Nieuwe medi a en

popul ai re cul tuur: Game

cul tu ur
(2008- 2009 )

Col lege 2 (18 november) :

Part ici pati e e n educati ef
ontwerp
 
Joost Raessen s
Wat gaan we doen vandaag?

4. Com puter games as

parti ci patory medi a cul ture
(tekst 1)
5. Voor beeld: Pl ayi ng pol iti cs
6. Game design and meani ngf ul
pl ay (teks t 2)
7. Pl aying hi story (tekst 3)
1. Comp ute r g ames as
part icipato ry media
culture

Dr ie dom ei nen van par ticipati e:

E. Interpre tati e (de cons truct ie )
F. Recon figuratie
G. Constr ucti e
B. Interpret atie

Cult ural S tud ie s br eekt met:

• Hoge ver su s l ag e k un st /cu ltuur

• Passieve publiek, pub liek als
slacht offer
(Horkheimer, Adorno over
cult uu rindustr ie )
Dr ie l ez ingen Lar a C rof t:

• Dominant e lez ing (“harmless dream

wom an” )
• Onderhandelende lezing
(“postfeminist icon” )
• Opposi tionele lezi ng (“ female
enemy number one”)
Deconst ructi e

Fri edm an: “Learning and winning a

comput er game is a pr ocess of
demystificat ion”

Tur kl e:
• Simulat ion resig nation
• Simulat ion de nia l
• Simulat ion un der standing

Mediaw ijsheid (R aad voor Cultuur ,

2005)
B. Reconf igurati e

Explora tie van onbekende w er elden en

select ie van voorge programmeerde
mogelijkheden

C. Cons tructi e

Modificatie van bestaande games en

maken van nieuw e games
Parti ci pati e in pol iti ek-
ideologi sch perspecti ef

• Top-down versus bottom-up

• Hom oge niser ing ver sus
het erogenisering
• De r ealiteit ver su s he t mo geli jke:
Gam es en de werkelijkheid zijn
open-source (www. yout ube. com )
2. Voorbeeld : P layin g
politic s

“Poli ti cs is a fasci nat ing gam e”

Harry S. T ruman
33d Presi dent of t he U ni ted
States
Frami ng (George Lakof f)
Tax rel ief : Tax is an aff licti on

Resul t: Hero takes t hi s

af flict ion aw ay (Bush), bad
guy tri es to stop hi m (Kerry)

“I’m agai ns t tax reli ef ”: you’ re

still trapped into a
cons er vati ve wor ldvi ew

Farah Kari mi (Groen Links) : “The

fai lur e of the war on
Conser vat ive fram es :
• Taxati on is an af flict ion
• War on terr or
• Cl imat e change
• Stri ct father

Dem ocrati c frames:

• Taxati on is an inves tm ent
• War in Iraq
• Gl obal warm ing
• Nur turant parent
‘Geor ge Bush and the myth of t he Wild
West’ (R aessens, 2003)
“Fram es ar e m ental str uctures
that shape the w ay we see
the worl d. As a result, they
shape the goal s we seek, the
pl ans we make, the way we
act, and what counts as a
good or bad out com e of our
acti ons…
... In pol it ics our fram es shape
our social pol icies and the
ins tit utions we f orm t o carry
out pol icies. To change our
fram es is t o change al l of
thi s. Ref rami ng is soci al
change”
(Lakof f, 2004, p. xv)
John Kerry: Tax Invaders
(RNC , 2004)

Massi ve tax increases sai d to be

requi red to pay for Kerr y’s
promi sed spendi ng
Space Invaders (Tai to, 1978)
John Kerry’s Tax Invaders
(RNC , 2004)
Dar fur is Dying (mt vU , 2005)

Based upon the (democr atic)

metaphor of the ‘nurturant ’
parent:

“In forei gn poli cy the rol e of the

nati on shoul d be to promot e
cooperati on and ext end
these val ues to the worl d”
(Lakof f)
Goal of Darf ur is D yi ng :

• To acti vel y hel p stop the

cri sis in Darf ur whi le pl aying
the game

• Websi te of fers the pl ayer al l

ki nds of poss ibi liti es ‘to take
acti on’ outsi de the game
The (conservati ve) m etaphor of
the ‘st rict f at her’:

“In forei gn af fai r the

gov er nment shoul d mai ntai n
its soverei gnty and impose
its m oral authori ty
ev er ywhere it can, whi le
seeki ng its sel f-interest (the
econmi c sel f-interest of
corporati ons and m ili tary
Medi um- speci fic way comput er
games frame pol iti cal issues

Procedural repr es ent ation:

• Embodi ed acti vi ties

• Represent pol iti cal issues
• Si mul ate procedures
• Ideol ogical ly color ed rul es
• Master to wi n the game
There are thr ee l evel s of
medi um- speci fici ty:

C. A reconf igurat ive level

D. A deconstruct ive lev el
E. A construct ive lev el

See: ‘C omput er games as

parti ci patory medi a cul ture’ ,
in Handbook of Com puter
Game Studi es (M IT Press,
A. Reconf igurati ve level

New, m aybe more ef fecti ve

ways of propaganda

Why? Pl ayers are act ors i n the

scenar io’s the game
represents. John Kerry’ s Tax
Invaders and Darf ur is D yi ng
not onl y verbal ize and
visual ize the metaphors of
thef t and the ‘nur turant’
B. Decons tructi ve l evel

Chal lengi ng the game’ s bui lt- in

as sum pti ons or f rames as a
means of consci ousness-
rai sing

Why? To wi n the game you have

to figure out what wi ll work
wi thi n the rules of the game.
A gam e i s played over and
ov er unti ll al l the gam e’s
3. Si mul ati on resignat ion:
Pl ayers sur render to the
seduct ion

2. Sim ulat ion deni al : They deny

the importance of the
simulat ion

3. Simul ati on understanding:

They lear n to deconstr uct
C. Cons tructi ve l evel

Wi thi n DIY- cul ture constructi ng

and reconstructi ng frames is
emanci pati ng and li berati ng

Why? Meta- gami ng shows that

real ity i s ‘open source’ ,
meta- gam ers have the abi lity
to rethi nk and redesign
worl ds usi ng enti rel y new
rul e set s. Result: pl ural ity of
Two questi ons

1. A re pol iti cal com puter games

powerf ul tool s? How do we
know?
• Ef fecti ve: because they
rewar d the ri ght behavi or?
(Konij n)
• Not ef fecti ve: pl ayers know
it is just a game (Jans z)

2. D o pl ay er s res ist the message

or not? Do they give
3. Game d esign and
meanin gful p la y (t ekst 2)

C. Meaningful play
D. Fr am ing
E. Interact iv iteit
F. The magic circle
A. Meani ngf ul play

Salen & Z im mer man: “The goal of

successful game de sign is t he
cr eation of meaningful play” (p . 60 )

A. De scr iptive definiti on ( a description

of t he way games operat e):
“M eaningful play in a game
emerg es f rom the r el at ionship
bet ween player act ion and sys tem
out come ” (p. 60)
B. E valuat ive defi ni tion (an evaluation
of t he way games operat e):
“M eaningful play occur s when the
re lationships betw een a ctions and
out come s ar e bo th discernable and
int egrated int o the lar ger cont ex t
of t he game” (p. 61)

Discern abi lity: tells players what

happened
Int egrati on: le ts players know ho w it
will affect the r est of the game (p.
62)
B. Fram ing

1. Frequ en cy 1550 als for meel systeem

van r eg els:

• Objec ten: spelers

• Kenmerken: iedereen begint in
specifieke wijk
• Interne r el aties: ene groep
pelgr im s ster ker dan de andere
• Omge ving: A mste rdam
2. Framing Fr equency 155 0 al s
cult ureel sys teem:

• Wat zijn educatie ve ef fecten?

• Wie speelt het ?
• Wat is f unct ie va n s pel ? Anar chie
(decen trer en) of aanpassin g aan
te chnologie (centr eren)?
C. Interact ivitei t

3. Interpre tive parti cip ation (JR =

int erpr etatie)
4. Funct ional inter act ivity (int erface,
re spon se t im e)
5. Explicite in teract ivity (JR =
re configurati e)
6. Cult ural par ticipat ion (JR =
constr uctie)
D. The magi c ci rcl e

“This is the problem of the way w e get

int o and o ut of t he play or game …
what ar e the codes w hi ch g ov er n
th es e ent ries and exits?” (Sutt on -
Smith)

“The frame of a game is w hat

communicates t hat those
cont ai ned w it hin it ar e ‘pl ay ing’
and t hat th e space of pl ay is
sepera te in som e way from t hat of
th e real world”
4. Pla ying his to ry (te kst 3 )

• Frequency 1550
• Leerresul taten
• Lopend onderz oek
• Nati onaal H istori sch Museum
A. Frequency 1550

• Back- story
• Technol ogi sche
inf rastructuur
• Doel van het spel
• Opdrachten
B. Leerresul tat en

Cr eati e
• Const ruct ionisme
• Instructi oni sme
• Expl orati e, sel ecti e en
cons tructi e = par tici pat ie
Di gi tal e levens sti jl

• Moti vati e paradi gma

• Ver st er ki ngs par adigm a
• Mi x van bei de
• Probl em en: ficti e/r eali teit;
ver haal /game; scenari o; ti jd;
leren/pl ez ier
Soci aal l er en

• Af hankeli jk ler en: spel ,

tacti ek etc.
• Onaf hankeli jk leren: ei gen
ver antwoordel ijkhei d;
speci fieke kenni s &
vaar di gheden
Presentati e en ref lecti e

• Presentati e: ouders,
vrienden, kl asgenoten
• Ref lecti e: ident itei t
Ges chi edeni s

• Leerz aam; ver geli jki ng

tradi ti oneel onderwi js
• Test
• Probl em en: veel opdr achten,
compl ex, veel leerdoel en
• “Hoog” en “l aag” ( Vatti mo)
C. Uitgebrei d onderzoek

• Kenni s van ges chi edeni s

• Impact gam e-ver haal
• Cogni ti eve vaardi gheden
• Lev ensl ang leren
D. Nati onaal H istori sch Museum

• Kenni s van Neder landse

ges chi edeni s en i dent it ei t
• Di scuss ie
• “Envi ronment al stor ytel ling”
• Bel ang games