Hello and welcome to the podcast series Ready, Set, Game: The Rhetoric of Games, a podcast created by Emory University students in David Morgen’s Play, Make, Write, Think class. Over the course of the series, we will approach games as operating within the larger media ecology and attempt to diagram the competing forces at work within that landscape. In each episode, we will play and analyze a specific game with an eye toward its rhetorical situation and the role it plays within the broader medium.
We’ll focus on the way these games encourage players to think in order to move through them and what sorts of decisions the games force us to make. As we probe the underlying rules of game systems and speculate about what’s going on underneath the hood, we’ll ponder where they are taking us and to what ends. How do these games encourage certain types of problem solving and learning? What sorts of values do they promote? What sorts of new perspectives do we gain in the playing?
This episode was constructed to analyze the game The Last of Us. It began with an examination of our main characters; Joel and Ellie. We look at the psychopathic behaviors from Joel and admiringly mature behavior from Ellie. We used these aspects of the game to illuminate what the game engineers were trying to do for the players’ experience. We also speak on the current topic of the COVID-19 virus and how the nightmare-like situations of the game relate to our quarantine.
In this episode of “Ready, Set, Game”, Zamirah and Rachel will be analyzing the widely-popular game, Tetris. What makes this simple game so addictive to a countless number of players around the world? How can we apply the strategies of this game to our lives? How can this game influence real-world thoughts and perspectives? Tune in to hear our thoughts!
Lau-Zhu, Alex, et al. “Selective Association Between Tetris Game Play and Visuospatial Working Memory: A Preliminary Investigation.” Applied Cognitive Psychology, John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2017, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5836929/.
In this episode, we will be discussing the ways the mechanics of the game inspire SuperBetter strategies and probing. After falling down a hole in the Great Mountain, you find yourself surrounded by monsters! What can they teach us about bullet-hell-shooters and retro games? Is talking to your enemies a valuable life lesson? And why are there pieces of determination and bone puns flying about? After listening to this podcast, perhaps you will realize that monsters have a SOUL just like we do.
By looking back at the generation born in the 2000s, the first video games they had access to were on free websites using Flash. In this episode, Jessica and George reminisce on their days playing Fireboy and Watergirl and talk about the potential benefits that kids gained from playing this game. From confidence to connection to communication, listen now to possibly reveal something new about your childhood and work on living gamefully.
In this episode, we will discuss the gaming mechanism and the real-life influence of Plague inc., a real-time strategy simulation video game. How does this game wok? What does it feel like to play Plague Inc. after the COVID-19 outbreak? Why it is so popular all over the world? The discussion closely relates to the globally concerned coronavirus problem. If you feel like this episode will cause you anxiety and stress, please skip over.
In this podcast episode, Will, Giovanni, and Sadie take a deep dive into the game of Chess–the setup, rules, strategies, and applications to everyday life. How does Chess enhance our ability to think a few steps ahead and maintain a clear end goal? How can we take effective action to succeed in a Chess game? Hopefully after listening, you will come away with a new outlook on the importance of strategy.
In this episode, Greg and I will be discussing the soccer video game FIFA 20. We will discuss how sports video games can simulate a real-life situation and bring people together virtually. In the midst of a global pandemic where people are socially distancing, there is no better time to discuss how e-sports compare to real-life sports and how people can stay involved in their favorite sports when they are unable to be physically played. We also examine how e-sports can fill a void in our lives and how they will continue to evolve in the future. Join us on the soccer pitch!
In this episode Kathy and I will be taking a closer look at Portal 2, a puzzle game made by Valve Corporation in 2011. The players find themselves inside of a test chamber, equipped with a portal gun, and have to use the power of portals to figure out a way to escape. How does a 9 year old game still appeal to modern gamers? Come and join us as we explore how the dedicated and passionate player-base has helped elevate this game to a place that the developers would not have been capable of reaching alone.
In this episode, we will discuss mainly the strategy or telescoping and the application of skills used in Settlers of Catan to the real world. What are the choices we have to select? How does probability play a role in the real-life? How do you succeed? This discussion also talks about today’s big problem, coronavirus. After listening to this episode, you will start to think about what we should do now.
