Grand Theft Auto V hit the shelves this week as one of the most widely anticipated video games in the history of the medium. Already described as "eye-poppingly violent", the GTA franchise has often been the lightning rod for criticism of the games industry, and modern culture with it.
Yet games are being used increasingly for education and training purposes. Game mechanics represent a different context in which people can understand and engage with a subject, but the idea of applying them to serious topics like the news is treated with uncertainty.
This week's podcast explores how games can be a medium in the same way as text or video, what benefits that may bring with regards to news, some controversial examples of newsgames, and how games may integrate with news organisations.
We speak to:
- Professor Janet Jones, head of media, Middlesex University
- Tom Rawlings, design and production director, Auroch Digital, and project head, Game The News
- Mary Hamilton, audience development editor, the Guardian Australia
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