Gamasutra writes: "In this latest 'Persuasive Games' column on sociopolitical games, designer/author Ian Bogost analyzes the 'vignette' that is Hush, a student game which movingly chronicles the massacres of the Rwandan Civil War.
Hush is an unusual game created by University of Southern California Interactive Media Division MFA students Jamie Antonisse and Devon Johnson in their fall 2007 Intermediate Game Design and Development course.
Like Darfur is Dying, created by fellow USC IMD student Susana Ruiz, Hush creates a personal experience of a complex historical situation. Ruiz's game addresses the contemporary crisis in Darfur; Hush's inspiration is another genocide, the 1994 slaughters of the Rwandan Civil War".
Virtual Reality provides an unparalleled opportunity for players to immerse themselves in a wide range of diverse stories.
I've always seen VR as a way to put myself in the game, but putting myself in someone else's shoes is interesting.
Makes sense. I like the idea. The positive aspect is that you learn something you didn't know because of never experiencing when the shoe is on the other foot.
Experiencing what it's like to be an animal on the verge of extinction and being hunted for your hide, horns, tusks, etc. Or, what it's like to be a chicken or cow and some of their living conditions before being sent to slaughter(I like meat by the way). Or, what it's like being a male or female. Or being another color and how other races treat you like being black during the racist south.
Not just saying the negative effects of "putting a skin on." Being an animal can show you how they live in their environments and how they interact with other animals. Giving you more connection with nature in a sense. Or being placed in the shoes of a person from another country and see how they live, where they shop and what they do for entertainment that's different from your own. Even something like what it is to be an astronaut on a space station and what type of work they do. Showing you the dangers but also the splendor of Earth and space.
But there also may be post traumatic effects for some individuals resulting from these experiences. Games are supposed to be fun and fictional. There is trauma from being scared like in RE7. But you know it's fake. Seeing things realistically in VR may cause depression or anger besides joy in VR. But we won't know until these experiences are created. You can kind of get some of this from 360 degree VR videos. But I'm unaware if there are any studies on what effect they have on people. Could be a good paper written on it.
VR is going to be very interesting depending on what producers and developers come up with.
KrisWB from This is Xbox writes "Where has the time gone? Issue #8 of the TiX crowdfunding spotlight is here. This week’s edition (written while listening to this week’s ThisisXbox Podcast) focuses on two unique titles; IZLE an action-adventure RPG from Area Effect and HUSH a challenging action-adventure video game about our childhood fears from London-based Game Studio 78. First, it’s time to catch up on the projects we’ve been following."
Marcus Estrada writes: "Basically all of us fear something. As children, we were also often filled with even more fears about things like monsters lurking in the dark. What if there were a game based around the concept of childhood fears? Hush is that game and it's currently on Kickstarter. Presented as a mashup of hack and slash with puzzler elements, Hush tells the story of Ashlyn. As a young girl, she has many fears, but must overcome them - with the help of players. With such a cool concept it's surprising that more games haven't attempted to take on this concept before."
