[game_edu] FW: New Book, The Ethics of Computer Games

[Brenda Brathwaite]

The latter is one of the reasons I made them non-digital.

And congrats on the new book.

Brenda





On May 4, 2009, at 12:44 PM, "Martin Hagvall" <martin at hagvall.com>  
wrote:


> Congratulations!

>

> On a related note, some of you might have missed that Brenda  

> Brathwaite

> featured in an Escapist online article discussing her new board game  

> designs

> about the slave trade, the holocaust, etc. Any thoughts? Is this  

> direction a

> welcome infusion of ethics and social context and/or does it risk

> "politicizing and polarizing" games (and perhaps by extension, also  

> game

> education)?

>

> http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/conferences/tgc_2009/6021-TGC-

> 2009-How-a-Board-Game-Can-Make-You-Cry

>

>

> __________________

>

> Martin Hagvall

> martin at hagvall.com

> http://twitter.com/martinhagvall

>

>

>

>

> ________________________________

>

>    From: game_edu-bounces at igda.org [mailto:game_edu-bounces at igda.org]

> On Behalf Of S. Gold

>    Sent: Monday, May 04, 2009 6:06 AM

>    To: IGDA Game Education Listserv

>    Subject: [game_edu] FW: New Book, The Ethics of Computer Games

>

>

>

>    --

>    Susan Gold

>    Skype: tahoegold

>

>    "To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that

> is all." Oscar Wilde

>

>    ------ Forwarded Message

>    From: Miguel Sicart <miguel at itu.dk>

>    Date: Mon, 4 May 2009 11:39:10 +0200

>    To: Miguel Sicart <miguel at itu.dk>

>    Subject: New Book, The Ethics of Computer Games

>

>

>    I am very happy to announce that my book , The Ethics of Computer

> Games, is finally out there in the wild, for anyone to purchase.  

> It's been a

> long process, but it's finally here. And it feels good ...

>

>    It ended up being quite a philosophy volume, but there are some  

> case

> studies, from Defcon to GTA IV, that makes the book a bit more  

> digestible. I

> am very interested in feedback and conversations on the book, so you  

> know

> where to find me ...

>

>    Now, it's time to prepare the release party ... and see if I can  

> get

> the movie rights sold ;)

>

>    Thank you all!

>

>

>    Miguel

>

>

>    ////some information about the book [apologies for

> cross-posting]////

>

>    >> Despite the emergence of computer games as a dominant cultural

> industry > (and the accompanying emergence of computer games as the  

> subject

> of > scholarly research), we know little or nothing about the ethics  

> of >

> computer games. Considerations of the morality of computer games  

> seldom > go

> beyond intermittent portrayals of them in the mass media as training >

> devices for teenage serial killers. In this first scholarly  

> exploration > of

> the subject, Miguel Sicart addresses broader issues about the ethics  

> > of

> games, the ethics of playing the games, and the ethical >  

> responsibilities

> of game designers. He argues that computer games are > ethical  

> objects, that

> computer game players are ethical agents, and that > the ethics of  

> computer

> games should be seen as a complex network of > responsibilities and  

> moral

> duties. Players should not be considered > passive amoral creatures;  

> they

> reflect, relate, and create with ethical > minds. The games they  

> play are

> ethical systems, with rules that create > gameworlds with values at  

> play. >

>> Drawing on concepts from philosophy and game studies, Sicart  

>> proposes a >

> framework for analyzing the ethics of computer games as both  

> designed >

> objects and player experiences. After presenting his core  

> theoretical >

> arguments and offering a general theory for understanding computer  

> game >

> ethics, Sicart offers case studies examining single-player games  

> (using >

> Bioshock as an example), multiplayer games (illustrated by Defcon),  

> and >

> online gameworlds (illustrated by World of Warcraft) from an ethical >

> perspective. He explores issues raised by unethical content in  

> computer >

> games and its possible effect on players and offers a synthesis of  

> design >

> theory and ethics that could be used as both analytical tool and >

> inspiration in the creation of ethical gameplay. > > Amazon.com:

> http://www.amazon.com/Ethics-Computer-Games-Miguel-Sicart/dp/0262012650/ref=

> sr Amazon.co.uk:

> http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ethics-Computer-Games-M-Sicart/dp/0262012650/ref=sr_

> 1_ MIT Press:

> http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11758

>

>

>    ------ End of Forwarded Message

>

>

>

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