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Just War? War Games, War Crimes, and Game Design
Abstract
Military shooters have explored both historical and modern settings and remain one of the most popular game genres. While the violence of these games has been explored in multiple studies, the study of how war and the rules of war are represented is underexplored. The Red Cross has argued that as virtual war games are becoming closer to reality, the rules of war should be included. This article explores the argument put forward by the Red Cross and its reception by games media organizations, in order to consider how the concept of “just war” is represented within games. This article will focus on concerns over games adherence to the criteria of jus in bello (the right conduct in war) and will also consider the challenges that developers face in the creation of entertainment products in the face of publisher and press concerns.
... This way, the genre can "systematically structure player experiences in a way that glorifies warfare and soldiery and that suppresses unpleasant, yet salient features and consequences of military and other violent conduct" (157). Afghanistan and Angola are in a sense a place outside of reality, where players can adopt the role of the invader who enters the life-less war zone to accrue wealth and personnel in a 'Just War' (Donald 2019(Donald [2017). Flak filtering enables MGSV to convey the view of military conflict as clean, honorable, and just, with the subaltern being both silent, passive, and ultimately absent. ...
... This way, the genre can "systematically structure player experiences in a way that glorifies warfare and soldiery and that suppresses unpleasant, yet salient features and consequences of military and other violent conduct" (157). Afghanistan and Angola are in a sense a place outside of reality, where players can adopt the role of the invader who enters the life-less war zone to accrue wealth and personnel in a 'Just War' (Donald 2019(Donald [2017). Flak filtering enables MGSV to convey the view of military conflict as clean, honorable, and just, with the subaltern being both silent, passive, and ultimately absent. ...
In this article I argue that the structural conditions of global capitalism and postcolonialism encourage game developers to rearticulate hegemonic memory politics and suppress subaltern identities. This claim is corroborated via an application of Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky’s propaganda model to the Japanese-developed video game Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. This case study highlights that the hegemonic articulations of colonial histories are not exclusive to Western entertainment products where instead modes of production matter in the ‘manufacturing of mnemonic hegemony’. I also propose that the propaganda model, while instructive, can be improved further by acknowledging a technological filter and the role of the subaltern. Thus, the article furthers the understanding of the relation between production and form in contemporary technological phenomena like video games and how this relation motivates hegemonic articulations of the past in contemporary mass culture.
... Player behaviour may depend on the contextual expectations from games. For example, first-person shooter games depict armed conflict in virtual settings that may feed player expectations of violence in battle (Donald, 2019). The expectations may arise from graphical technologies in the games that offer high levels of fidelity that may include illegal real-world actions such as the treatment of prisoners and the use of flamethrowers and cluster bombs. ...
Background
Player behaviour comprises thoughts, decisions and other actions that arise from multiple sources and contexts in games and is based on the players’ complex environment of information, vicarious experiences and perspectives. Learning and superior performance within the game are shaped by the players’ goal orientation, conviction and interactions.
Objectives
of the study: The study sought to understand the concept, functions and constituents of player behaviour from their perspectives, expectations, beliefs and traits. Recognising player behaviour in terms of its constituent elements would clarify and enhance knowledge of human behaviour and make it simple to use the understanding in deeper enquiry and applications.
Method
An instrument of 43 statements was first developed based on extant research and refined by the responses of 45 university teachers. It was then administered to 1,260 university students from whom 711 valid responses were received. The sample was processed by exploratory factor analysis under varimax rotation to yield the scale of player behaviour at a Cronbach alpha of .96 and a cumulative variance of 54 percent.
Results
The seven factors of the scale had an eigenvalue each of more than one, and Cronbach α values of .58 to .90. The exploratory factor analysis generated seven factors that were named conviction, experience sharing, uncertainty, unpredictability, insights, preparedness and planning.
Discussion
The study identified the factors of player behaviour and studied the effect of gender and education on player behaviour. It showed that player behaviour emerges from convictions which are perspectives backed by ready resources, skills and action plans to simplify, understand and respond to situations and likely problems. The behavioural differences between gender, type of programme and level of education were not significant. The study also discussed the nature of each factor and the limitations, suggestions and implications of the study.
... Dalam penelitian ini mitos yang dimaksud adalah terkait dengan citra pustakawan yang diterima oleh penggemar, melalui mitos ini nilai dan makna sosial yang ingin disampaikan oleh pengarang dapat dirasakan secara lebih natural oleh penggemar sehingga teks yang ditulis untuk merepresentasikan citra pustakawan dalam komik benar-benar diproyeksikan untuk menjadi sebuah fakta sebenarnya dan bukan hanya sekedar representasi (Donald, 2019;Putri, 2016;Trabelsi-Zoghlami & Touzani, 2019). ...
Penggambaran citra kurang baik pustakawan yang dilakukan secara berulang melalui media dalam berbagai produk budaya populer memiliki kesempatan untuk semakin memperkeruhsituasi dunia kepustakawanan yang terjadi di dunia nyata. Namun beruntung saat ini terdapat citra pustakawan dalam karya fiksi seperti komik One Piece yang menghadirkan alternatif citra pustakawan yang lebih positif dan cenderung berbeda dibandingkan fakta yang terjadi secara keseluruhan. Hadirnya citra pustakawan yang lebih positif tersebut diharapkan bisa memberikan pandangan lebih luas terkait kemungkinan terjadinya situasi serupa terkait isu-isu yang tersemat pada pustakawan di benak masyarakat, khususnya mahasiswa ilmu informasi dan perpustakaan. Pemaknaan yang dilakukan pembaca beridentitas mahasiswa ilmu informasi dan perpustakaan terhadap karakter pustakawan yang memiliki determinasi dedikasi lebih saat menjalani aktivitas di bidang perpustakaan merupakan sumber data yang krusial dan penting untuk diteliti. Hal tersebut dikarenakan peneliti bisa menakar bagaimana intensi yang dimiliki oleh para calon pustakawan dalam menghadapi isu-isu yang terrepresentasikan dalam One Piece. Kendati mangaka berusaha menyampaikan citra pustakawan secara positif, penggambaran tersebut masih bisa dimaknai secara berbeda oleh para pembacanya karena adanya perbedaan situasi dan nilai- nilai yang dipercaya oleh pembaca. Untuk memperoleh perbedaan pemaknaan tersebut penelitian ini menggunakan teori Encoding/Decoding dan konsep representasi yang dicetuskan oleh Stuart Hall, yang sebelumnya untuk memperoleh kandungan makna dalam panel-panel komik One Piece, peneliti menggunakan analisis semiotika 2 tahap yang dari Roland Barthes. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif dengan teknik analisisresepsi. Terkait dengan bagaimana keyakinan terhadap konvensi nilai- nilai yangterkandung dalam identitas pembaca dan konsistensi posisi pemaknaan di sepanjang momen pemaknaan 6 teks yang disajikan, peneliti menemukan 2 tipologi dalam penelitian ini, yaitu Pragmatic Constant-Positions dan Realistic Alternate-Positions.
... A crescente visibilidade dos jogos devido ao seu impacto econômico e grande público são apenas duas das questões que têm levado diversos estudiosos (GRÓS, 2007;PRENSKY, 2001; ANNETTA, 2008) a olharem para os jogos digitais com mais seriedade. Talvez a questão mais relevante para os estudos atuais esteja no potencial dos jogos como meios de comunicação e os seus efeitos no comportamento, nas habilidades e na consciência humana (PRENSKY, 2001;ANNETTA, 2008;DONALD, 2017). ...
Resumo: Esse trabalho se propôs a refletir sobre a produção e utilização dos jogos digitais como forma de disseminar discursos minoritários que enfrentam barreiras socioeconômicas para sua difusão e discussão. Para tanto, partimos da análise dos principais componentes que permitem aos jogos participar do processo de formação da memória. Utilizamos como estudo de caso dois jogos de FPS Sniper Elite 2 e Medal of Honor Above and Beyond, que têm como tema a 2ª Guerra Mundial. Ambos os jogos são casos de sucesso que foram construídos com base no discurso estadunidense sobre este conflito. Baseado nesse sucesso propomos a reflexão sobre como poderíamos utilizar os jogos digitais como meios para a disseminação de discursos minoritários, abordando alguns exemplos atuais, discutindo alguns dos pontos que podem estar relacionados ao fato destes jogos não terem atingido sucessos tão grandiosos. O caminho traçado por esta reflexão, ainda inicial, permitiu observar que os jogos com discursos minoritários não contam com tantas ferramentas de engajamento quanto as suas contrapartes, contudo, consideramos que este problema pode ser sanado através de iniciativas de vinculação com empresas menores de jogos, ou mesmo com desenvolvedores solo. Palavras-chave: Jogos digitais, Discursos de poder, Ensino de história.
... Análisis socio-crítico, socio-político y ético de juegos bélicos (10) Donald, 2019;García-Moreno, 2017;González & Igartua, 2020;Nardone, 2017;Payne, 2014;Robinson, 2012;Robinson & Schulzke, 2016;Saber & Webber, 2017;Shaw, 2010;Verino, 2019). ...
Resumen: Se analiza la producción científica sobre videojuegos bélicos. La metodología se sustenta en una revisión sistemática de estudios extraídos de bases de datos (Scopus, Web Of Science y Google Scholar), mediante un meta-análisis, siguiendo criterios de PRISMA-P2015 para identificar los enfoques y metodologías empleadas. Se encontraron 37 estudios entre 2010-2020 en cuatro ámbitos: educativo, psicológico, sociológico o antropológico y tecnológico. Los resultados ofrecen un panorama polarizado, un sector los considera plataformas de propaganda militarista; otro apuesta por utilizarlos como un recurso didáctico, permitiendo la inmersión virtual en acontecimientos históricos; y los técnicos señalan la conveniencia de diseñar videojuegos educativos con el asesoramiento de historiadores para dotarlos de mayor fiabilidad, además de incorporar misiones gamificadas que potencien su jugabilidad. Sin embargo, se precisan estudios que profundicen en la oportunidad que ofrecen estos instrumentos para impulsar el pensamiento crítico y la reflexión frente a la guerra y el sufrimiento de las víctimas.
Abstract: Scientific production on war videogames is analyzed. The methodology is based on a systematic review of studies extracted from databases (Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar), through a meta-analysis, following the criteria of PRISMA-P2015 to identify the approaches and methodologies used. Thirty-seven studies were found between 2010-2020 in four areas: educational, psychological, sociological or anthropological and technological. The results offer a polarized panorama, one sector considers them militarist propaganda platforms; another is committed to using them as a didactic resource, allowing virtual immersion in historical events; and the technicians point out the convenience of designing educational video games with the advice of historians to make them more reliable, in addition to incorporating gamified missions that enhance their playability. However, studies are needed to delve into the opportunity offered by these instruments to promote critical thinking and reflection in the face of war and the suffering of the victims.
... Bu konuda Pentagon ile medya arasındaki ittifak nedeniyle savaşın televizyonla bütünleşmesi ve seyirlik hale gelmesinin getirdiği "temiz savaş, teknofetişizm ve birlikleri destekleme retoriğinin" (Stahl, 2010, s. 47-55) dijital oyunlar için de geçerli olduğunu söylemek mümkündür. Çoğunlukla Amerikan ve Batı perspektifinden savaşı tasvir eden oyunlar, şiddeti, Amerikan ve Batı ordusunun müdahalelerini doğal olarak gösterme, düşmanları da Batı karşıtı terörist olarak sunma eğilimindedirler (Donald, 2019) Spec Ops: The Line ya da This War of Mine gibi bu yapının dışına çıkabilen oyunlar olsa da genel olarak savaş temalı oyunların, savaşa dair tüm gerçekleri sunmadıkları, şiddete dair unsurları, sivil kayıpları ya da travma sonrası stres bozukluğu gibi konuları dışladıkları, savaş ve şiddetin yalnızca belirli yönlerini seçici olarak vurgulayan benzer filtreler uyguladıkları söylenebilir (Pötzsch, 2017). Böylece savaşın temiz ve zevkli bir versiyonunu sunan, savaşı "teatral olarak romantikleştiren" oyunların görsel gerçekçiliği, içerisinde yer alan anlam şemalarını meşrulaştırmakta (Šisler, 2016) ve sunduğu deneyimsel anlatı ile hem savaşa hem de geçmişe ilişkin anlam dünyamızı yapılandırmaktadırlar. ...
Events which are not personally experienced are remembered through mediums. Places such as museums and monuments as well as all kinds of media help to learn and remember historical knowledge. However, the media is rebuilding the memory based on the present understanding of the history which is fictionalized. Digital games simulate historical events and transmit them to the players. The relationship between digital games and memory resembles other media platforms and serves a source of historical image and narrative that functions as a “mnemonic aids”. Within this context, in this study, Nusrat Mobile War Game was analyzed in the scope of the Justice and Development Party’s national history construction. In the game, it is explained that by which indicators the memory elements related to the Battle of Gallipoli are given.
Kişisel olarak deneyimlenmeyen olaylar dolayımlar üzerinden hatırlanmaktadır. Müzeler, anıtlar gibi mekânların yanı sıra her türlü medya ortamı geçmiş bilgisini edinmeye ve hatırlamaya yardımcı olmaktadırlar. Ancak medya ürettiği kurgulanmış geçmiş nedeniyle belleği bugünün esasına göre yeniden inşa etmektedir. Tarihsel olayların simülasyonlarını oluşturarak oyunculara ileten dijital oyunların bellek ile ilişkisi de diğer medya ortamlarına benzemekte, tarihi imge ve anlatı kaynağı olarak hatırlamaya yardımcı (mnemonic aids) olarak işlev görmektedir. Bu bağlamdan yola çıkan bu çalışmada Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi’nin ulusal tarih inşası çerçevesinde Nusrat Mobil Savaş Oyunu analiz edilmiştir. Oyunda Çanakkale Savaşı ile ilgili belleğe ilişkin unsurların hangi göstergelerle verildiği açıklanmıştır.
... Low-fidelity simulations, such as in Papers, Please, allow players to explore decisionmaking processes and to engage in a world with consequences without the high stakes of real-world consequences. One weakness of low-fidelity simulations is that they often do not have the power to evoke the emotions and feelings of those who actually face simulated experiences in real life (Donald, 2019). Regardless of their ability to evoke a specific emotion within those who play them, video games are designed to produce certain action. ...
Politicians and public administrators have long played both prominent and supporting roles in works of fiction. The field of public administration has a tradition of using fictionalized depictions of administrative processes to understand better the relationship between theory and practice. Portrayals of public servants and government action in video games remain an understudied area, leaving gaps in our understanding related to digital media and bureaucratic characterization. Using Squire’s framework of understanding video games as a designed experience, this study examines the elements of administrative ethics and ethical decision making within the video game Papers, Please. Future research will most certainly be required to connect characterization of public service in digital media to public perception and pedagogy of administrative functions. This research aims to catalyze exploration into this concept through illustrated applicability and salience.
The changing character of armed conflict, combined with the transformation of the global media landscape, has fundamentally altered the experience of war for Western audiences. Although physically distanced from its cost to a historically unprecedented degree, the virtual proximity of the average citizen to war has never been closer. Military first-person shooter (FPS) gaming is a critical component of this dynamic, functioning as the principle means through which to consume and interact with war for a large and growing segment of the population. This influence is problematic. Although exceptions exist, military FPSs typically both reflect and sustain the “war is hell” myth: a conviction, reinforced through interactive gameplay, that the rules of war cannot, and indeed should not, apply to the battlefield. We argue that a more complete and nuanced integration of the laws of war into this medium would help shift popular understandings of armed conflict, and the legal restraints imposed on it, in a more positive direction and, at the same time, allow game designers to better fulfil their commitment to a “realistic” depiction of the battlefield.
More and more military first-person shooters situate their action in contemporary conflicts, with some claiming to various degrees to realistically depicted that conflict. Using the recently released game Medal of Honor as an example, this paper shows that such realism is made impossible by the presence of three ideological constructs found in military shooters: the FPS apparatus, the military-entertainment complex and neo-Orientalism. These constructs respectively naturalize violent intervention, frame the U.S. military as just heroes, and present Afghanistan and its inhabitants as fundamentally terrorist. Each of these constructs thus works to strip elements of military conflict of context, and reinforces the others ‘ tendency to turn a complex war into a simple case of good vanquishing evil.
Video games are influencing users' perceptions about what soldiers are permitted to do during war. They may also be influencing the way combatants actually behave during today's armed conflicts. While highly entertaining escapism for millions of players, some video games create the impression that prohibited acts, such as torture and extrajudicial killing are standard behaviour. The authors argue that further integration of international humanitarian law (IHL) can improve knowledge of the rules of war among millions of players, including aspiring recruits and deployed soldiers. This, in turn, offers the promise of greater respect for IHL on tomorrow's battlefields.
This article presents the ways in which Muslims and Arabs are represented and represent themselves in video games. First, it analyses how various genres of European and American video games have constructed the Arab or Muslim Other. Within these games, it demonstrates how the diverse ethnic and religious identities of the Islamic world have been flattened out and reconstructed into a series of social typologies operating within a broader framework of terrorism and hostility. It then contrasts these broader trends in western digital representation with selected video games produced in the Arab world, whose authors have knowingly subverted and refashioned these stereotypes in two unique and quite different fashions. In conclusion, it considers the significance of western attempts to transcend simplified patterns of representation that have dominated the video game industry by offering what are known as 'serious' games.
This article presents the ways in which Muslims and Arabs are represented and represent themselves in video games. First, it analyses how various genres of European and American video games have constructed the Arab or Muslim Other. Within these games, it demonstrates how the diverse ethnic and religious identities of the Islamic world have been flattened out and reconstructed into a series of social typologies operating within a broader framework of terrorism and hostility. It then contrasts these broader trends in western digital representation with selected video games produced in the Arab world, whose authors have knowingly subverted and refashioned these stereotypes in two unique and quite different fashions. In conclusion, it considers the significance of western attempts to transcend simplified patterns of representation that have dominated the video game industry by offering what are known as 'serious' games.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 [Xbox 360]
- Activision
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare [Xbox 360]
- Activision
“Targeting the laws of war with video games” in American Society of International Law
- Red American
- Cross
Call of duty—by the numbers
- Activision
International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries
- A Res
Report on CIA details ‘brutal’ post-9/11 interrogations
- Bbc World
Should the rules of war be included in computer games?
- I Foulkes
IR and the future wars of first person military shooters
- J Hoglund
The hurt locker doesn’t get this vet’s vote
- K Hoit
Call of Duty: Black Ops
- Activision
Web biennial 2012-Josh Bricker-Post Newtonianism (war footage/call of duty 4 modern warfare)
- J Bricker
Games let you commit ‘violations of international law,’ says human rights groups
- J Cullen
The just war myth: The moral illusions of war
- A G Fiala
Gamed: video games and the laws of war
- R Fleming
Six days in Fallujah: The untold story
- L Parker
No Russian scene censored for call of duty modern warfare 2 in Japan
- B Warmoth
Games ‘permit’ virtual war crimes
- Bbc News
ITV documentary in IRA computer game blunder
- Bbc News
What do men who’ve answered the real call of duty think about military games?
- M Clark
First, Second, Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions
- Geneva Conventions
Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare
- Geneva Protocol
A soldier’s perspective on call of duty and its ilk
- J Lomberg
- D Mull
Status update: Six days in Fallujah, with Atomic Games president Peter Tamte
- X Matos
The designer of call of duty’s ‘no Russian’ massacre wanted you to feel something
- S Totilo
Tom Clancy’s Splinter cell: Double agent
- Ubisoft
Valiant hearts: The Great War
- Ubisoft
In the army now—Narrative elements and realism in military first-person shooters
- J Breuer
- R Festl
- T Quandt
Death from above: How COD4 is the most realistic war game ever made
- S Burns
War crimes in video games draw Red Cross scrutiny
- B Crecente
How to kill civilians in a war game
- K Hamilton
Forget call of duty, this is what real war looks like
- L Plunkett
Shooting for realism: How accurate are video-game weapons?
- E Sofge
What do real soldiers think of shooting games?
- J Thang
Six Days in Fallujah
- Konami
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
- Konami
Veterans: Why ‘the hurt locker’ isn’t reality
- P Reickhoff
White phosphorus: Weapon on the edge
- P Reynolds
Learning the rules of war from video games
- C E Sigmund
Spec Ops: The Line [Xbox 360
- Games