Paul Darvasi, PhD

Grand Theft Auto V (GTA V) is emblematic of the public controversies that associate video games with violence, misogyny, and damaging depictions of race and gender. However, it is also a layered referential and self-reflexive text that roundly critiques U.S. culture, including the pernicious complicity of media on issues of identity. The tendency for schools to keep controversial games at a distance may neglect a need to better equip adolescents with the tools to critically consume the complex media in which they are immersed. This chapter describes a month-long unit of study where a high school class played GTA V while in a formal instructional context that encouraged them to critically reflect on their gameplay through the lenses of gender, race, and power. The instructional approach was found to provoke a greater awareness about discriminatory depictions of race and gender in the game and, in some cases, media at large. Some students also become aware of their own tendencies to a...

Video games have emerged from the morally suspect margins of society to become a cornerstone of the global entertainment industry. Their potency as a cultural force is such that noted media scholar Dr. Henry Jenkins believes that video games will be the defining art form of the twenty-first century (Smithsonian, The art of video games exhibition trailer, 2012). Healthcare organizations, corporations, the military, NGOs, schools, and universities are all experimenting with video games for their propensity to train, teach, and motivate. In a twist of irony, a medium once labeled a “murder simulator” might now become an effective tool to support peace education and conflict resolution. This chapter will review a handful of digital games set in zones of global conflicts for their potential to produce empathy and ultimately support the work of peace. Despite promising findings, the links between digital games and empathy continue to be tenuous. Interactions between humans and digital gam...

While many videogames deploy a narrator as a companion or a foil for the player, the effect of narrator gender on players and player experience is understudied. The current study created a female-narrated version of the male-narrated casual game The Stanley Parable (TSP), and investigated player perceptions and behavioural responses to male versus female narrators. Participants (N=66) played TSP to reach a single ending and completed survey responses reflecting on their game experience. There were significant interactions between narrator and player gender, such that players tended to obey same-gendered narrators and to disobey opposite-gendered narrators at the first decision point in the game, controlling for prior familiarity with the game. There was a disparity between players' survey responses and their in-game decisions. Implications for the study of player experience are outlined.

Video games have emerged from the morally suspect margins of society to become a cornerstone of the global entertainment industry. Their potency as a cultural force is such that noted media scholar Dr. Henry Jenkins believes that video games will be the defining art form of the twenty-first century (Smithsonian, The art of video games exhibition trailer, 2012). Healthcare organizations, corporations, the military, NGOs, schools, and universities are all experimenting with video games for their propensity to train, teach, and motivate. In a twist of irony, a medium once labeled a “murder simulator” might now become an effective tool to support peace education and conflict resolution. This chapter will review a handful of digital games set in zones of global conflicts for their potential to produce empathy and ultimately support the work of peace. Despite promising findings, the links between digital games and empathy continue to be tenuous. Interactions between humans and digital gam...