Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
expand, as larger technological developments are considered within the
context of video games.
Chapter 4:
Consoles Read Rhetorically
A fi nal contextual element is an understanding of how rhetorical analysis
can explain some of the reasons why certain consoles have been more suc-
cessful than others. The platforms on which games are played are impor-
tant and the successes or struggles of certain console form the rhetorical
terrain for console gaming. Focusing on four defi ning elements of the con-
sole gaming experience, like where we play and what we are able to do
with game consoles, a historical retelling of video game console history is a
key part of the context of video games. There are several key developments
in console gaming, especially at the points when the industry transitioned
from one generation of consoles to the next. Understanding the rhetorical
force of certain appeals helps articulate what touch points in gaming his-
tory indicate about the broader discursive environment for video games.
Using wordplay to analyze the design and marketing of the various consoles
at specifi c moments in time demonstrates how the messages developed in
these materials constitute rhetorical appeals that shape proper notions of
'games' and 'gamers,' often in stark contrast to existing predispositions or
competing consoles.
Part II:
The Texts
T h i s s e c t ion of t h e b o ok s h i f t s wordpl ay away f rom l a r g e r c ont e x t u a l f ac tor s
and toward specifi c games. Although all games are developed within the
larger context of gaming, specifi c texts have elements that illustrate unique
dynamics of wordplay, from the planned obsolescence that can be seen in
EA Sports games to the designed meritocracies resident in online games.
All games have rhetorical features worth noting, but the titles selected in
this section present particularly interesting opportunities to apply word-
play. Elements ranging from warranting play as a violent gangster in
Grand
Theft Auto
to creating a cottage industry of statistical analysis outside the
bounds of
World of Warcraft
dramatically impact the design and play of
the games examined. Many of these games are well suited to be analyzed
rhetorically, as they encourage the production of substantial amount of text
on forums, blogs, and in developer's comments about them. This section
of ers a platform on which to see the multiple ways in which the production
of rhetoric in games is infused through the interactions between games,
gamers, developers, and the structures in which they communicate.
Chapter 5:
GTA, Humor, and Protagonists
Grand Theft Auto
(
GTA
) has received a substantial amount of attention in
popular press for the violence in the game and scholarly attention to elements
