(For more context about the matrix account, click here)
I first stumbled upon Ian Bogost when I was researching object-oriented ontology, but I gravitated towards him once I found his work on gaming and rhetoric. He is a prolific writer on gaming, computation theories, and game design at Georgia Tech. He introduced the idea of “procedural rhetoric” in his book Persuasive Games which is “the practice of using processes persuasively, just as verbal rhetoric is the practice of using oratory persuasively and visual rhetoric is the practice of using images persuasively” (28). Procedural rhetoric moves beyond just the images used by looking at what is represented and omitted in a process that forms the reality we perceive. He had addressed everything from gamification in marketing and education to the design and effect of video games on society.
Bogost is a controversial figure in gaming scholarship, but his use of procedural rhetoric, explanation of media microecology, and the explanation of games through keywords is vastly important. His focus on digital rhetoric and procedural rhetoric creates a bridge between gaming and rhetoric that is not often seen. The way he discusses the persuasive abilities of games in their design, it will map onto my game based pedagogy composition class as my students consider their design choices in their text adventure games. Also, my studies using rhetorical concepts revolving around time and gaming can use Bogost’s methodologies and theories to help my scholarship consider the implications on game design and computation.
Works Cited
Bogost, Ian. “Gamification Is Bullshit.” Web log post. Ian Bogost. N.p., 8 Aug. 2011. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.
—. How to Do Things with Videogames. Minneapolis: Univ Of Minnesota Press, 2011. Print.
—. How to Talk about Videogames. Minneapolis: Univ Of Minnesota Press, 2015. Print.
—. Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2010. Print.
—. Unit Operations: An Approach to Videogame Criticism. The MIT Press, 2008. Print.
—. “Video Games Are Better Without Characters.” The Atlantic 13 Mar. 2015. The Atlantic. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.
—. “Winning Isn’t Everything.” Medium. N.p., 19 Dec. 2014. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.