Political Games?? (Ok, so I missed a couple of entries here but I'll catch up).

Having heard the lecture and watched the video, it's curious to note that in a couple of places the term 'globalisation' was replaced by 'Americanisation'. As far as media is concerned, whether the Japanese culture is spreading across the globe via the games market is open to debate. The film made note of the global impact of the Pokemon phenomenon on the world, but 5 or 6 years down the road it doesn't have the same effect. It was also noted that the later versions of Final Fantasy (Squaresoft) featured characters which were more westernised in appearance.
The video also made much of the Playstation2 as a platform which would be the leader in the console gaming market. This proved to be an accurate reflection. However, with the new, third generation of consoles, the winner has proven (so far) to be Nintendo's Wii, which took gaming to a completely new level by having motion sensors in the controllers.
Reading the ELSPA release ('The Games Industry: A UK success Story) I noted that the number of employees in the gaming industry fell, while the actual industry is still expanding. One of the factors given was the rise of the cost of making AAA games, basically making development unviable for all but the best financed companies.
The trouble is, that the large companies are traditionally conservative in the styles of game they produce, relying on continued franchises rather than risk a completely new venture. Hence Tomb Raider has 2 or 3 sequels, why spoil a good thing. The same could be said for the film industry, it's easier to make Die Hard X rather than invent a new character.
I played the two games we were required to try out. The first, www.mcvideogame.com , put you in the role of a fast food producer. The thing about this game, as it's designer Paolo Pedercini intended, is that it is balanced in such a way that the only way to succeed in playing it is by use of practises which are not politically correct. But if that is the message that the game tries to convey. as a game it definitely succeeds, as a political message I am not so sure. Most people I know don't play games to get some kind of message from them. They play games because the games are playable. the idea that a message can be transmitted in such a fashion doesn't work. good game, though. :-)
The other game was http://www.peterpacket.org/ a game which was supposed to educate the player about global issues of poverty and lack of education. Well, there was a lot of cut-scene style animation , which is easy to skip, and then there is the game. Frankly, this game doesn't work. as a game it is too easy, and as a means of getting the message across it just doesn't work as the message can be skipped altogether.
The point is, can games be used as a vehicle for ideas to be got across to a wider audience. Can they be used to make people aware of, and think about, the issues that the designers are trying to publicise? This is something that the film industry has tried, and for the most part failed - though not completely, to do for years. That's with a 'captive audience'. Normally I would expect a gamer to be concentrating on the game, not the political message behind it.