Persuasive Games

• Bogost calls this new form "procedural rhetoric," a type of rhetoric tied to the core affordances of computers: running processes and executing rule-based symbolic manipulation.
• He argues further that videogames have a unique persuasive power that goes beyond other forms of computational persuasion. Not only can videogames support existing social and cultural positions, but they can also disrupt and change those positions, leading to potentially significant long-term social change. 
• The field of media studies already analyzes visual rhetoric, the art of using imagery and visual representation persuasively. Bogost argues that videogames, thanks to their basic representational mode of procedurality (rule-based representations and interactions), open a new domain for persuasion; they realize a new form of rhetoric.

These quotes from Ian Bogost book 'Persuasive Games' really highlights how games have changed as a medium. No longer are they the childish play thing of a couple of teenagers, they are now used by multi dollar business's in an effort to sell more of their product or convert us to their brand. It also highlights on the core question in this research , 'Can digital games change the world?'. It states that many games 'support' social and cultural positions, for example xbox live, and what they do or dont do could have a very significant affect on their audience.

• Not only are the majority of our owners connected, but they are also spending more time connected to the Xbox Live community on Xbox 360 than ever before. The average number of gaming sessions on Xbox Live on Xbox 360 is currently at 25-a-week, which is up dramatically from the average of 6 sessions-a-week we saw on the original Xbox. 
• In fact, online gaming through Xbox Live is now a proven form of mainstream entertainment. The 18-34 male audience is comparable in size to the same audience tuning in to see the most popular network TV shows like CSI or The Office. 
• Xbox Live on Xbox 360 continues to grow as a social community; we are seeing an average of 600,000 text messages sent every day between members on the service. 

This shows the insane size of xbox lives audience, and their potential to persuade without you even playing a game on it. xbox already has Microsoft programs loaded on it such as media centre so that if you happen to go out and buy a PC then it will be compatible. As well as this xbox live has so much market space on its user interface with different movie rental companies fighting for space on your screen.

I think this was a really good starting point for my research and has sparked a lot of ideas of where to continue research into. I think from here I'm going to look at 'procedural rhetoric' in more depth and find examples of this in games, as well as this I would also like to continue my research in xbox live and the persuasive power big companies have over thier audience.

http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11152

http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/10545/Latest-Xbox-Live-Facts-and-Stats/