Culture Bots: Implications of Cultural Content in Computer Gaming

Harun Razith, MFA ’05

thesis abstract

Computer games have the latent potential to communicate significant issues beyond mere entertainment. My thesis proposes the implications of coupling problems of higher social and cultural value to the conventional design elements of Role-Playing Games. The main objective is to allow the user to gain “first-hand” experience into multiple perspectives on a subject without taking away the usual ‘fun’ elements of a conventional game. The interactive projects offer various levels of character role-playability to its users. With the ability to see through some one else’s eyes, the users are instigated to empathize with the characters’ feeling, emotions and point of views – therein lies a threshold to heightened socio-cultural learning and richer value-based gaming experiences.

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