Contextual studies: What are Games really teaching us?

After my last contextual studies post I have become intrigued by how games can potentially teach us to think a certain way or do certain things. Below I have looked at some games that might shed some light on what I'm saying.

“Being schooled means understanding how to stand in line, how to speak when acknowledged, and how to follow directions.”-Ian Bogost 

The Stanley Parable is a indie game developed by Galactic cafe which follows the player as they play as Stanley and how they react to the narrator. though-out the game the play is given choices to make but the narrator will always try and put the player on a certain path but the player has the 'illusion of choice' spread out in front of them. If the player goes against the narrator the player gets punished some how but if the player follows the narrator's narrative the player has been said to have been 'freed' but this can be argued to be false as the player did not leave on his own free will. in a bigger perspective this game could potentially be telling the player that not following the rules whatever the case may lead you to horrible circumstances, and to stay within the lines of society leads you to a 'happy' life.

another game I found intriguing is 'Animal Crossing' created by Nintendo is a 3D simulation game that puts the player in a new town where they must pay of their dept for their house and help the community with the problems as well as the player having time to collect items.
But over time the player can lose the sense of peacefulness in this town and start craving for more and more things. the player is influenced by the endless cycle of consumerism that they are constantly reminded of by:

• the non-playable character who are quite happy with their small house and old possesions which  makes the player distant and different from them.
• the value of some collectables are quite high that the player is face with the decision to give the item to the community or kept it to themselves and make more money. 
• the constant letters from the 'happy room academy' reminds the player that there house could look better, encouraging the player to buy more stuff leading to them buying a bigger house for it. 

the feeling of consumerism can also be felt in other games like 'The Sims', the more expensive possessions the player buys the happier their Sims and the non playable characters are.

sources:

Animal Crossing. (2001). Nintendo.

Bogost, I. (2007). Persuasive games. 1st ed. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Davidson, D. (2008). Beyond fun. 1st ed. [Pittsburgh, Penn.]: ETC Press

Ferrari, S. (2014). The Judgment of Procedural Rhetoric. [online] Academia.edu. Available at: http://www.academia.edu/431419/The_Judgment_of_Procedural_Rhetoric [Accessed 17 Apr. 2014].

Gwaltney, J. (2012). Gaming rhetoric: The Stanley Parable in the classroom. [online] VentureBeat.

Available at: http://venturebeat.com/2012/10/27/gaming-rhetoric-the-stanley-parable-in-the

classroom/ [Accessed 19 Apr. 2014].

Johnson, J. (2011). Freedom and Control. [online] Psychologytoday.com. Available at:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cui-bono/201104/freedom-and-control [Accessed 18 Apr.

2014].

Rao, L. (2014). EA Founder Raises $6.5M From Greylock For Social And Emotional Learning Game

‘If You Can’ | TechCrunch. [online] TechCrunch. Available at: http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/26/ea

founder-raises-6-5m-from-greylock-for-social-and-emotional-learning-game-if-you-can/ [Accessed 27

Apr. 2014].

The Sims. (2000). Electronic Arts, Aspyr.

The Stanley Parable. (2011). Galactic Cafe.