Rhetoric

Rhetoric is defined as the art of effective communication. It is a persuasive discourse that attempts to persuade an audience of the importance and truth of the communicators values and beliefs. Rhetoric can be applied to many different areas, such as the areas of digital computer games. By studying the rhetoric of digital games it helps us to examine the representation of games and also to examine the rhetoric within the games themselves. As the digital game becomes more of the every day cultural furniture, it has been that more areas of the game has become an interest of exploration and the effects that the games may have on peoples minds.

There have been many investigation in to the effects of digital games on the players, however, Squire suggest that these are very problematic as they lack real world evidence, have multiple-variables and he considers them to make wild logical leaps in linking constrained inverse correlations between games and violent behaviour.
To look at the rhetoric of a game I chose to play the game Grand Theft Auto. The aim of the game is to earn enough points to complete each level. You earn points by ramming cars, mugging, beating people up and killing policemen. To gain enough points to finish the level you take on missions which also get paid. You can also steal cars and take them to the docks and sell them to make money. When I first started playing this game I was quite shocked to discover that it was teaching criminal ways, but after literary 8 mins I was really into the game and wanting to attack people just because I found it funny. This is not to say I would consider myself an aggressive person in fact quite the opposite. I would say that the rhetoric does not exactly convey a message of high morals. In fact it rather suggests a life of criminal activity is fun and rewarding, with lots of cash.
In October 2006 it was reported by The Daily Mail that teenage gangs were committing robberies as part of a violent new initiation game. It was said to be “a bit like a computer game for the kids, except this is real life." It involved kids going around and robbing, mugging and in general just doing juvenile attacks. Much like the game Grand Theft Auto. However not all games have the same rhetoric.


Bibliography:
Unknown (2006) Teen gangs score points for crime in 'initiation ceremony' Retrieved on the 19th of February 2007 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=409999&in_page_id=1770.
Squire, K. (date unknown) Cultural Framing of Computer/Video Games. Retrieved on the 19th of February 2007 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.gamestudies.org/0102/squire/

Further reading:

Lister. M, Dovey. J, Giddings. S, Grant. I, and Kelly K, (2003) New Media: A Critical Introduction, New York; Routledge.