Questions and Topics We Can Help You Answering;
Question #1 - Short Essay format (1 1/2 - 2 pages)
Pick a major national or international tragedy/situation that has been exemplified in a game. Give a summary about the situation. Discuss how the game and its gameplay/mechanics are positively and/or negatively making a commentary about the situation at hand. Be detailed. I am asking for a thoughtful game analysis on top of a discussion about the game's successful or unsuccessful execution of social content.
You will have to do some research to answer this question. Watching game play videos and reading game reviews will help you analyze the game best. Some recommended games to look at are: 1979 Revolution: Black Friday, Papers, Please, Darfur is Dying, #BlackLivesMatter Game, and Super Colombine Massacre RPG.
Question #2 - Short Essay Format (1 1/2 to 2 pages)
Read It's Time for a New Kind of Power Fantasy .
https://howwegettonext.com/its-time-for-a-new-kind-of-power-fantasy-a5ff23b2237f#.xh187vqvx
In your previous essay, you compared the public perception of games against positives views of games through McGonigal's theories. However, there is more to game violence than just what the public perceives. With the help of technology, human sensitivity has reached a low. The more pain and suffering we see through the media, the more susceptible we are to becoming numb to the harsh realities of the world.
Compare and contrast the power dynamics of Grand Theft Auto V to Portal 2. How are these power dynamics exemplified? Give at least 3 examples for each game. How can these dynamics attribute to being "power fantasies"? What are direct reflections they have in the real world? Formulate non-power fantasy suggestions (1-3) that could replace and/or alter these power dynamics for both games.
You will have to do some research to answer this question. Watching game play videos and reading game reviews will help you analyze the games best.
Hint: GTA V portrays very specific physical power dynamics. Portal 2 portrays psychological/emotional power dynamics via GLaDOS (the antagonist). Reading over her voice lines will help.
Question # 3 - Short Essay Format ( 1 1/2 - 2 pages)
Discuss ways in which video games are a cultural form. How are they more than an entertainment medium? (Things to think about: storytelling (personal and fictional), education, awareness, betterment). Pull from the material we have discussed throughout the course and tie in points from Rise of the Videogame Zinesters by Anna Anthropy.
Do not use the following games as examples: Call of Duty, Overwatch, World of Warcraft, League of Legends, and Pokemon Go.
