As my last required course for my degree, I get to play video games. Seriously. Game Studies has emerged since the late 1980s as a energized field of research examining the effects, context and meaning, design and user experience, among other interdisciplinary interests and approaches on video gaming. The internet and the rise of digital culture have enable networked game play and in the last decade or so we’ve seen an explosion of video gaming, including, so-called serious games and, more recently, casual and mobile games (yes, this includes this addictive blockbuster).
Now, that is fun and games–if you ask me–but, even more fun, we’ll be looking at cheating and gaming. What does it mean to cheat in a video game? What are the top reasons and ways that people do it? Why? Indeed, why do so many players enjoy games that offer moral dilemmas and ethical decisions? How do these choices reflect a player’s own values and ethics? Is the gaming industry ethical when it expects 60+ hour work weeks and contributed to what has become known as the ‘EA widow‘?
To investigate these questions and others, we’ll be engaging with recent theory and research, and we’ll be playing Bioware’s Dragon Age:Origins (DAO). I’m of the PAC MAN, Super Mario Bros., and Zelda generation, so this will be a fun and, perhaps, humbling experience. Part of our work will be to interview DAO players, which I’m already seeing is opening me to a new and amazing community of people (thanks Twitter and @codejill).
To get a taste of some of the ethical dilemmas and politics of gaming, check out this post on the game September 12. And, stay tuned for more on cheating, gaming and my adventures with Dragon Age:Origins. I have a feeling I might get hooked.
