Children with morals and videogames

Looking at the effects of video games on children is often the best and most pure representation as they absorb information without many barriers. James Vicents' article on this illustrates the impacts that can be made and how people in general are influenced "to recognise the cause and effect reality of their actions, the focus of games on winning actually encouraged cooperation, rather the self-interest."

Two quotes I found interesting were: 

“What we found was that what they were learning was a whole lot deeper and more profound than we had imagined,” said Dr. Sanford, speaking to The Globe and Mail. “They are doing a lot of problem solving and strategizing. They are learning collaboration and leadership skills."

“But the most profound thing that got me really thinking about their civic engagement is that they are actively making ethical and moral decisions all the time. They are trying out roles through the characters in the stories. If they act badly, if they choose to be evil, they see the significant results of each of the decisions they make.”

These are going to make me look into reward systems/ the game objectives to challenge the person's ethics and relate back to the way that telltale games inflict emotional forks within the game to create a realism

Article from:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/video-games-can-make-children-more-morally-aware-8649583.html

Telltale Games

Telltale Games is a company which really interests me in the fact that they pose interesting ethical questions within an intriguing narrative.

More commonly known for The Walking Dead game they most recently released they've also produced games such as the Jurassic Park Game and Back to the Future and they all offer different moral questions with few escapes for players to excuse their behaviour. 

For instance in Walking Dead there are often choices you must make between saving one person over another- even bringing children into the equation to illicit certain responses. To evoke these emotional responses is a powerful way to make players examine themselves. I'm looking into whether I want to attempt evoke emotions that are powerful or as pointed as these because these are obvious in the way that they play with you choosing specific people over others or whether I want something subtler.

Ethical Real Life Games

Looking into ethical issues that have come up in game design I came across a real time game which uses bacteria and single cell organisms which can be influenced by electrical currents. 

Although not completely computer generated this brought up the interesting question of morals. I found that I was slightly repulsed by the idea of using charges to shock bacteria for our own amusement where as if its virtual I find myself indifferent to violence and other moral questions.

Images for CCDN 231

Base overview- CCDN231

My experiment included having a clear area where they make the Milo to give a sparse base. From
there the individual, Liam, had to scrape the Milo out of a bag, with hardly any granules left and he had to
also boil the water on an element instead of simply using a jug or microwave. I also had Liam use watered
down milk and sweetener instead of whole milk and sugar as an aspect of the ingredients, which was limited.
The taste aspect is clearly affected this way and obviously taste is a major part of someone’s experience and
therefore heavily influences the mood and the feeling of austerity.

CCDN231

Experiment One- Basic set out

This experiment encompassed altering the context in which the participants made the Milo.

Included within this I cleared the bench completely of anything that was not essential to their

milo. This related heavily to austerity as it took away all comfort, which optimises an austere

situation. The bench itself also reinforced this mood because it was metal, which is often related

to an industrial feel, completely opposite to a homely feel.

Experiment Two- Back to Basics

My chosen experiment was based on taking away the ease which in turn takes away the luxuries

which optimises austerity. So, in this experiment the participant had to boil the water and

scrape the Milo from the bag. I further discusss this experiment and its success’ in my rationale.

Experiment Three- Limited Ingredients

Here I limited the amount of ingredients that the participant was allowed to use as it removed

any sense of control in the situation and any abundance. This reinforces the austere nature as

austerity is focused on taking away anything luxurious.

Assignment Two