Philosophical influences

"Philosophy is an academic dicipline that exercises reason and logic in an attempt to understand and answer fundamental questions about knowledge, life, morality and human nature."

Importance at philosophical influence on design

How philosophically influenced design ideas can stimulate innovation.

How it is useful:
- Source of stimuli for narrative
- And mechanics
- Creates a deeper experience for players
- Is open to interpretation.

Deus Ex was a deep game renowned for exploring the philosophical themes.

Do humans always require judgement?

Looking at Flower and Journey

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2009/02/12/game-philosophy-and-narrative-behind-flower/

“We want to evoke emotions for adults and females, for everyone,” Chen said. “We want to expand the boundaries of what video games as a medium can communicate. We try really hard to avoid those conventional experiences, these adrenaline rush, anger, competition, violence. We intentionally avoid that. We try to create a game that’s serene and tranquil and filled with love.
“I think someone in this industry needs to make that content. I feel as a game maker, we are responsible to make content that stretch the ruling structure and emotions so that everyone can enjoy. We’re not zen a company.” When he’s referring to zen, he’s talking about the zen gaming, the genre that others are trying to pin his games in. “We aimed for that, but we never thought we would stay there.”

With Flower, fans see another step in the evolution of the studio. In the game, players take on the ambiguous role of a force. Chen calls it “the messenger of wind or nature” and players pick a level based on different flower sitting on a window sill. “Each level is like a dream,” he said. “Each house plant has a desire.”
It's a story about breaking free from constraints, possibly society. A dream to grow bigger.
Utilitarian look - wish for global happiness.

More nuclear Disasters!

http://www.cnbc.com/id/42112536/11_Nuclear_Meltdowns_and_Disasters?slide=5

Images used in document

1 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:View_of_Chernobyl_taken_from_Pripyat.JPG

 2 - http://cafe.daum.net/ralra623/GZNt/142?docid=mSy4GZNt14220070527101444

3 - http://topics.time.com/Three-Mile-Island

4 - http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/11/japan-earthquake-evacuate-nuclear-plant

5 - http://www.machetemag.com/2008/12/17/the-abandoned-city-of-the-chernobyl-disaster-pripyat-ukraine/

6 - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1367776/UK-Government-covered-nuclear-reactor-blaze-caused-death-cancer.html

7 -




1 - View of Chernobyl taken from Pripyat [Image]. (2005). Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:View_of_Chernobyl_taken_from_Pripyat.JPG

2 - The Windscale Disaster [Image]. (unknown) Retrieved from: http://cafe.daum.net/ralra623/GZNt/142?docid=mSy4GZNt14220070527101444

3 - Three Mile Isle at 30: Nuclear Power's Pitfalls [Image] (unknown) Retrieved from: http://topics.time.com/Three-Mile-Island

4- Fukushima's coastal position in the Japanese north-east left it exposed to the full force of the tsunami Photograph: The Tokyo Electric Power/EPA [Image] (unknown) Retrieved from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/11/japan-earthquake-evacuate-nuclear-plant

5 -The Abandoned City of the Chernobyl Disaster [Image] (unknown) Retrieved from: http://www.machetemag.com/2008/12/17/the-abandoned-city-of-the-chernobyl-disaster-pripyat-ukraine/

6 -  Nuclear Firefighters [Image] (unknown) Retrieved from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1367776/UK-Government-covered-nuclear-reactor-blaze-caused-death-cancer.html


7 -  The world's plutonium capital [Image] (unknown) Retrieved from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1367776/UK-Government-covered-nuclear-reactor-blaze-caused-death-cancer.html

NY times

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/world/asia/japans-premier-says-government-shares-blame-for-fukushima-disaster.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1353499570-w4+AEjLudzC7O+H0+koWeQ

F*k You, Buddy - Documentary.

Human Beings Will Always Betray You.

You can only trust the numbers.

'Free to choose our lives'

Liberation of the individual.

Lead to the rise to a new controling system of inequalities. Social collapse.

Cold war- the idea of freedom is strange.

Entraps everyone, narrow and empty world of targets.

Self-interest was suggested as an idea to make an automatic system.

"Game theory."

Developed to predict poker games.
Game theory showed natural best methods.

"The Prisoner's Dilema"

Constant circle of betrayal - no way of predicting.
Rational choice is to betray.
"The Sucker's Play Off"

Politics in Video Games

McDonalds Video Game

By La Molleindustria
An anti-adware game for the fast-food industry.

Political influences in this game.

Management game. Discover big secrets of the companies of the world.
Capitalism based. Exploring the ideas within capitalism within a working business environment.

Impact on society and environment.

Explore the price to pay for being a capitalist: deforestation, livelyhood losses, food poisoning, precariazation of working conditions ect.
Manage the product creation and distribution process as well as money.

4 main sections which constantly run.  Farms, feed lots, resteraunt and the headquarters.

Deforest for the farms.
Overindulge cows. ect.

Made to question big corporate policies.

Balance of Power

Inspired by Cold War. Simulation of Geopolitics where player must prevent a nuclear holocaust.

US vs Russia.

Player must be as powerful as possible after 8 years in office. Diplomacy, treaties, military force... big red button..

Player must gain maximum prestige in order to avoid nuclear war.

The player is presented with a set of incidents and crisis in various countries around the globe and must choose a responce to each one. The player can choose between no action, diplomancy or military action.

Each responce is met with a counter which vary from backing down to escalation. Then the player must deal with the responce.

When you back down, you lose prestige which will effect the player politically. Brinkmanship results in global war.

nhk timeline fukushima

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YarjI1FwsuA&feature=related

Inside Fukushima

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vI8EXHK33Ig&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=-JfUO50dR90&NR=1

suffered a hydroden explosion..

chernobyl 25 years on

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=F9URUQvGE9g&feature=endscreen

25 years later

Austrailia's "60 minuits" - inside Chernobyl

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=7lkxKlFbmio&NR=1

20 years later

News reports - Chernobyl from ABC news

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmeeEpWxfRY

Chernobyl

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/guides/456900/456957/html/nn2page1.stm

3 Mile Isle

http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf36.html

Kyshtym

http://www.osti.gov/bridge/purl.cover.jsp?purl=/5254763-UCvDE3/5254763.pdf

'You are accessing a document from the Department of Energy's (DOE) Information Bridge: DOE Scientific and Technical Information. This site is a product of DOE's Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) and is provided as a public service. Visit OSTI to utilize additional information resources in energy science and technology. '

Windscale: The fire

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7030281.stm

Sustainability

What it is?

Sustainability is the capacity to endure through renewal, maintenance and sustenance, or nourishment in contrast to durability the capacity to endure through unchanging resistance to change.

Why is sustainability necessary?

Sustainability means that it can continue to do what it is designed to do.

Triple bottom line - The point at which social, environmental and ecanomical conditions are met.

What are the benefits of sustainable design?

-Reduce costs: tax incentives, waste desposal.
-Longevity of synthetic materials, or recycling.
-Marketing, eco-friendly.
-Encourages Innovation.

Sustainabulty is about designing in context, not about making something last forever.

flexible systems


Sustainable Design = good design
Sustainable Product Design =

Performance
Style
Ease of use
Practicality
Acceptability
+ Sustainability!

Good design = automatically sustainable!

Product designs fail by design being isolated, poor design briefs, lack of knowlige, systems thinking and a strong adversity to change.

Business hates uncertainty, tell designers to do the same thing, lack of innovation

Is it Possible?

EBAY - second hand good sustainability - changed the way we look at second hand
Onzo - raise awareness and change behaviour, post back recycling system
Freitag - reclaimed durable material - fashionable - profitable

 

How to make it happen?

Be different!
Champion the cause!
Become a key decision maker!
DIY!
Don't be afraid to fail!

 

In Video Game Design?

Performance
Style
Ease of use
Practicality
Acceptability
+ Sustainability!