I will not lie, reading Ian Bogost’s “The Rhetoric of Video Games” was difficult.
To me, this article talked about how video games have some beneath the surface lessons that people learn while they play. This article reminded me a lot of the USSR government passport game we played together as a class. That video game in particular was about checking passports and letting the correct people into the country while turning everyone else away. The game is not as simple as that sentence makes it seem. You are a government worker, and you need your job to support the “family” the game gives you. You receive money for every person you correctly let in or turn away, and that money helps to keep your family alive. The people you are turning away often times have sad back stories. The story we always refer to in class is a lady character that says “I’ve been separated from my husband for years and I am so excited to be reunited with him,” but you are not allowed to let her in because the government is not accepting people with her type of passport that day. If you choose to let this lady in, you do not get paid and your family suffers for your choice. Your child may starve, and you may not have a heated house anymore. The game uses rhetorical strategies and approaches to persuade you to make certain choices and to notice that it is not always as easy as it may seem.
I used that video game as the reference because I have never played the game Bogost refers to in his article. From my understanding “Animal Crossing” is very similar in the style of game. It allows you to make decisions on your own, but you are also supposed to be following the decisions the game wants you to make.
I think the rhetoric of video games exemplifies how video games are a part of humanities. There is no one right or wrong answer. There is no necessarily easy choice. Video games allow people to look at all factors in play, without necessarily noticing they are doing so. You are still having fun while playing these games, your mind is just being opened to all of the subliminal work that is done in contribution to the game.
Emily Hatch