I had more difficulty working on this week’s assignment than I had with last week’s assignment. Rather than solely working with audio, I also had to work with pictures, transitions, and movements within pictures. Once I situated myself with iMovie and discovered the different editing tricks, I had a lot of fun playing around with my screencast. I look forward to learning how to design a game for next week’s assignment.

In “Playing Politics: Videogames for Politics, Activism, and Advocacy,” Ian Bogost summed up the relationship between games and politics well when he said, “Videogames afford a new perspective on political issues, since they are especially effective at representing complex systems. By understanding how games express rhetoric in their rules, we not only gain a critical vantage point on videogame artifacts, but also we can begin to consider how to design games whose primary purpose is to editorialize, teach, and make political statements.” A game might be able to convey politics by spreading support throughout networks, building communities, informing players about the history and policies of the U.S., and creating an experience for players to perform in. In December 2003, Bogost partnered with Gonzalo Frasca to “co-design the first ever videogame endorsed by a U.S. Presidential Candidate. The Howard Dean for Iowa Game was commissioned by Dean for America to help fencesitter supporters understand the process and power of grassroots outreach.” Their creation opened a new genre of political videogames. The game reached more people and gained more political support for the cause.

Designing a game that conveys politics can be tricky. As Bogost stated, there has been controversy over some games, such as JFK Reloaded, Kuma\War, and 9-11 Survivor. I think a good, safe idea for a political game would be to experience the 2016 political campaign virtually. Players could watch previous debates, learn stats about candidates, and raise support for their favorite candidate. This game would get younger generations involved in politics and make them more eager to vote, while also getting more support for candidates.

Image borrowed from http://www.supercheats.com/jfk-reloaded/screenshots/.