Session Name: | Gaming the Laws of War: Can Real Consequences Mean Real Fun? |
Speaker(s): | Daniel Greenberg, Gary Brown, Seth Hudson, Joris van't Land |
Company Name(s): | Media Rez LLC, International Committee of the Red Cross, George Mason University, Bohemia Interactive |
Track / Format: | Advocacy |
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Overview: | As combat video games strive for greater realism, a key reality of warfare is rarely simulated: the moral and ethical dilemmas real soldiers are faced. Soldiers must learn International Humanitarian Law before they are allowed on the battlefield, but games seldom grapple with the consequences of violations like deliberately killing civilians, targeting medics, and torture. Do games ignore the laws of war because simulating it would not be fun? Or because it's a new and untested idea? Games outside of a battlefield setting have been made more challenging and fun by simulating the negative consequences for player actions (Grand Theft Auto). Can games be more fun if they enorce the Geneva Convention through gameplay? Panelists from the game development community, academia, and the Red Cross give a presentation on the current state of the Law of War in video games, debate the future of the idea, and offer new approaches. |