebjections Blair requires of argumenes. One rates objections o propositions inthe hopes of advancing conlicting oe revisionine claims. Conversely, one allows user alteration im order to construct an artifice thar accounes for mleipe pet= spective on a parccalar subject. One usually makes thetorcl aims precisely wectade oppasing postions a a subject, not ta allow fr che eu vai ofall posible posicions. For example, ia the ease of Fraty Plat, ne might objec tha he underlying model fr sdvecsing influence peau the media cology of consumer capitalism. This i a reasonable objection: bue such 3 wholesale revision mighe imply differen simulation eniry, ne that would be outside the expeessive domain ofthe arifict. However, procedural repre sencations often do allow che use to mount procedaal objections through configurations ofthe system itl In ny hypothetical pacer eevison of Pray Flakes, the player mighe seempe to Find inconsistencies in the eto model by designing boxes chat both peodace socially responsible messages and sppeal co chile, For anocher part, all ercifces subject ro dissemination need ot ficilate Aire argument with the ehecrial author i fact, even verbal anguments ly do noe fcilete the open dizcoure ofthe Adenia assembly Inseead, ‘hey invice her, subsequene forms of disconre, in which interlocutor can gage, consider, and cespond incur, eicher via che same medom ora dif- ferent one. Dislecics, im ether words, Fncion in a beoader media scology than Blac and Tuskle allow. This objection applies equally to all chetorcal forms—verbal, written, visual, procedual, o ecerwise. Just as an objection ina debate would take pice during the negation oc reburel of the opponent sueher chan i the constracton ofthe proponent, #0 an objection in a procedualaetifice may cake place in a responding elim of 4 veal, writen, visu, oF procedural form. Such abjctions are aoc disl- lowed bythe Dalsy ado by Fras Mls hey merely require the interlocutor to construc a new claim a anehee context—for example in a responding TV spot oe soleware progeam, Consider an example of procedural representation thar addkeses boeh of these concens: The Gracy Game is a website that gives subscribers acess oa spl grocery lis, sted by grocery store and U.S. eatin." The game's premise is this: supermarkers strucuce their picing to maximize consume spending on a short-term basis they count oa ums buying ‘enough groceries for about « week’ ime and chen returning for mote the following week. Buying in chs fashion inevitably cosss more, as consumers don't cake advantage of the cost leverage afforded by bull. purchases of staples. Toe Grow) Game addrestes this issue by automating the esearch rnecessry t0 produce lists of common products thet maximize weekly ‘coupon and instore specials foe a given week, while encouraging lrget purchases of basis to lst many weeks. Despite ies name, “The List is relly a procedural system detigoed 10 maximize savings through stategic se of coupons and stockpiling. The game's method ie clarified on che website: ‘The Grocery Game i fin, 7 way to sve hades of dla on groceies each ‘month TERI LIST (he fsndee nae Ter evel he “rk boston" pices oo Tundra of prc each see and matches them up with manuf coupons for he best posible saving as your lol spermartt. The Grocery Gare sexi sive dacabases hat ack mantis coupon alg with wel sles ud pea beth adver! and UNadvetied, Wih TERE LIST, he dye of ime consuming ‘ork eu fr eftivecoapoing re over. The Grocery Gane desl the bard ork and sec, pseu in a quick tfc frat on che tree enh wec, ss TERIS LIST, Members login, pend ow minutes with «pi of scion, a they’ of win The Grocery Gane! ‘The game has & goal (save as much money at posible) aad x seo simple cules (ockpiling and couponing) that cansicte its procedural thetic. A subsequene procedural system colle grocery sock and advertising lists (0 produce 2 svings-meximized shopping plan cuned to a patel locliry, fase on the co eactcs just mentioned. he Graary Gene males cwo major claims, For one par, it claims cat the _rocery bones relies on weekly shopping for higher profs. Plying for & ‘month and checking on’ grocery budget agains previous month easily con fies this clei. Por another part che game claims thar grocery shopping is fuadamentaly an exercise in spending a liele money a posible, One migbe raise several objections co this claim: gastronomy i an experience ceneal «0 thurman culture and should not be blindly eplaced with Fagalty buying che cheapes produces fora given week sdesteps considerations lke busines ebics snd che suschinabiliy of growers and manuficturts che cheapese products are somerimes, and perhaps often, at odds with ideal autiional goals; lowese-common-denominat grocery list asumes chat all families are the same, while in face every family has specific estes and heats considerations (ach as food alleges stockpiling reqites storage space, which suppores an undesiable obesion with material property Tbe Greery Gamrhas. hard ime responding to these objections, although itis possible co pick and choose among the items che seach algorithm generates, While te game does nor provide the user with direce aces to he search slgosichms thar generae ics lise, so chat user could wage thee objections in cade, edocs provide a ourishing community of conversation, The mestage bards have entice ehveads devoted to savings (or a particular week. This vat sion on the igh-score le eplaces hierarchical performance with discourso— ‘sn opportunity to shate how well you did according co your own parscular goals. 1's noe just aboue winning; is also abou eling people wher you did snd hose you did it. Cash saving ere winnings in lirerl sense, Toa lesser extent, 4 is foting the grocery industry by refusing to play by their prof ‘maximizing rules. Buc ce eal winnings seem co come from what people do with whae they sive. Here's an example from the boards 4 ie, voughoul have been = Ler for 1 year now. grey shoring hat changed 100% for me. dead evry single minute of being ia a mate 20% co be Fi, anerage 100.0 «wes in svngs and speing 15000. Toy, savings weekly that i av ale to purchase ching ike da “ig ike” ter with “The communiey discourse atthe game's message board are oe always relaeed to objeccons co ies underlying procedural rhetoric, bu dhe avalabilicy ofthis forum facilites active reconfgurition of the games eles and gous, «tpi ‘which Twill reef chapter 11 Interactivity Procedural reprsenrations do aot necesarilysuppote user interaction. Many ompuritional simulation methods make elims abour process ia the mate- ria wodd, ue limicauser participation signal. Take a simple comp tional model like che Monte Carlo metho, a satel sampling technique sed ro approximate the results of complex quantitative problems. The lassie ‘example af he Monte Carlo method in practice eee so-called Buon's needle problem. Geotge-Lous Leclerc, Comte de Bon, posed the fllowing ques tion: Ifa nedle ofa particular lenge is dropped at random onco& horizon ‘al surface ruled with parallel ines rn a 8 greater chan che Jeng ofthe needle, what is che probability the che needle will cos one ofthe Hines? Ta a comporationl model of the Monte Catto algorithm, the wer igh ee figure che length of the needle snd ehe distance of che lines, then ran the opet= ston, Similarly, in «physi simulcion, such a « demonstition of rigid body collision or mechanical dynamics a human operator mighe configare the size and mass of objects or the elaive force of grav, elsiciy, and her properties before abeeving che esl Amore complex and expressive example of a procedural syscem ith Himited wser incersction can be found in Chris Crawford’ 1990 game our global ecology, Baden of te Plans.” lathe game, the player ses pba switonmenal policies, The gume challenges players to balance global eco logical andl economic forces through eaxaion and expenditure, Hewever, cach of the players policies sets a comple see of interlaced relationship in mmotioa, Fr example, foes clearing changes the ctbon onde levels, which alee glob warming. The payer enacts policy by adjuting sliders ro change underlying policies (ee igure 13), executing the results, and again teising the police. ‘The Monte Caro simian, physical snl, el Balam te Plane all cep simple user inpue and confguriion, pechaps ce most basic type of input roa compute program other chan merely executing aed automatically securing esl based on hardcoded parameters, Inraiiy sa etcenched notion in seis of gical media Janet Mutay sgh calls che erm “wage despite ies “pervasive use Marty anges HABITATS SSS tree rte ome Formula for Forest Habitats Propertanay Conetnt ~ 4358 FE] [ene] Fares Ld = 788 Inn actaree) 4 compurssionsl system, the “mere abilcy © move = joystick or click on = mouse” is woe suficiene aus er “agency” genuine embeded participation in an electronic environment” Rather, such eovionments muse be mest ingfally expoosive co wer input. This state of afsirs constitutes one of Macray’s fue peopenis of ee comput, its participatory nate. "Peocedutal cnwironments,” she ages, “are appesling tous no ast because hey exbibie rule-generced behavior, but because we can induce the behavior... the primary representational property of the computer isthe codified cendering of responsive behaviors. This ie whae is moss oft meant when we say that comnptes ate irae, We mean they create an envisenrent chat is ba procedural and pariciparon [As Balan of Plame suggests, procedural checories do noc necessely eran sophisticated inersctviny. But we might aif procedal heroics oni fom sophisticated inceraceviy Following Musa, xpbiicatio in his context docs not refer to mre or mot frguent interaction, the kind that more buttons or fser aad eye responses would etal, Rather, sophisticaced inter aeciviey means greater esponsivenes, tighter symbolic coupling berween user action and procedural representations, Bale of tb Planet ors a teifally sophisticated peocedunl model of global ecology, buc ic coupling of user ction to the gare causal model is week, reducing both empathetic and aleccal engagement Another way co understand the role of interactivity in procera hecoric is chro the concept of ply. The weak coupling between model and expe since in Balen ft Plent dos nk tse fom a poverty of procedural ep ccseneaton, Rather, it aries from che awkward way that representation 8 exposed 0 the player Pay isa complex concepe with a long and arduoas inllectual history in numerous fields, Rather than understand play a child's aciviey, 0 a5 the means to consume games, or even as che shiting centers of rmesning in pssteucurlis thought, Isnggstadopeing Katie Salen and Eric Zirnmerman's useful, abstract definition ofthe rtm: “play i he fee space of movement within a ore cgid structure” Understood in eis sense, play fe dhe pashli space coal by preven eivncven, Sele wl Zn merman use che cxample of the playin 4 mechanism like a steering colume, n which the meshing gears ecaes “play” inthe whet, before the curning etre causes the gests to couple. In a procedral representation like = ideogame, the posibilcy space refs co the myriad configurations the player rmighe constroe #0 4 the ways the prceses inscribed in the sytem work ‘This relly whae we do when we ply videogames: we explore the possbil ing space is rules afford by manipolting the gtme's conto ‘Wile Balan of he Plame spors a very large posibilcyspce, the game concols and faedback syscem make ic dificult fr players to heeperack of he Aecsions shey have already made and to see che aggregate eects of cho lecsions. The game is bard ply; cha is, ei ficult eo understand che proces at werk inside and che nature of the possibilty space hose processes In the content of procedural chet, i is useful ro conser ineerssvity in relation ro the Arsalan enthymeme, The ethymern, e will semec- teri the rechnique in which a proposition in syllogism is omit the lis tener (in the ease of craory is expected to fill n che missing proposition and complete the clsim. Sophisticated intentiviey can produce an effective procedural enthymeme, resulting in mote sophisecatd procedurl thetoric. Sometimes we chink of jteractiviey as producing user empowerment: the moeeincerstve che system, the more che user can do, andthe beer dhe expe rience, Foc example, many players and critics have celebrated Grand Tf ao I (GTAINDY a a game that allows the player to "go anywhere, do any ‘hing."™® This senciment i Bawed for several reasons, Fis, the game does ot actully allow she player to “do anything"; rather, in the words of one reviewes,“GTAII et you do anything you wish, within the parameress of the game The “parameters of che game! ate made up ofthe processes i up posts and excludes. For ample entering and exiting whicls i afforded in (GTA, but conversing wich passersby is noc Ge chaper 3 foe mote om his subject) This is nor a limiestion ofthe game, but rather the very say ie becomes procedunlly expesive. Second, the interactivity afore by the _kame's coupling of player manipulations and gameplay effcs is much mu rower than she expesive space che game ad the player subsequencly creat, ‘The player peor a great del of mental syhess, filling the gap beeen subjeciviey and game processes Previously, have argued that the ontological position oF «wdongsme (or Senuasion, oe procera sytem) resides in the gap beeween ees rep resentation and player subjectivity; called this space eh "simulation gap.""* Another way’ o think about the simulation gap ie in relation eo rhetoric. A procedural model Like a videogame could be seen as a system of nisted ‘nchymemes, individual procedural lime chac ce player liceally complecet, through inersecon, IF Balan ofthe Plant increased player interaction by ‘lding more sliders co moe, it would not necessarily become move expe sve oF mote persuasive On Hil’ vividness concinasm, Balan of be Plat might land close cote realm of aburace analysis, despite is rich procera policy model. However, if i increeed the coupling beeween the computer's procedural diectic and the expsicon of thas chervic, ie persuasive valve ‘would likely inctesse as well onically, Quis Crawford himself ha offre efnition of interaciviy tha acess this very problem: “I choot o define ik Finersciviy) in cerns of & converstion; x cyclic process in which two scrorsalrerncely Liste, think, and speak. The quality of che inersction Aepends 0a che quality ofeach ofthe subeass listening, ehinking, and speak ing). Tn che case of Baden ofthe Plane, che player does 1 loc of meaning fal listening and chinking, but not much meaningful speaking, The computer docs Joe of meaning thinking, bue noe mach meaningful listening oe speaking. Maximizing all theee doe not necessarily opcimie expression — GTAUE does limited corppurtioalliscesing and thinking, for example—bue understanding che relationship beewcen the cheee can offer cues into che ‘ecorcl sceucture of 2 procedural argument Videogames have chosen to eaplain and exemplify che Function of procedural dhetoie in subcacegry of procedural expression, namely, videogames. There ae seer reasons I privilege this medium over other proceducal media, and over other ‘computational media in parcel, For one part, videogames are among the mort procedural of compursional arcs. All software rane code, be videogames tend to cua moce cde, and slso edo more with code. Recalling Crawford cerm, videogames cen to offer more proces incensty than other compucstional mesia. Videogames tend co demand a significant shace of «computer's central processing unit (CPU) resources while running; they ae more procedural then other comp tational aries. AST write this paragraph, my compe is ronning weve major applications, incading the active oe, resource hog Mia Wand and some seventy col proces to run che machine's underlying systems — window management, neeworking,geaphics, audio, and sofort. Despite eit immodest quamity of sciviey, my CPU remains 75-85 percent idle. The «quantity of processes and dhe amount of random acess memory (RAM) they consume doesnot necessarily cotelte with thee process intensity. Modern videogames ofen requite another processor devoted co procesing graphics ingcuctions, a graphics procesing unie (GPU). Videogames regolacly dive ‘compute hardware upgrades; physics processing unis are slowly emerging at another tool to extend the power af dhe CPU. Process-incensive progears like videogtmes are not guaranteed fo mont mare interesting or sophistcaed procedural cecories, but they ate predisposed to do 30 another pare, videogames are generally a more expressive subgenre of computational media ehan other types, for example, prdsivity sfeware. ‘mean that videogames service rptesncaional goals akin eo 1d lm, a oppoted ro inseramenal goals akin vo ucilicie and tool. All sfeware struceres experience, inching productivity sofewse, and ‘much as ben written about the ways word processors, speadshees, nd web applications influence cur conception ofthe word (cite just one example, "BedeichKitlr as writen abous che ways WordPerfect, couple ro che MS DOS operating system, structures weiing practice). Bue videogames are ‘nique, consciously, and peincipally crafted as expressions. As such, they rep- tesent excellent candidates for theorcal speech—persusion and expression ae inexobly ike, For yee anocher pare, videogames are often interactive in he particular way 1 described above; ehey require user action eo complete thee peocedural ep resenccions. As such, they provide puriculitly promising oppoccuices for the procedural traneation of thetoricl devices like eniymeme,Inerctviy _guarancees neither menial expesion aoe seaninglal persuasion, but it sets the sage for boc. Sid Meier, designer of Civilizations, as argued chat gameplay in" seis of interesting choices"! Interesting choices do not ne ‘sutily ental ll possible choices aa given seuation; ether, choices are seec- tively included end excluded in a procedural representation to produce a ested expressive end. For example, Th MeDoealds Vidoes includes conte of catle slaughtering bue abstracts control of reverent line-wodles for & ‘ecorcl end: o force the player to make decisions with social and policcal, implications. vig is often considered especially engaging, or “immes- iviey of (good videogames might loca those games higher specteun” discussed elie, producing move vivid exper- ‘nce thanks to the players active involvemene, Buc I wane co suggest chat vividness comes not from immersion, but from abstraction. The values cotnmon to visual eealiey and computer graphics atsuoe hac the close we gt 0 rel expetionce, the better This sentimene coresponds directly to the Vividnes spectrum, wich the bese interictvity coming clots 0 el experi= fence, But meaning in videogames is constructed noe through & e-ctation of the world, bue chrough selectively modeling appropriate clements of that word. Pceducal epresentacion models only some substs of source system, in order to draw atenton ro hat potion ache subj ofthe repesenaton. Tnceraceviy follows suit: che real number and ceiblity of wser action i foc nscisaily imporeant: rather, the relevance of che inceracion in the ‘context of the repeeszntationl goal of the system is paramount. Videogames ‘ler a paticulerly good conten for this selective interactivity. Finally, Lill adm hae Ihave a particular fondacss for videogees, Lam 1 videogame rte and videagtme designer, and Iam devored othe process of connecting videouames wih the history of urna expression, In my pte= ious book, Uni Opwasion,Lagpued fea comparicive understanding of pro «eur expression, using the concept of unie operations to defn he elements of pcedural representation common arose media, In chis book, F argue for similar undestanding wich respect to sheocic. As | have aleady suggested, thecoric in is contemporary ence eefers to both persuasion and expression, nd soa study of procedural rhetoric sees much in coatmon with seudy of procedural expression, Despite my pteference for videogames, I should ste thie T intend che reader 1 See pra! rare a8 a domain moc beosdee than that of videogames, encompassing any medium-—computitional or ot —thae eccomplishes is inscription via proceses. I hope my choice of videogames us examples of procedural shetoic inspires both an increased spprecaton of chat medium and inspiration co srody procedural hetorics in other media, Persuasive Games ve the name pra game videogames that moune procedural theories sffecvely, Before addressing persusive games in this sese, itis worth dit {ising some of che cher wags videogames and persuasion have intersected, 9 1 to datingish my approach from other Staccng with Bushoells Compan Spas, arcade games have shed such jin common with pinball aod sloc machines" They accepeed coins as Fayment, and one of thee ain design goals ented persuading players to inser (more) coins. lathe arcade industry, his is called “coin drop” Andtew Rollings and Ernost Adams have discussed the effect of coin deop on the design of such games: “Arcade operators cate lite for cchness, depe, and the aesthetic qualities of game as long aie makes aloe of money for them, This requizs some fine balancing. Ifa game is oo hard, people will bandon iin disgust, but if i coo easy chey will be able w pay fora long cime Wwichoue pueting any more money in.” Procedural cherie mighe be deployed in such games, but more olen persion is accompliehed cough more basic appenls to addiction and eiforcement. Shuen-shing Lee cxpaine such persuasion via Geoffrey R, Laue and Elizabech F, Lofcus' 1983 sccy Mind at Play: (Aina Play wor ew eyes of pach configurations embeded in game eign that xm eo ger plyers alice ro gaming. The fs ye, “patil enc meni hut wild by slo machines whic pt ur cin item fwd s gambler. The experience of bing ccesnlly wank fen dives the gambles concious insting cin, hopes of another win or cv jackpot. Arad game signs have cloned he same teiaixcemenesertesy in tse games Suis sh 2 score doubling, weapon upgeing, expalon lee edancing may op wp rn lomly dain the gaming proceso ihe che ple nrg, siting co Parca reinforcemene is certainly aeype of pesussion, be the persuasion is catelyslé-rerencial its gol is o case the plage to continue plying, ed in so doing co increase coin deop. Despite its relationship to gambling aod cocher additive scivitie, pail eeinforcement isan interesting and worth while te of inquiry that ca help game designers understand how to pede ‘experiences that players fe compelled to canine oe complete. However, his kind of pessmson is not my concern hee. lastead, I am interested in videogames that make arguments about the way systems work in the mate rial world. These games strive to alte or alec player opinion outside ofthe gue, not merely co cause him co continue playing. ka et, many of te evam- pls will discus strive eo do jue the apres fom atrade game: move the plaer from the game woeld into the material word saree games sugges, there ae ressone ro leverage videogames foc goxls ‘octbogonal to toe of procedural expression. The incessing popularity of and media artention paid co videogames means chat merely producing and dis: eibuting 2 videogame may have its own persuasive eee. When Gonzalo race and I co-designed The Howard Dao fr Inve Game in 2003, i became che fit oficial videogame of « U.S. presidental candidate. While the gare id deploy procedarlthetorcs (se chapters and 11 For moe), the very exis ence ofan official Howard Dean game served itt own thetsical purpose, farther aligning the candidate with technology culete!"* In anocher, sear ‘example, Elizabeth Loeh has reflected once government creston of Ti ‘al Iai, learning game designed co teach US. soldiers Arabic language nd customs in oder to lp chem secomplish miliary sions in che Mille ase.” Lesh, who sdied the game as a fed ceseaccher and has writen Ivcidly about her moral apd dhetrial cont in doing 0, ler mused about ies ve eheotica function ian online discussion forum: Io dhe wake ofall he public ha Tata agi recive in ae ew one, 1 fal sol with an even ote eos fetevaton about ce ge, which crytal- ad tee reading Max Boots article, “Navigating the aman retin” in which apedivionary Warf School, whee captsins seady Arabic by playing sphisticned computer gave complete with animated chaser” Ie when th I eed hae ‘he purpee of the same might be chenral not pedagogical. Despite what the searchers chug they ete ding pba i as pinay iced to SHOW she ceching of Arabic vo policy males andthe genera public nor acally TEACH ‘Arabic moc effervely,Tnional atom techn dot ke fora god mia specie, Bue video game eighe"” Taiz! Iraqi cannot be accused of sporting low process incensiy. As an eng ering ect, it deploys sophiscated procedural medee of language unde: sesnding, simulaed gescoes, and crts-cutural communication. But, Lash suggests, as an expressive atic, the projece might serve an agenda dif: ‘ne from ie primary one, namely drawing arenion 10 a videogame taining system to distace itis from Amveria’s military occupation of Isa. Agua, such a gesture is undeniably shetorial, bur is chetori is accomplished chrough media speech, Hor eheough process. I will reuen to dhe substi tion of procedutaltheorc for audience corelaton i the cntexe of adverts- ing in chapeer 5 Videogames created with a more genuine ineerest in expression and persuasion may still underplay procedueliy ia favor of visual images game industry deals buyers with high-Sdelcy images of increasingly greater versie, but thee images do noe neces couple with advances ia peoceduel epresotaion. Ia 2004, che American Legacy Foundation commissioned Crasy Weld, « game in service of their ongoing saismoking campaign, bese known for iss cheorclly powecfsl “the ‘ruth chemed television ads, Bulle around ascii carnival world chat coin cided withthe Foundation’s advertising campaign at che time, the game sports ‘ery high production value, visual, and sound-—the very Fctry that cons cribuce co vividoess, according co Charles Hill. But the procedural shetric ia the game is weak. In press ease, one ofthe creators describes mechan in the gave ‘The game, which sited at a wide aioe, ag 18-50, wae cated to sow beth seokers nd son-mokers the dangers of gare sing humor and rns Payer score poet by aang moving gree pul of adiactie smoke. fey etch in the smoke, ehey mutate inc an alee frm, “The Hen sw arc pope enceriin themselves an keep the message within conert—eo la for Fn” FTemplar Seadis prsidene Pee] Mack sd A game lke Crary World may speak through visual chetorc sone, ora let Principally The wse of highly polished visual aed sound design buds an expectation of authority, Images hypootize many consumers, and even the largest videogame compunis often repackage che sme gumcs with improved (or simply differen) graphics, Considerable stenson and investment hes gone ino improving the visual Sidley of commereil games, inclading the mae 1o high definition and higher polygon modes on che now-cutren: Xbox 360 and PleyStacion 3 consoles, Visual fdelicy implies authotcy, Likewise, sim: plist oe unteBned geapics are ofen taken as an indication of gameplay aualicy Just a8 « poor or “generic” package design can carn consumes away from a quality product, so the skin ofa procedural chetoic might infuence player enrcemene. The 2004 Republican National Committee game Tar Inne, whit bately succeeds in epicatng the rudimentary graphics of the classic arcade game Spa Invades, ean exsmple ofthe latter (or mote on this game, sce chaps 3) The tenuous coupling beeween visual appearance and procedoalshecric alto hinders videogames that sek to make peesasive statements about ses in che macerial world, bue flr adope efecive procedural repesencatons for chose issues. One common pital is bortowing a procedual form fom an existing game ot game genre and skinning ie with new graphics. Such «ove is Cogs Jos and th Raids ofthe Lit Bark game about defoestaton spot sored by the nonproi Rainforest Foundation.” The game bocrows is game play from 2D plataem games of he Super Mario Bra. wae. The player controls monkey who mus id and defeat the president f che World Bank, The player mst jump from plaioem to plaform to avoid Bying chainsaws, ‘while arempting to eeach and defese she bank president Gouge James adopes 00 proceduea.reptesenration—and therefoe no pce ural shetorie—of ins own Insc, bucrows the noion of progress rough lstace obstacles as an objet lesan Fr deforestation’ struggle against the World Bank (oho had support logging inthe Congolese rainforests). The game makes no aims about possible restos to oppose the World Bank, noe how todo so, aldhough ie dos succed in positing the Worl Bank as an arch ‘ypal opponent, the "boss mons” ofthe game, The game might or might not be effaeive ia building “awareness” about the issu, bue ic cetaialy Joes not mone a procedural argument abou ce copie, Or more precisely, it oes no mount i ao» procedural Petar; ie adopes process of obitace avoidance and geal pursue from placorm games and eenscibes chem onto eforeaton Cenge Jona borrows gameplay and applies graphical skin—a visual het ocic—atop it: Avecher common technique isto crow gameplay and apply 1 ext skin—a verbal thecario—atop it, An example of such & game is PaNG., ceaed by the Global Arcade ae collective.” The game’ website ‘explains chic she game features "afew different variations of the clasic Pong, ‘each with just a lice difeene play onthe language of globalization." The resule is aiveet copy of Pong in which the ball is eeplaced by words chat right eis in discussions of globalization (naldoralim, $8, ec). The player must bar these bick and forth with che pale, a one gh “exchange words ina convertion on che topic. While the Global Arcade's mston staemient announces tei commicmen “to make information abou glabalzation nter- escing, engaging and inceraceive,” PaN.G. serves as lee mone than a sight of iia a. The notion of adopxing Pou’ buck-and-forth procedutel mechanic or Super Mare Br" plaoem mechenic as ehecorics for discourse might have promise, but PaN.G: and Congo Jos do aot make meaningfol use of those processes im cheir agurments. Tas Inds, which 1 mentioned shove and discuss a dealin chapee 3, an example ofa game thac borrows 4 videogame form and succesfilly mounts is own procedural rhetoric cop ie ‘A more successful peocedueal detoic can be found inthe 1982 ile Te ‘Ado an onusual game for the Atati Video Computer System (popaltiy known as dhe Atari VCS oe Atari 2600). Conceived by Darell Wages, a Tax Consultan and former IRS Revense Agent,” the gol of the game isc become a millionaire by amassing income and avoiding eed ape and audies The player conto human charter, John Q, who must collect, income (epreented by dollsesga ions) an avoid red eae (represented by an abstract spe con), Ae ach fiscal quarter ce pave has che opportunity to shelee income in investments, which are represented 3s spies on Stee, for co store income ina portfolio, represcaed as a briefs spite (ace Bgure 1A, A second sprite oscillates beeween an IRS agent, a CPA, snd 2 invest ment advso. The player always loses an aut, and 530 percent af his income i lose to taxes. A CPA charges a small fee but always makes new Peet Ty facsheltered investmens available. The investment advisor can maximize ferutns on sheltered investnents, Ae che end of this interiial phase, che player's remaining income stad and he ecues to work ax Aosiders mounts an intresting and relatively complex procedural rhee= ‘orc about tax avoidnce strategies. The fic hat these techaigues are mapped foneo movement, a graphical logic, is perhaps noe ideal, but iis alo noe

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