Video Game Propaganda
Propaganda is hidden in our literature, spews from our radios, and is even inside our televisions. Propaganda, information or material spread to advance a cause or to damage an opponent's cause in such a way as to hide negative aspects, surrounds us all in every aspect of our lives. It is unavoidable and now it is gaining ground in yet another technology.
Throughout the years technology has always been used to wield propaganda. Even canvas paintings have had their hand in such a form of information with depictions of current events that resemble the style of some of today's political cartoons. The printing press provided the ability to mass produce pamphlets supporting or putting down a cause. Thomas Paine's Common Sense comes to mind when one thinks of propaganda pamphlets because of its large impact it had on informing the thirteen colonies of the importance of the American Revolution. The radio not only allowed a message to be able to reach a wider audience in a shorter amount of time, but messages could even reach those who were illiterate. The television and movies reach a wider audience still and a visual style becomes very important to propaganda and helps immerse the viewer into the information.
More recently propaganda has been wielded through computer technology. Web sites for the respective governments and factions of the U.S. military are all over the World Wide Web. Banner ads (essentially mini posters that are sometimes animated) appear on various web sites that are chosen in much the same way that companies choose which television shows to buy advertisement time during.
In all occasions of propaganda infiltrating the newest technologies the purpose is always to reach the audience the propaganda is directed towards and that is certainly no exception with propaganda's recent involvement with video game technology. Video game propaganda is just as effective as past incarnations of propaganda if not more so because of its immersive nature.
The US Government's History with Video Game Technology
In the late 1970s a video games started their long relationship with the U.S. military. An arcade game entitled "Mech War" was introduced into an Army War College. This was the first of quite a few games introduced into colleges to be used as skill-enhancers. The military recognized the ability of video games to hone reflexes and hand-eye coordination. In the 1980s the U.S. Army modified "Battlezone," a futuristic 3D tank battle game that actually introduced the idea of a first person shooter.
In the early morning of 19 February 1945, United States Marines assigned to the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Division led the initial assault on the Japanese controlled island of Iwo Jima, with the objective of capturing and securing the island. This was the beginning of one of the fiercest and bloodiest; and more decisively, the most strategically important battles fought during World War II. After the dust had settled, and the smoke had cleared, the causalities and losses were astounding. 6,821 U.S. Marines along with 18,844 members of the Imperial Japanese Army had paid the ultimate sacrifice. A decisive US victory on the island of Iwo Jima later played a pivotal role in the overarching defeat of the Japanese Empire and its Armed Forces (Morison, 1945).
Words and images were silent weapons used by all governments involved during World War II. Wars are generally fought between soldiers, but the different ideologies often meet on the battlefield as well. The support of the people is crucial during these times since general knowledge of strength relies on numbers. Propaganda targets people’s emotions and feelings and changes people’s perception about a particular idea, people, or situation. Propaganda goes hand in hand with the art of persuasion and convincing; these tools can control and manipulate the collective minds of a massive amount of its audience.
Propaganda is information that is biased to promote one point of view. Propaganda is mostly used during political campaigns. It is one of the most widely used and effective political tactics. It gives its user the opportunity to move people to action in both positive and negative ways, by either bringing fame or shame to a selected person or idea. Propaganda is used to sell a candidate or a belief to the public, by ruining the opponent’s chances of winning, or by falsely advertising an idea of their own as better than one of their opponents.
During World War II propaganda was ubiquitous. It consisted of a wide range of carriers including leaflets, radio, television, and most importantly posters. Posters were used based on their appeal: they were colorful, creative, concise, and mentally stimulating. Posters often portrayed the artist's views on the war. They demonstrated the artist concern for the war, their hopes for the war, and reflected the way enemies were envisioned. Posters also show a nations political status: they reflect a nations allies and enemies, how the nation saw itself, and its greatest hopes and fears of the war.
Operation Iceberg was the official Okinawa campaign name. Because of its strategic importance to both the Japanese and the American’s, the Thirty-second Japanese Army commanded by General Mitsuri Ushijima, was ordered to defend Okinawa at all cost. The Japanese forces would change their typical tactics of strong defensive positions at the beaches and water’s edge as seen in the other pacific battles notable the battle of Iwo Jima. Instead they used burial tombs as forts so the Americans would have to bring the fight to them. Because of the desperation felt by the Japanese forces leading up to the battle and American forces making steady advances toward Japan, the Japanese forces felt the battle could not be won. They were ordered to by time for Japan to build its defenses around the homeland. Japanese were not only dying for their county but taking their own lives as ...
Gregory, Ross. Cold War America: 1946 to 1990. New York, NY: Facts on File, 2003.
Propaganda is the art of persuasion, and it had a major influence on WWII. Every country involved in the war had their own way of using propaganda to impact the public in different ways. Some countries were more forceful in presenting their propaganda to their country. Many types of propaganda were used in WWII. Books, radio, films, comic strips, and posters were directed towards the public to put them in a certain mind set about war. Every countries propaganda had different effects on the public. Nazi Germany’s use of propaganda had a greater impact on the public compared to Canada, USA, and Britain’s propaganda.
What does the word propaganda really mean? For most of us we assume that it is a word for negativity use. Just to assure those that think of propaganda as a negative word. Propaganda does have a positive objective if used correctly. The word propaganda is defined in a few different ways, But in the most general usage, it varies from bad to good persuasion of our minds. It is used during election time to our daily lives on television to our newspaper stands. According to Donna Cross’s essay, “Propaganda: How Not to Be Bamboozled,” there are thirteen different types of propaganda; this paper will discuss six varieties. George W. Bush and Dick Cheney used primarily every sort of propaganda to influence the citizens; therefore, our national society needs to develop awareness in the propaganda used by such politicians so that they can make wise decisions intelligently.
"The Fall of the Soviet Union." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. History: War. Detroit: Gale, 2009. Student Resources in Context. Web. 6 Apr. 2014.
The first point that needs to be addressed is how video games are used for training purposes. Video games are used by the United States Army to train soldiers (Suellentrop). America’s Army helps the soldiers develop their fighting skills (Suellentrop). This video game also helps to teach soldiers how to learn to function as a team (Suellentrop). Along with the Army, video games train individuals how to respond in emergency situations (Issitt). Video games train people in many ways, even if it is unknown to many people how important they can be to society.
The radio has had a huge impact on bringing information to the public about war and other government issues. Advertising and broadcasting on the airwaves was a major step in bringing war propaganda to a level where people could be easily touched nationally. Broadcasting around the clock was being offered everywhere. Before there was television people relied on the radio as a way to be entertained, the means of finding out what was going on in the world, and much more. During the World War II time period, 90 percent of American families owned a radio, and it was a part of daily life. So it was an obvious means of spreading war propaganda. During this time period, propaganda was spread throughout the radio by means of news programs, public affairs broadcasts, as well as through Hollywood and the mainstream. The average person had not even graduated high school at the time, and the average reading level of the American was somewhat low. The radio made it possible for stories and news to be delivered to everyone in plain simple English. The radio served as a medium that provided a sense of national community. Although it took time, the radio eventually rallied people together to back up the American war effort.
“Propaganda means any attempt to persuade anyone to a belief or to form an action. We live our lives surrounded by propaganda; we create enormous amounts of it ourselves; and we f...
The way the media sways us about how to think or how we should feel about a given situation. Often covering the truth and hiding the facts. One of the goals in propaganda is to set the mindset of the people to align with the goal of a current power, such as a government or a ruling party. Also, propaganda has the effect of overwhelming pride or being subjected to fear.
For years, the population has been exposed to different forms of media. Newspapers, magazines, television, films, radio, and more recently the Internet are ways of promoting ideas, spreading news, and advertising products.
The positive impact can include educational information and knowledge on certain ideas, policies, laws, or even the current events. The negative impact can impair or damage the reputation of a person, or institution or an organization based on impression. Since the impact of the media can be dictated by the content it is aired or published, this was utilized during the cold war to enhance the campaign of socialism or communism and capitalism or democracy. Further, this essay will investigate the effects of media during the Cold War on the use of television, newspapers and radio broadcasts in Russia and America. After the end of World War Two, the cold war began with Russia and America airing several propaganda with the use of the three different media such as radio, newspaper and television.