Can Games Teach Ethics?

June 22, 2007
By

Good write-up by Leigh Alexander over at Sexy Videogameland and comments on a debate started on another blog (Sirlin.net)…

Sexy Videogameland: Can Games Teach Ethics?

  1. people play a meta-game where game mechanics-based consequences outweigh any sort of moral or ethical dilemma
  2. but this is highly individual
  3. so, for some players they’ll just make decisions based on maximum benefit (acting “rational” in game theory terms)
  4. for other players, personal and character identity do matter (see Gee’s discussion about projective identity in What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy, for example)

As I’ve said in my general exams and previous papers, I became a games researcher because of the ethical dilemma I found myself faced with in Knights of the Old Republic. :)

2 Responses to Can Games Teach Ethics?

  1. Mark Danger Chen » NWN2 vs. Oblivion vs. WoW on September 24, 2007 at 10:40 am

    [...] it right since doing it right is not a given. NWN2’s multiplayer sucks ass.  I think I let my experiences with Knights of the Old Republic predispose me to NWN2.  Unfortunately, NWN2’s choices weren’t as interesting so even [...]

  2. [...] also previous posts on games and ethics and what MMOGs need. Sphere: Related [...]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*