All too often, video games are seen as vehicles of fantastic (as in fantasy), mindless entertainment with no tangible lessons or connections to the real world. However, this is often not the case; in modern times of increased socio-political turmoil, as well as a partnered increase in need for widespread awareness, game designers have started using their software to reach out to the general population. Games are beginning to tackle more advanced and complex social issues, including power, class, culture, language, tolerance, poverty, terrorism, and diversity, as explored by Mary Flanagan. Realizing that they have a large, engaged, captive audience, game designers like the once behind “Massively Multiplayer Soba” required their players to get out into their communities, communicate with people who spoke different languages, and learn about the cultures of their neighbors. This challenged any preconceived notions or barriers that players created or felt, while simultaneously promoting interactions and awareness within communities. Other socially-conscious games like “Layoff”, exist virtually, but let the player experience similarly-immersive situations. By taking on different roles in the game, balancing different demands, and facing different decisions, players gain a deeper understanding of the interacting forces behind certain business decisions.

The impacts of socially- and politically-conscious games were further investigated by Neys and Jansz: using a study of 6 games, these European researchers sought to discover the intentions behind creating these types of games, as well as the impact they had on the understandings of the gamers. Neys and Jansz focus on the increasing media consumption trends: modern generations are turning to “softer” forms of media that combine entertainment and information instead of more traditional, “harder” outlets like straight news. Though this places a lot of power in the hands of “soft” content producers, various researchers argue that this intertwining of news and emotionally-capturing media may actually empower and educate the population more than classic forms of information. Neys and Jansz’ study found exactly this: players reported not only heightened interest in the topics presented by the games, but also felt like they had learned something from the content. On top of that, players also reported wanting to engage with their peers regarding the concepts presented in the games. This is a prime example of how socio-political forms of media, like video games, can have a direct impact in the knowledge of not only one individual, but also the spreading of information and awareness throughout the population.

I have not had a lot of exposure to socio-political video games. I was raised as a reader; as a child, my parents and I would read together, read at the same time, or I would read for entertainment on my own. Naturally, as I grew older and became more interested in what was happening in the world around me, I started to read the news. Both sets of my grandparents read, and continue to this day, their news from the newspaper; my parents and I do not order the paper, so I turned to electronic versions of The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other online news sources. Recently, I have also started watching The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (previously with Jon Stewart). This is the closest thing that I can relate to gaining socio-political knowledge and interest through video games. Both video games and shows like The Daily Show marry entertainment with recent events and socio-political climates. Not only that, but quality forms of entertainment media do a lot of the background research and credibility-vetting for their audiences: consumers of primary media sources have to consider the source, weigh the various forces pulling on the information, and interpret the information given these caveats. Though video games and shows like The Daily Show are not fully impartial, they present events in a way that is both engaging and credible, therefore empowering their audiences with quality information and renewed interests in conducting their own research.

I would pose the following questions to my peers: do you think that people should rely primarily on entertaining media for their news? If so, how would you educate the public on biases to mitigate the induction or propagation of incorrect information? If not, how would you propose we reach or inspire modern generations to become interested and active in social and political climates?