Games as Social Activities

staffan.bjork@chalmers.se

Administrative Stuff

Exercise today Meet at Studios at usual

Charm days Next Tuesday’s lecture postponed?

Assignment #1 graded Unless you handed in during the two last

days

Today’s lecture

How Can Games Affect Us? Ethics and Games Serious Games

Today’s lecture focuses on the aspects of playing games where it is important that humans are playing it

But first a game… or three…

By Edward Castronova

Game #1N coins in the middle

3 PlayersObject: Get coins

Each round, each player may remove coins from the middleA player cannot take more than N/3 coins

Start

Moves are written on a piece of paperThe papers are shown at the same timeThe coins left in the middle are doubledIf N < 3, the game ends, see who wins

Otherwise play again, go to Start

Game #2

As game #1 but …

A extra player

Player 4 taxes each player 1 coin per round

Player 4 commands the other players before moves are recorded

Players who disobey are “killed” and replaced with new players

Game #3

As Game #1 but…

All players may suggest 1 rule per round in clockwise orderAll players vote on the proposed rules, first rule with a majority

vote goes through (and no more suggestions that round)

Any player may accuse another player of breaking the rule after coins have been distributed

Trial by jury of the other players

Condemned players are killed and replaced

Which game do you prefer?

Why?

What is the most efficient regime for banning players who break (implicit|social) rules?

Response A: “I do not care that players break the rules”

Response B: “I should be free to do whatever I want.”

Response C: “The group must not decide.”

What if these games are models for anarchy, dictatorship and democracy?

Do you want to change your opinions or arguments?

Games can model reality

Players can bring opinions to the game, and depending on the rules approve or disapprove with what happens Is this true?

The experiences within the game can affect the players outside the game if they are aware of the connection Is this true?

Games can model reality, cont.

Game mechanics Common resources

Tragedy of the commons Voting Banning

Castronova uses these games to make points about real-world laws And blurry lines, e.g. property in MMORPGs

Some game-like cases

Stanford Prison Experiment Students volunteers

½ guards ½ prisoners Random selection

Rules No physical violence Paid $15/day

Dehumanization Given a number Physical exercise Stripped naked Sleep deprivation

The Lucifer Effect (2007), Zimbardo. Pwww.lucifereffect.com

Milgram’s Obedience Experiment

Paid to be technician Help in a study of memory and

learning Apply shocks to trial people when

told to by supervisor Range from 15 to 450 volts

150: strong shock 315: extremely intense shock 450: XXX

Trial people actors

The Lucifer Effect (2007), Zimbardo. Pwww.lucifereffect.com

Milgram’s Obedience Experiment, cont. 2/3 of the test people went to 330

volts where no sounds came from the

actors Nearly all continued to 450 volts

Pre-experiment poll few (average 1.2%) were prepared to

inflict the maximum voltage Colleagues believed very few subjects

would progress beyond a very strong shock

How Can Games Affect Us?

or Can Games Affect Us?

Two views from Media Studies

Active media theory The media affects the user

Through its content Typically studied through empirical experiments

Active user theory The user interprets the media

Based upon previous experience Typically studied through studying/interviewing the users

Koster – learning is fun

A Theory of Fun Games are about cognition,

and learning to analyze patterns

Fun is the body’s way of rewarding the brain for learning something

Björk – Gaming as Learning Systems

Games can, regardless of theme, provide learning opportunities to: Learn facts from frameworks of

contextualized meaning Training in formulate plans

Find and test models

Formulate goals

Compare them with hypotheses of phenomena described by the game

Björk – Gaming as Learning Systems, cont. Possible caveat – the Clever Hans

syndrome

Linderoth – creating meaning

Study of children playing games

Focus on how they create meaning while playing games Using the concept of frames (from Goffman)

Five patterns of interaction Frame oriented towards Rules Frame oriented towards Theme Frame oriented towards Aesthetics Frame oriented towards Internal Dynamics (between the other

Frames) Frame oriented towards External Dynamics (primarily how other

activities relate to the Theme frame)

Gee – learning principles

Looks at games as specialized activities

All specialized activities develop own set of meaning –becomes a semiotic domain (similar to the concept of frames)

Gee – learning principles

1. Active Critical Learning Principle Agency

2. Design Principle3. Semiotic Principle4. Semiotic Domains Principle5. Metalevel Thinking about

Semiotic Domains Principle6. “Psychosocial Moratorium”

Principle Crawford’s and other’s

points about safety

7. Committed Learning Principle

8. Identity Principle9. Self-Knowledge Principle10. Amplification of Input

Principle Special Effects

11. Achievement Principle Closures

12. Practice Principle

What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and

Literacy

Gee – learning principles, cont.

13. Ongoing Learning Principle

14. “Regime of Competence” Principle

Flow15. Probing Principle

Reflection in Action16. Multiple Route Principle

Interesting Choices17. Situated Meaning

Principle18. Text Principle

19. Intertextual Principle20. Multimodal Principle21. “Material Intelligence”

Principle Tool use

22. Intuitive Knowledge Principle E.g. “Muscle memory”

23. Subset Principle24. Incremental Principle

Flow

Gee – learning principles, cont.

25. Concentrated Sample Principle

26. Bottom-up Basic Skills Principle

27. Explicit Information On-Demand and Just-In-Time Principle

28. Discovery Principle29. Transfer Principle30. Cultural Models about

the World Principle

31. Cultural Models about Learning Principle

32. Cultural Models about Semiotic Domains Principle

33. Distributed Principle34. Dispersed Principle35. Affinity Group Principle36. Insider Principle

Different types of learning?

Tacit knowledge Craft skills

Explicit knowledge Can be readily transmitted to others Typically tested in educations…

For experiences to become explicit knowledge one must become aware of them After-action reports

Ethics and Games

What possible ethical problems exist with games?

Questionable content

Sexist Racist Homophobic Bigotry Inappropriate for the target

audience

Questionable purpose

Advergaming Product placement

Militainment America’s Army?

Spreading the attitudes shown in the content

Making Money? Wasting Time?

Addiction Types

physical dependence psychological dependence

Typically refers to Substance misuse, but sometimes to

activities Negatively affects social and

professional relations Requires negative effects

“if there is no harm being suffered by, or damage done to, the patient or another party, then clinically it may be considered compulsive, but to the definition of some it is not categorized as ‘addiction’”

Activity done to get endorphins | dopamines Released by the brain when activity

is done

Ways to classify addiction Salience

Importance of experience in life Mood modification

Activity affects mood Tolerance

Increased doses required Withdrawal symptoms

Unpleasant emotions when separated from experience

Conflict User enters conflicts with

surroundings, other activities, and self due to experience

Relapse User quickly reenters habits even

after substantial breaksVideo Game addiction (Wikipedia)“a form of psychological addiction related to a compulsive use of computer and video games, most notably MMORPGs”

Historical perspective on the critic of games Most new media have been seen as

problematic in some way Video games Social networking sites (e.g. My Space) Rap music Role-playing games Videos Heavy Metal Arcade Halls Comic Books Rock’n’Roll Swing Jazz Goethe Literacy (re: Phaedrus by Plato)

Moral Panic Can be described as not understanding the

semiotic domain of the new medium

Ways of looking at Ethics

Utilitarianism What good does an act

do Different forms

Act-utilitarianism Rule-utilitarianism

Deontology Some duties requires one

to always act in a certain way

Contemporary Ethics Rights

Negative Rights Positive Rights Absolute Rights Prima Facie Rights

400 rules Principalism

Several Prima Facie Rights

May lead to different outcomes due to interpretation

Communitarianism Emphasize community

over individual

Ethics in relation to design

Changes in society can put ethical values into focus as they are challenged

Jones’ definition of design “initiate change in man-

made things” Introduction of new designs

affect individuals and society

Examples of Values Privacy

Physical Informational Decisional

Accountability (culpability) Of Actions Of Effects on Others

(freedom of) Bias In Gameplay In Theme

Autonomy Power Structures Choice of When to Play or to

Not Play Addiction

Universal Access

Ethical Challenge #1

What ethical challenges can The Sims cause?

Values Privacy Accountability (freedom of) bias Autonomy Universal Access

What principles lie behind these objections?

Ethical Challenge #2

What ethical challenges can World of Warcraft cause?

Values Privacy Accountability (freedom of) bias Autonomy Universal Access

What principles lie behind these objections?

Ethical Challenge #3

What ethical challenges can Mind's Eye Theatre (Vampire LARP) cause?

Values Privacy Accountability (freedom of) bias Autonomy Universal Access

What principles lie behind these objections?

Possible causes for conflicts regarding games Misunderstanding

Different Semiotic Domains (re: Gee) “This time I’ll kill you!” “He killed me. No, I can’t say that. If he killed me I

could not have said ‘He killed me’ as I would have been dead. [laugher]” (re: Linderoth)

Actually Different Ethnical Principles Is this then a problem of medium or content? Do games have some inherent ethical principles?

Sensationalism Making money or gaining attention to pointing

something out to be a problem

Positive (or neutral) voices on video games

From www.theesa.com …

Some views on the effect of video games "VIDEO GAMES AND REAL-LIFE AGGRESSION: A REVIEW OF

THE LITERATURE" -- Washington State Department of Health: Office of Epidemiology"At present, it may be concluded that the research evidence is not

supportive of a major public concern that violent video games lead to real-life violence."

"YOUTH VIOLENCE: A REPORT OF THE SURGEON GENERAL“"[t]aken together, findings suggest that media violence has a

relatively small impact on violence." Specifically with regard to the research on video games, the report stated that, "The overall effect size for both randomized and correlational studies was small for physical aggression and moderate for aggressive thinking....The impact of video games on violent behavior has yet to be determined."

Some views on the effect of video games Many of the games with violent content sold in the United States

– and some with far more violence – are sold in foreign markets. But the incidence of violent crime in these markets is considerably lower than in the United States. This suggests that the cause of violent crime lies elsewhere.

Violent crime, particularly among the young, has decreased dramatically during the 1990s while video games have steadily increased in popularity and use. From Killing Monsters (2002): Certainly video games haven’t had any significant impact on real-

world crime. “The research on video games and crime is compelling to read,” said Helen Smith, forensic psychologist, youth violence specialist, and author of The Scarred Heart. “But it just doesn’t hold up. Kids have been getting less violent since those games came out. That includes gun violence and every other sort of violence that might be inspired by a video game.” (p167)

Some views on the effect of video games

Durkin, K., & Barber, B. (2002). Not so doomed: computer game play and positive adolescent development. Applied Developmental Psychology, 23, 373-392.On several measures – including family closeness, activity involvement, positive school engagement, positive mental health, substance abuse, self-concept, friendship network, and disobedience to parents – game players scored more favorably than did peers who never played computer games. It is concluded that computer games can be a positive feature of a healthy adolescence. (p.376)

Durkin, K. (1999). Computer Games and Australians Today. Australian Government Office of Film and Literature Classification.Despite several attempts to find effects of aggressive content in either experimental studies or field studies, at best only weak and ambiguous evidence has emerged…. …the accumulating evidence –provided largely by researchers keen to demonstrate the games’ undesirable effects – does indicate that it is very hard to find such effects and that they are unlikely to be substantial. (p.36)

Negative views on video games

Mainly referenced by other side (the esa) or Wikipedia

Some views on the effect of video games The present research demonstrated that in both a correlational

investigation using self-reports of real-world aggressive behaviors and an experimental investigation using a standard, objective laboratory measure of aggression, violent video game play was positively related to increases in aggressive behavior. In the laboratory, college students who played a violent video game behaved more aggressively toward an opponent than did students who had played a nonviolent video game. Outside the laboratory, students who reported playing more violent video games over a period of years also engaged in more aggressive behavior in their own lives. Both types of studies–correlational—real delinquent behaviors and experimental—laboratory aggressive behaviors have their strengths and weaknesses. The convergence of findings across such disparate methods lends considerable strength to the main hypothesis that exposure to violent video games can increase aggressive behavior. (Anderson & Dill, 2000)

Some views on the effect of video games Jack Thompson, US Attorney

Violent video games have repeatedly been used by teenagers as “murder simulators” to rehearse violent plans

“In every school shooting, we find that kids who pull the trigger are video gamers”

Points to scientific studies that show teenagers process the game environment differently from adults, leading to increased violence and copycat behavior

Part of the impetus for violent games comes from the military: “for a way to disconnect in the soldier’s mind the physical act of pulling the trigger from the awful reality that a life may end”

Serious Games

Serious Games

Origins Serious Games, Clark C. Abt. (1970) “...a game is an activity among two or more independent

decision-makers seeking to achieve their objectives in some limiting context.”

Claims games can simulate simplified versions of reality play these can let people understand variables,

causes, and effects Current meaning

Games that are created for other purposed than entertainment alone

What can Serious Games be used for?

Training

Brain Age IQ test made into a

game Built upon model for

how to train brain

Common Sense DS Adult Training Learn etiquette Learn vocabulary

regarding economy and IT

Training, cont.

Guess my Robot “Program” sequences Create challenges Test challenges by

sending robot to creator of challenge

Rabbit Numberline Limited set of actions Collect all carrots in

minimum numbers of move

Training, cont.

America’s Army teach values recruitment tool propaganda device

Class-based Team play Always play US army Strict penalties for team

killing

Training, cont.

Foreign Ground Teach cultural conditions Teach environment

conditions Allow dialogue and action

Single side played Fuzzy results Intended for use with after-

action review No reward system

Make a point that Simulations are about what

is happening Games are about players

experience of what is happening

Games for Change

September 12th

Statement about war on terrorism

Gameplay Can destroy terrorism with

weapons Innocent bystanders likely to

be killed Each innocent bystander

killed generates more terrorist

Games for Change, cont.

A Force More Powerful Teach non-violent

methods to overthrow dictatorships, colonizers, etc.

Secure political and human rights for minorities

Can also be seen as a training game

Games for Change, cont.

Food Force UN games about food

distribution Several different types

of missions Scouting Delivering #1 Delivering #2 Resource Management

Games for Change, cont.

Global Conflicts: Palestine Reporter in Palestine

from neutral country

Gameplay Explore environment Talk to members of

both sides Create stories Maintain journalistic

neutrality?

Games for Change, cont. UnderAsh

“To turn Arab children away from American video games featuring US soldiers killing Iraqis and Afghans, a Syrian publishing house has designed a video game on the Palestinian uprising, or intifada.”

“The new game is called Underash, and its hero is a young Palestinian stone-thrower, Ahmed, fighting Israeli soldiers and settlers.”

UnderSiege “UnderSiege is about the modern

history of Palestine and it focuses on the lives of Palestinian family between 1999-2002 during the second Intifada. All levels are based on true stories and we look forward to publish it all over the world on PC/windows platform.”

Can also be seen as a training game?

Games for Change, cont.

Darfur is Dying Play family member in

refugee camp Described not as a

game but as a “"narrative based simulation."

Two modes Fetching water while

avoiding militia Handle crops & build

huts

Games for Healthcare

School Food Trust UK-based organization

Sonic-style gameplay Junk food makes you

slower Healthy food faster

Games for Healthcare, cont.

Rehabilitation of stroke patients Diagnosis Personalized training

Gameplay extremely easy Manual Dexterity Memory Neglect

Games for Healthcare, cont.

Therapy Virtual Reality Exposure

Therapy Controlled environment

to face siutations

Examples High Anxiety Experiences of bus

bombs 9/11

Games for Healthcare, cont.

Emergency 112 (911) Mobile phone game Teaches first aid

techniques

Gameplay keep vital functions in

emergency situations prevent cardiac and

respiratory arrest know how to access to

the medical emergency services system

Advergaming

Sudoku With a theme

Monopoly - star wars saga edition

Advergaming, cont.

Burger King games Sneak King Pocket Bike Racer Big Bumpin‘ Costs $4 each

One review “I really expected them to

be more "Ad-like" in that BK crap would become annoying quickly. Instead they happen to simply have BK crap in them.”

Advergaming, cont.

In game advertising Simply inserting ads

into games in fitting places

Example company Massive, Inc.

Where more examples can be found

Wikipedia under “serious games”

www.watercoolergames.org

What has not been covered Games for political campaigns

E.g. used in American elections and by Centern in the latest Swedish election

Persuasive games Games that try to change players’ opinions or habits

More reading An overview “Datorspel och skadlighet – en

forskningsöversikt” Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen & Jonas Heide Smith Exists translated from Danish to Swedish

"Att leva i World of Warcraft" av Jonas Linderoth och Ulrika, Mediarådet (2007)

Personal account Dear, William C. The Dungeon Master: The

Disappearance of James Dallas Egbert III, 1984.