:: netwoman's blog ::

Video Games as Ideological Artifact

One of the best things about playing video games is the online element. Gaming online is more then just the interactive community building - it's learning, mentoring, watching other people make mistakes and having a good laugh. Online Socom 3 has been the household weapon of choice as of late (when the server is working). It’s much more fun then playing with bots - I mean the unpredictability and creativity of humans is fascinating to watch – and some players are just SO good. Ok, so I am a late arrival to online gaming - and I have some playing issues with the 360 worldview (don't ask). I don't really have that much leisure time on my hands. One of the funniest things I have experienced - my friend just had a kill, and decided to have a crazy little victory dance - then realizing that someone is watching 'you' do this victory dance on the body. Graciously the sniper allowed my friend to finish her lovely little dance on the body before shooting. Even more entertaining is doing a victory dance with another online gamer. I mean, this stuff has me in stitches.

Granted the war theme is not generally an area that I'm interested in. This is the first time I have played this genre. I generally like shooting things and am good at it (more so with GunCon). The first time I played this game, I wondered if I could play a female navy seal - if it would be an option or a character to unlock later. No such luck. There is a female terrorist that can be unlocked, and there is a really annoying female civilian (who my friend promptly subdued because she was so annoying). At first I thought - well here is another example of a video game, designed for men and there are no female characters. That sucks.

Then someone drew my attention to the fact that - there are no female navy seals. That's it, that's the bottom line. There are no female navy seals.

All communities in the Navy are open to women officers with the exception of Submarines and SEALS.

Yes, ok GI Jane is a favourite of mine and I haven't watched JAG (but I hear it's pretty good). But here is another example of structural problematics and systemic inequalities - how society is mirrored in video games. I like to think that video games are the perfect venue for fantasy. Maybe we don't want to make the game so darned realistic. I mean the realistic - the real, the physical - it's laden with stuff sociologists spend a life time researching. What about using video games to manifest the 'unreal' - the fantasy - the utopia? Let's include women in the navy seals (though in a perfect world I don't envision war or navy seals). Is that so hard to imagine? Perhaps the simulacra can be more real than the real itself.

I think of Socom 3 as a media weapon of mass destruction. It's fun to play and it's easy to get sucked into the cut scenes of camaraderie of battle and victory; sharing victory dances and scheming together to protect your country. This is the American dream after all - protect your country from terrorists. War, death and violence are championed - honour, pride, valour - no fear - ideologies of patriotism embedded in game play. What's also been interesting to me is that you can play terrorists, and I know people who only want to play terrorists - rather then the seals. There's some room for movement - but it's still the us and them mentality.

Right, so there are many issues with the game, there are issues with the culture we live in. Knowing it and recognizing it is good - we can move forward, make some changes and strive for equitable life spaces. So why play it? It's like eating a carton of ice cream; you know it's bad for you but it tastes so good, you have to eat it anyway. Ideologies are convincing, they’'e part of our individual identity, social identity and national identity. Do I support it? No. But I play it to gain a deeper understanding of the social world I currently exist in. Video games tell us a lot about the world we live in, about the people we are and the people we strive to be.

posted by Netwoman @ 8:05 PM