Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
game was properly balanced. Although those issues could be tied to skills
or merit, they are also intensely tied to socialization in particular forms
of play. The means by which balance is discussed points to a particular
kind of balance, intending for the in-game interaction to be equitable, even
though the out of game circumstances may not be. Without looking at the
social structures beyond the game, the ideograph of balance works as an
alibi, one where players and developers can contend that anyone can suc-
ceed in a balanced world, without noting all of the out of world structures
required to join the 'level' playing fi eld in the fi rst place.
BALANCING WORDPLAY
The value of identifying ideographs is in the understanding derived from
becoming aware of how the values and beliefs of a specifi c group are shown
in specifi c words and phrases. Using wordplay demonstrates how the dis-
course of video games is composed of a variety of elements and, in this case,
balance has a clear ideological function in structuring the kind of games
that are produced and, most likely, who is designing and playing games.
There is nothing wrong with crafting games that focus on balanced envi-
ronments, but they need to be designed with attention to their limitations.
Games structured with a conventional notion of balance should not crowd
out games that may not hew to the same sort of ideological orientation or
relegate those games to secondary status. Recognizing the force of words,
design, and play, and how a single idea can structure both who plays games
and what games are available, aids in the identifi cation of the biases inher-
ent in the discourse of video games. In marking the underlying presump-
tions of video games and the social structures surrounding them ef orts can
be made to address existing preconceptions.
Wordplay is a critical tool that can be used to address a big picture view
of the discourse of video games. By focusing on the words, design, and
play of video games, wordplay can be used to identify structures and biases
both within specifi c games and in the cultural environment surrounding
them. Using the concept of ideographs to assess the role of balance in the
discourse of video games is one example of how words and beliefs can fuse
to shape how we conceptualize of video games. With the examples of the
context and texts of video games in hand, it is appropriate to turn to the
three themes of wordplay: words, design, and play.
