Free Speech Is Not A Marketing Plan
Ian Bogost · University of Minnesota Press eBooks · 2010
This chapter looks at the fact that for players, creators, and even the U.S. Supreme Court, games are a protected form of speech. It argues that free speech is not a marketing plan. Free speech is only any good if videogame creators take advantage of its invitation. It discuses the need for mass-market videogame developers to begin to speak like they mean it. Otherwise, they just make a mockery of those who do. It focuses its argument mainly on the game Bully. This chapter, by taking Bully seriously, acknowledges that the game has something to say about the world, not just that the world has something to say about it. It assesses how effectively the game tackles the topic of bullying and how meaningful are its claims about it.