Words, Design, and Play - Wordplay and the Discourse of Video Games - page 164

mirror reality in their game design typically have not sold as well as real-
ity inspired war games. The Gears of War series has been quite successful,
bringing in both Game of the Year awards and acknowledgements for their
sales totals, but its sales pale in comparison to Call of Duty . When asked if
a fantasy setting was a liability for Gears of War , the executive producer of
the series contended that the lesser sales totals are part of “being the kind of
game we are. We have some elements in our IP [intellectual property] that
are double-edged swords. The Lancer being a chainsaw gun is one of the
things that draws people, but it's also one of the things that has the poten-
tial to repel some people because of its over-the-top nature.” 25 The choices
designers make impact how their games will be received and how they fi t
within the discourse of video games. In choosing a fantasy setting, Gears
of War opens up additional possibility spaces for weapons like chainsaw
guns and the ability to fi ght monsters, rather than people, but those options
frame the reception to the game. The producer goes on to contend that the
issue with sales is more about accessibility, rather than setting. But acces-
sibility is talked about in terms of players trying the game and fi nding it
lacking. Instead, if players are polarized away from the game because of the
fantasy setting in the fi rst place they are unlikely to start playing the game.
Design sets the terms of engagement for play, shaping much of the initial
discursive construction of the rhetorical message and shaping the audience
likely to play.
Wordplay borrows partially from a background in procedural rhetoric
to examine how games are deliberately crafted to address certain issues or
attract the attention of the audience. In so doing, wordplay is able to help
explain how the construction of video games aids in facilitating certain
kinds of identifi cations and meanings, while rejecting others. Just as My
Player and Michael Jordan form the design base with which to attract play-
ers and keep them playing NBA 2K11 , Gears of War opted for a fantasy
setting that brings in certain people, while repelling others. Wordplay aids
in understanding the implications of these design choices, just as it helps in
analysis of the fi nal key piece of the discourse of video games: play.
PLAY
Adding play into the mix of video game elements for analysis helps repre-
sent what makes video games special and dif erent from other media forms.
Cultural objects are talked about and many things are designed, but it is
the mode of engagement with video games that often makes them special.
Critics need to understand that the words and design of video games can be
dif erent from similar concepts in other forms of media, but the modes of
play embedded within video games are often unique to games. The means
of play shape the audience for games, the topics that are addressed in video
games, and the cultural environments in which games are played. Wordplay