I think I saw a Bogost!!!

This second part of Bogost was pretty cool, it focused on Procedural Rhetoric. He again defines procedural rhetoric as the practice of using processes persuasively, and cites numerous games throughout the reading.  He argues that verbal, written, and visual rhetoric's inadequately account for the unique properties of procedural expression. Procedural rhetorics afford a new and promising way to make claims about how things work. When he describes the McDonald’s videogame, he talks about how the procedural rhetoric teaches the user that the interaction throughout the four separate aspects of the McDonald’s production environment where every action they choose, will have a reaction from the game. For example, using growth hormones will offend health critics. I think that these games a really cool way for people to understand how running a business works, while offering the option of pushing reset and starting over. Bogost uses several examples of how these different processes teach us how things work. He says “procedural representation is a representation, and thus is not identical with the actual experience.”

When talking about Interactivity, Bogost says that we think of interactivity as user empowerment. The more interactive, the more that a user can do, and the better the experience. GTAIII is a prime example. Interactivity guarantees neither meaningful expression nor meaningful persuasion, but it sets the stage for both.

Persuasive games to Bogost mount procedural rhetorics effectively. Basically how arcade games and slot machines have a “coin drop” approach that persuades players to insert more coins. An effective approach requires some fine balancing. If the game is too hard, no one wants to play it. If it is too easy, people will play for a long time without putting more money in. Two games that work like this are Pin Ball games and Ms. Pacman.

Bogost also cites partial reinforcement as the psychological configurations embedded in game design that aims to get players addicted to gaming. Like powerups, double score, and any additional bonus that the game provides the user.

This reading was much more entertaining since it was directly relatable to video games I have played and enjoyed.