ENG 225 Rhetoric and Gaming

Lavigne, C. (2015). "I'm Batman" (and You Can Be Too): "Gender" and Constrictive Play in the "Arkham" Game Series. Cinema Journal Vol. 55, No. 1 (Fall 2015), pp. 133-141 Lavigne used Batman: Arkham City (2013, Rocksteady) to create a qualitative review of dangerous tropes in mainstream games. The article shows that the character Batman “advances heteronormative, hypergendered stereotypes” with his “ripped” physique, justified violence, and having to rescue almost every female he comes in contact with. Catwoman is brought up as an equally dangerous character in regards to tropes. She fights in heels, kisses thugs, and is programmed to show all of her curves while playing as her. This, in addition to NPC interactions with her, make Catwoman a dangerous stereotype. This article shows that mainstream media can be instrumental to stereotypes being brought forward. It also shows that game design is still entrenched in the “typical male fantasy”, and that...

Greitemeyer, T., Osswald, S., & Brauer, M. (2010). Playing Prosocial Video Games Increases Empathy and Decreases Schadenfreude . American Psychological Association 2010, Vol. 10, No. 6, 796 – 802. This article covers two experiments by Greitemeyer, et al, to show levels of malicious pleasure (schadenfreude) after playing games that were rated as “prosocial”, “antisocial”, and “neutral” in regards to the game’s theme. The first experiment used Tetris (Pajitnov, A., 1984) and Lemmings (Psygnosis, 1991) as the neutral and prosocial games, respectively. The participants were then asked how they felt about a celebrity's misfortune. Those who played the prosocial game were more likely to not feel schadenfreude about the celebrity. The second experiment included the antisocial game Lamers (MobyGames, 1992), a parody of Lemmings where the goal is to kill all of the animals, rather than save them. Those who played the antisocial game experienced the highest level of schadenfreude...

This paper, “ Mental Health Messages in Prominent Mental Health Apps ” by Lisa Parker, et al, addressed exactly what the title states. Their analysis was quantitative, and they looked into apps from four countries: the UK, United States, Australia, and Canada. App stores differ by country, and as a result, their content is radically different. So, they looked into apps on the top 100 in mental health in their country. Figure 1.1 is a good description of their screening process, how they chose the apps they ended with. Essentially, these apps had to be designed for a mobile platform, they had to be available in the countries listed above, and they had to have messages about mental health within. They ended with 61 mental health apps that passed this test, out of 3,032. Thirty-five of their apps claimed to reduce anxiety, 16 claimed to help with mood disorders, and the rest (11 apps) claimed to help well-being or other mental health issues, such as anger management. They found two mes...