Videogames and ideological frames

Based on cognitive linguist George Lakoff’s notions of metaphor and frame as the principle organizers of political discourse, this article offers an approach to analyzing political rhetoric in videogames intended to carry ideological bias. I then argue for 3 ways games function in relation to ideological frames—reinforcement, contestation, and exposition—through examples of political games (Tax Invaders), art games (Vigilance 1.0), and commercial games (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas). I also offer thoughts on issues likely to arise from the hypothetical adoption of political frame and metaphor as design principles. The 2004 U.S. presidential election renewed world citizens ’ recognition of an ideological polarization in U.S. politics. The American electoral college, com-bined with the lack of a viable third-party, only increased the apparent split. Mas-sive, telecast electoral college maps displaying won states in red (Republican) and blue (Democrat) suggested a geographic divide to many Americans, with the west coast, northeast, and Great Lakes areas voting Democratic and the heartland and south Republican. Yet more detailed maps that showed county-by-county vote bal-ance proved that the division runs even deeper (Vanderbei, 2004), with most coun-ties appearing some shade of purple, a combination of “red votes ” and “blue votes. ” In the aftermath of the election, Democrats acknowledged that their mes-sages failed, just as Republicans recognized how much theirs succeeded. Juxta-posing American morality against British class rifts, some cite religion as the key issue dividing the presidential vote (Schifferes, 2004a). The left is now scrambling to develop a new strategy. Ideas are plentiful: Avoid candidates from the northeast (Wallsten & Anderson, 2004), focus more strongly on domestic issues (Schifferes, 2004b), and seek better management (Marinucci, 2004). But two influential politi-cal theorists and cognitive linguists suggested that such superficial strategies wil