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

[Miguel Sicart]

Thanks for the replies!
As for Brenda's games (which I'd love to play/look at!), I think they sound
great. We need more games that force us to think about what we can express,
ethically and aesthetically, with the tools of play.
As educator and researcher, I am certainly not afraid of politicizing and
polarizing games in the context of education. Freedom of research grants us
this opportunity, which we should be exploring like Brenda has done.

Incidentally, as part of the larger project my book is a part of, this
summer I will be working with some of my very talented colleagues at the IT
University on game based on Hannah Arendt's theory of the banality of evil (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banality_of_evil). The idea is to apply (my)
theories on ethics and games to a game design. Ideally, it will be a digital
game at some stage, but we will probably have different  non-digital
iterations along the way. Let's see what happens!


Miguel

 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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