1	Ethical Dilemmas in Developing Video Game Content A. Phelps Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences Rochester Institute of Technology amp@it.rit.edu andysgi.rit.edu
2	Issues in Game Development Traditional Computing Game Engine Engineering Programming / Compilers Graphics and Display Memory Management Sound Engines Artificial Intelligence Networking Database Representation User Interface Design Custom Input Hardware Non-Traditional Challenges Dealing with Artists Dealing with Writers Dealing with Musicians Playability Marketing & Publishing Player Communities Online reputation and trust “THE FUN FACTOR”
3	The “Game Programming Concentration” Available to IT, CS, SE Some involvement with CIAS / Multi-Disciplinary Studies Students all have varying backgrounds
4	The Educational Mission WHAT WE DO Prepare students for work in the games industry. Reduce the need for ‘on the job’ retraining immediately on hire Produce well-rounded students capable of working with a game production team. WHAT WE DON’T DO Play games all day Give less than 200% engineering effort Ignore relationships with formal theory in IT/CS/SE
5	Student Games Mega Monkey Mayhem [ M3 ] Independent Games Festival ‘03 Coursework from IT and CS Worked with J Bayliss for completion
6	Student Games Shooters and SHMUPS Dave Parks [ left ] Aaron Cloutier [ right ]
7	Student Games
8	Games Related Projects
9	Research in Game Effects Natural Effect Simulation L-System Explosion Trees Lighting and Rendering Cg from Shockwave3D
10	Games Related Projects
11	But what do we build? War-sims? Addictive content? Repetitive Reproductions of Real-World Violence? Sexually explicit or exploitative material?
12	Who do we build it for? Older Gamers Are Now the Norm! 76% of online game-players are over 18 81% of US Game Purchases are made by an adult Do adults really know what they are buying? Are games the babysitters of 200X?
13	The Magic Question Do game companies have an ethical responsibility to produce less violent and/or less addictive content? - to my graduate class in History of Electronic Entertainment
14	The Response NO! Not one response said that game companies had any ethical or moral responsibility. Interesting thread on GotGame?
15	Differential with Society Columbine H.S. Ohio slaying and GTA EverCRACK and Shawn Woolley
16	But isn’t that just… Personal Responsibility? The Right of Free Speech? Capitalism Defined? Inability to take responsibility for societal repercussions of message? Inability to see corporate responsibility as anything other than shareholder profits?
17	“Real” Research? Almost none – check out the ‘serious games’ listserv, and writings by Amy Jo Kim Popular spin and media frenzy in place of fact and scientific method The only proven measures for game exposure involve hand-eye coordination and repetitive manual dexterity. There is very little social science literature at present.
18	Questions, Contact, & Discussion Contact Professor Phelps amp@it.rit.edu http://andysgi.rit.edu [ student work and gaming concentration info – START HERE ] http://www.corante.com/gotgame/ [ blog ]