Mar 1, 2021
Jounal week 7
For this week’s journal we are supposed to discuss a politics in video games. I cannot think of a better example than the Bioshock franchise. These games are extremely political and its tied directly to the narrative of the franchise. BioShock has three games in total Bioshock 1, Bioshock 2, and Bioshock Infinite. All three of these games tackle with ideas such as morality and free will and class struggle. With the first games twist being a direct result of the involvement of politics. It’s weird to think about the politics of these games as a young adult now since I played these games as a kid and young teen for everything but the story mainly the gunplay and atmosphere of the deep ocean city or the paradise above the clouds. This franchises politics have probably had an impact on the generation who grew up playing them and very well could be influencing decisions made today without those making the decisions even realizing it.
In relation to this weeks readings I found that when Ian Bogost said that , “ videogames are increasingly becoming a forum for artistic expression and … social expression” (Ian Bogost, “Playing Politics: Videogames for Politics, Activism, and Advocacy”Links to an external site) I found his words to perfectly summerize the prompts and this class as well as my drive to work I nthe video game industry. The way people are able to express themselves in video games and through making them as well has on increased with time. It truly is an art form now more than ever with entire genres of games being dedicated to artistic endeavors. I Find that developers are able to express their political beliefs artisticly through the medium of video games and get their points to millions of players worldwide that often would just remain hidden with no one to share them with.
Below is a video of the first game that I hope will get you interested in the series if you havent played it I truly recommend.
The quote is obviously from the reading this week by ian Bogost.
