Gampell & Gaillard: Video Games: Tools for DRR

International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters August 2016, Vol. 34, No. 2, pp. 283-316.

Stop Disasters 2.0: Video Games as Tools for Disaster Risk Reduction

Anthony Viennaminovich Gampell

and

JC Gaillard School of Environment The University of Auckland

Email: [email protected]

Increasingly, international organisations (e.g. UNESCO, UNISDR), governments (e.g. Canada), and non-government organisations (NGOs) (e.g. Save the Children, Christian Aid) and researchers use video games to raise disaster and disaster risk reduction (DRR) awareness. Yet, there is a paucity of studies on these games in the disaster literature. This article presents a typology specifically designed to deconstruct both disaster awareness building and mainstream disaster orientated video games, identifying how games like Stop Disasters, Disaster Watch, Inside Haiti, Earthquake Response, Fallout and SimCity instil disaster awareness, portray hazards, vulnerabilities, capacities, disasters and DRR. The article also touches upon ideas of game content, player motivation, skill building and social interaction in the context of disaster themed video games. The findings suggest video games have the potential to be positive tools to reinforce messages surrounding DRR, though further research is necessary. This article sets an agenda for future research.

Keywords: Disaster risk reduction (DRR), video games, the popular culture of disasters

Introduction

Since time immemorial, disasters have been a subject of interest for human society (Quarantelli and Davis 2011). The depiction of disasters in movies, novels, music videos, the media and video games, to name a few, has seen the evolution of disasters to capture important cultural dimensions and perceptions (Quarantelli and Davis 2011; Wachtendorf 1999; Webb 1998; Webb 2007). Disaster popular culture (DPC)

283 Gampell & Gaillard: Video Games: Tools for DRR captures the struggle of Man against the forces of nature, simultaneously documenting the preservation of life and establishment of social organisation in the face of danger (Quarantelli and Davis 2011; Webb 2007). Research surrounding the popular culture of disasters is lacking, yet the topic provides researchers with an important insight into how people may conceptualise and reflect upon disasters within their lives (Quarantelli and Davis 2011). It is therefore of no surprise that research specifically focused upon disaster video games is almost non-existent. Video games have become a vital part of contemporary culture and society, fully integrated into the everyday lives of millions of people all over the globe (de Aguilera and Mendiz 2003). Video games have often been discredited by authorities and educators and are often at the forefront of debates for the assumed negative effects and impacts that particular video games may have upon an individual’s behaviour (de Aguilera and Mendiz 2003; Granic, Lobel, and Engels 2014; Ivory 2013). After more than two decades of video game research, existing beliefs are beginning to change toward an understanding that video games have the potential to build awareness of important global concepts and issues (Bedwell et al. 2012; de Aguilera and Mendiz 2003). Increasingly, international organisations (e.g. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation - UNESCO, United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction - UNISDR), governments (e.g. Canada), NGOs (e.g. Save the Children, Christian Aid) and researchers are producing video games to raise disaster awareness. However, once again research investigating the effectiveness of these video games on building disaster awareness is lacking. A challenge therefore presents itself for DRR practitioners. With the increase of both DPC and disaster themed video games there is a definite need for research in this area. Video games have the potential to reach millions of people across the globe. Therefore the ideas and discourses within these video games could have both positive and negative implications for DRR. The messages portrayed within such video games can present conflicting and inconsistent information regarding DRR but may also offer an opportunity for people to adopt initiatives to reduce the risk of disaster. This article suggests a pathway for DRR, through the framework of DPC, to better conceptualise the potential power of video games. This article also sets an agenda for future research. This article aims to deconstruct disaster-based video games both mainstream and disaster risk reduction (DRR)-specific and identify the associated disaster discourses within these video games. To achieve the overall aim, this article was guided by two main objectives, the first, to identify and compile a disaster and DRR-themed video games typology, and the second, to identify how the identified video games instil disaster discourses through the portrayal of hazards, vulnerability, capacities, disasters and DRR. This article argues the portrayal of disaster discourses in video games can provide a foundation for building disaster and DRR awareness.

Popular Culture of Disasters and Disaster Risk Reduction

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Defining a disaster is a difficult task as no universally accepted definition exists. Rather various definitions co-exist based upon different social constructs of the concept (Quarantelli 1995; UNISDR 2009). The United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction – UNISDR (2009) suggests a disaster is a situation or process where a hazardous event causes serious disruption to how a community or society functions. The possible consequences inflicted include damage, disruption to livelihoods and/or casualties that exceed the capacities/coping strategies of the affected community or society to cope using their own resources (UNISDR 2009). Collins (2013) claims disasters are not natural events but rather unnatural events, as mass fatality should not be an inevitable outcome. Increasingly, disasters are understood to be the result of human actions, which affect the social, political, environmental and economic sectors rather than the result of natural processes (Gero, Meheux, and Dominey-Howes 2011; Mercer 2010). Existing research suggests the risk of disaster largely results from societies’ and people’s vulnerabilities reflected in everyday interactions within the social, political and economic environments. Therefore disasters should not be separated from the framework of everyday life (Gaillard 2010; Mercer 2010; Wisner et al. 2003). An emphasis upon a particular natural hazard neglects the surrounding social environment, which actually influences the risk and impacts a hazard may inflict upon people (Mercer 2010; Wisner et al. 2003). How an individual’s life is structured determines their vulnerability in facing a natural hazard. Often those most vulnerable are marginalised, live in hazardous locations, belong to minority groups, poor and/ or are politically weak. While marginalised groups are considered relatively vulnerable, they can possess capacities to resist, cope, recover and overcome disaster (Gaillard 2010). Considering how disasters reflect the structure of society is not only necessary for analysing a disaster and subsequently DRR work but also in regarding how disasters are captured in popular culture (Wisner et al. 2003). Disasters feature prominently in popular culture. Popular culture therefore shapes, to a certain extent, our knowledge of disasters and the expected responses toward such events (Webb 1998; Wisner et al. 2003). Disasters have been included as main themes in a vast array of popular culture products. Examples include, but are not limited to, television programs, films, novels, jokes, folktales, memorials, poems, songs, graffiti and video games. Webb (2007) therefore suggests, in order to study the popular culture of disasters, a sound understanding of how disasters are interpreted over various contexts is required. Popular culture is continuously expanding with new elements frequently added (Dynes 2000; Quarantelli and Davis 2011; Webb 2007). This continuous expansion becomes problematic when trying to provide a necessary working definition for identifying DPC products. Dynes (2000) insists a definition for popular culture must be adaptive and unrestrictive, as placing conceptual limits can restrict the course of research as not all elements of popular culture are yet known. However, Dynes (2000) acknowledges a need for an initial restrictive categorisation that allows for the potential improvement in future definitions. Indeed, as disaster themes become more prominent across a wide range of cultural products the

285 Gampell & Gaillard: Video Games: Tools for DRR boundaries of DPC become more unclear. The following paragraph attempts to provide a method to define products of DPC and how these items can be understood. Combining the broad concepts of disaster and popular culture provides a format to determine a definition for DPC (Webb 1998; 2007). This combination results in a DPC identification system surrounding disaster themes and subsequently provides a systematic categorisation system. Separating popular culture into material (books and movies) and non-material (jokes and myths) distinguishes between cultural products of survivors and mainstream cultural workers. This categorisation is important as it provides an opportunity to identify and understand the role of locals (products created from local knowledge within the area) and ‘elites’ (people or companies creating products outside of the disaster area) in culture production. Cultural items produced by locals in the aftermath of a disaster, like spontaneous and publicly displayed graffiti, compared to traditional elitist products created outside of the disaster area, which are pre-planned, produced and strategically distributed like movies, can influence how people perceive disasters (Webb 2007). Elitist products often create negative stereotypes of race, class and gender, while local survivor popular culture takes an alternative viewpoint of unity in a time of need, rather than placing the blame upon individuals or organisations (Wachtendorf 1999; Webb 2007). To define DPC upon its ability to fit into four categories: product characterisation, producer identity, the time of production and the way in which the product is distributed and used, provides a sense of understanding toward how DPC can influence disaster knowledge and associated responses in such an event, with some elements being a basis for DRR (Webb 2007). The foregoing DPC items can become key component of DRR strategies. DRR attempts to increase the resilience of populations, especially among those vulnerable, by preventing hazards, reducing vulnerability and enhancing capacities to reduce the impacts of a disaster (Solecki, Leichenko, and O’Brien 2011).The UNISDR (2009) defines DRR as a concept and practice of reducing disaster risk by systematic efforts to analyse and manage the causes of disasters. Three strategies are part of successful DRR, prevention (the actions taken on hazards), mitigation (the actions on vulnerability) and preparedness (the actions on capacity) based on Cuny (1983) and UNISDR (2009). The UNISDR (2009) terminology further provides the foundation for Table 1 detailing these strategies and expansion into the particular actions associated to each overarching strategy used by practitioners and policy makers. These three approaches suggest DRR cannot just address the hazard or respond to disaster, neither can DRR be hazard focused or vulnerability focused, nor can it be just bottom up or just top down (Wisner, Gaillard, and Kelman 2012). Instead, the actions and approaches complement each other and are necessary to provide context specific foundations for successful reduction of disaster risk (Gaillard and Mercer 2013). Table 1: Definitions of DRR Strategies Adapted from UNISDR (2009)

DRR Definition Action

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  Use of man-made structures to eliminate hazard risks



The concept and intention to avoid  Land use regulations restricting actions

potentially adverse impacts from in high risk zones hazards and related disasters through advance action. Complete 

Prevention avoidance is not always possible  Engineering designs to ensure survival transforming the task to mitigation. and functions of critical buildings

  Provision of basic needs and services (health care and education)

  Engineering techniques and hazard-

resistant construction

The lessening or limitation of the adverse impacts of hazards and 

related disasters.  Improved environmental policies Mitigation   Improved people’s awareness

  Disaster risk analysis 

 Early warning systems

  Stockpiling of equipment and supplies The knowledge and capacities developed by governments,   Development of coordinated evacuation professional response and recovery and emergency operations (search and organizations, communities and rescue, immediate repair and restoration evacuation planning evacuation individuals to effectively anticipate, of critical facilities and utilities, conduct respond to, and recover from, the of damage needs and capacity impacts of likely, imminent or assessment, food and non-food relief current hazard events or conditions. assistance, medical assistance, evacuation centre management, and networking)

Preparedness and and Preparedness   People’s information   Associated training and field exercises

Video Games as Awareness Building Tools

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Defining and Categorising Video Games Kapp (2012) developed a video game definition to fit the context of learning by integrating various video game elements and concepts (Refer to Table 2). Each element defined in Table 2 plays a crucial role in the creation of a virtual space in which players can engage. Players are engaged through the instant feedback and constant interaction related to the challenges of a game, which is defined by a set of rules that work within a system to create an emotional reaction, resulting in a quantifiable outcome within an abstract version of a larger system (Kapp 2012). Regardless of whether a video game is developed specifically for education or purely for entertainment, these elements remain the same. Defining video games in this fashion presents an opportunity to consider all video games regardless of primary intention as a form of edutainment (education and entertainment) and therefore demonstrates the potential for some form of learning to occur whether intentional or incidental.

Table 2: Video Game Terminology and Associated Definitions Adapted from Kapp (2012)

Term Definition Game A system in which players engage in an abstract challenge, defined by rules, interactivity and feedback, resulting in a quantifiable outcome drawing out an emotional reaction. System Set of interconnected elements occurring within the game space. A score related to behaviour in turn related to strategy is linked to action and actions are limited by rules. Players A person involved in interacting with game content or other players. Abstract The abstraction of reality taking place between a narrowly defined game space resulting in the elements of a realistic situation or the essence of a situation but not an exact replica. Challenge The process of achieving goals and outcomes that are not straightforward. A challenge engages players to try to achieve the winning state, boredom stems from when a challenge no longer exists. Rules Rules define the game. The game is structured by rules defining the play sequence, winning state and what is considered fair within the game environment. Interactivity Relates to the interaction of players with one another, the game system, and the content presented within the game. Feedback Instant, clear and direct information provided to players. Players process this information and attempt corrections or changes resulting from either positive or negative feedback received. Quantifiable A defined clear winning state, players are completely aware of whether they Outcome have won or lost without ambiguity. Emotional Games evoke strong emotion from players and ranging from the satisfaction reaction of victory to the agony of defeat but may also include emotions like sadness and frustration. Two ideas determine the categorisation of a video game. The first idea relates to the relative progression of the video game industry. Crawford (1982) states video

288 Gampell & Gaillard: Video Games: Tools for DRR game designs are changing rapidly as game designers continue to draw influences from other subject areas. The consequence of this rapid progression sees existing video game categories become obsolete and inadequate within a short time period. This potentially results in games, once designed for a specific purpose, becoming categorised as something completely different at a later point in time. The second idea revolves around the issue of video game categorisation itself. Crawford (1982), through his own attempt to create a video game typology, suggests that one must realise video games do not often fit one particular category but can instead exist over multiple categories at any one time. Attempts to create a comprehensive taxonomy of video games are therefore exceedingly difficult (Granic et al. 2014). These two key ideas reflect the extremely dynamic yet complex realm of video games and demonstrate areas of possible contention that surround video game categorisation. One contention relates to the classification of serious games and gamification. Both serious games and gamification try to solve a problem, motivate people and promote learning through the use of game-based thinking and techniques (Kapp 2012), approaching a particular problem by simulating real-world events or processes for players to explore. However, some game developers would argue serious games and gamification are two different approaches to educational game development, while others argue they are one in the same. Clark Abt (1970) first defined a serious game to reflect games which inform, train and educate (Rao 2011). More recently, Mike Zyda (2005) updated the definition of a serious game to include the use of entertainment as a means to further objectives concerned with training and education. Kapp (2012) suggests gamification is the application of game thinking to solve problems and encourage learning by using appropriate game elements. Put simply, the process of building a game based around specific content intended for learning, rewarding players through an achievement system to engage learners. Kapp (2012) suggests serious games are a specific sub set of the meta-concept of gamification. However, serious games have acted as an umbrella genre since the 1970s for a variety of video game subgenres (Abt 1970). While many of these subgenres could easily be stand-alone categories themselves, adding gamification as another umbrella level creates an additional unnecessary level of complexity to deal with in this article. Therefore, for the purpose of this article, serious games and gamification will remain two separate terms to reduce the potential complexity when analysing the identified disaster video games. At this stage, the complexity surrounding video game categorisation suggests that most games do not fit into one predefined category. This idea highlights a second contention concerned with the categorisation of entertainment-based games. While games designed with the primary intention of entertainment may not necessarily provide players with specific content to be learnt, the discourses present in the game may provide an opportunity for some form of learning to occur in some players but may not in others (Ulicsak and Wright 2010). Over recent years, some of these entertainment games have undergone gamification overhauls in an attempt to reverse the original intentions of the game to include a pedagogy that incorporates an educational focus (Ulicsak and Wright 2010) while retaining the existing game

289 Gampell & Gaillard: Video Games: Tools for DRR mechanics. It is necessary to acknowledge the varying effectiveness of learning that may occur from playing video games, serious game or not. However, this article assumes that all video games are a form of edutainment due to the potential to foster learning in players (Ulicsak and Wright 2010) but for the purposes of the discussion will acknowledge games as either educational or entertainment to limit confusion.

The Influence of Game Content on Behaviour Video games have proven to be a highly popular and engaging activity, transforming how people spend their leisure time. However, the nature of this engagement is not well understood and is often negatively perceived (Boyle et al. 2012; Granic et al. 2014). Most video game literature is concerned with video games being a cognitive stimulus focusing upon game users’ exposure to game content and features and how the game content impacts cognitive and attitudinal behaviour (Ivory 2013; Schuurman et al. 2008). Many of these studies focus upon the assumed negative impacts game content has on behaviour. However, increasingly, studies show players can attain enhanced cognitive performance. For example, fast-paced games require split second decision making, problem solving and enhanced creativity (Granic et al. 2014).While cognitive mechanisms like game content are more easily isolated and tested, other approaches to video game research is required. Researchers encourage future video game research to consider incorporating other approaches, like player motivations, skill building and social interactions, to better investigate what it is about these game mechanisms collectively that encourages cognitive and attitudinal behaviours (Ivory 2013; Schuurman et al. 2008). Granic et al. (2014) suggest the cognitive stimulus approach is the easiest to conduct due to the ability to isolate cognitive mechanisms. However, Granic et al. (2014) also acknowledge the complexity in disentangling the mechanisms involved in the other approaches. While complex, they are necessary to better understand the potential use of video games as tools for learning. Considering the motivations for playing video games investigates what drives players to play particular games or continue playing a game, suggesting the potential for video games to cultivate a persistent and optimistic style of motivation (Granic et al. 2014; Lee, Lee, and Choi 2012). Tanes and Cho (2013) suggest goal orientation within video games or alternatively encouraging players to set their own objectives, thereby providing a process of self-discovery through repetitive gameplay. Video games thus provide self- generated goals making them more motivating. The immediate feedback regarding the specific efforts players have made in video games serves to reward continual effort and encourages an incremental theory of intelligence or that intelligence is malleable rather than an innate ability (Granic et al. 2014). Players are also highly motivated by the use of failure in game design to encourage players to return to overcome a particular challenge. This can be translated into educational success and may see players learn various skills (Granic et al. 2014). A skill building approach observes opportunities within video games to provide players a chance to develop abilities and also practice and perform skills through gameplay. Game content, motivations and

290 Gampell & Gaillard: Video Games: Tools for DRR fluctuating game rules are a few potential areas for skill development. However, not all players will develop their abilities (Ulicsak and Wright 2010). Consideration of social interaction is the last approach in analysing a video game. This approach considers how players interact with other players within the game environment. It is also concerned with the prosocial skills acquired within the game world, which are subsequently incorporated into the relationships outside of the game environment. Lee et al. (2012) suggest the different motivations for playing social games influenced attitudes toward engagement. Historically, this is an understudied area of video games but the increased popularity in online social games, like Farmville with five million daily users on Facebook, make this an important area for future consideration (Granic et al. 2014; Ivory 2013; Lee et al. 2012). The stereotypical description of a gamer is becoming less appropriate (Granic et al. 2014). As technology becomes increasingly embedded in everyday life and exposure to video games via mobile phones, tablets and computers increases, determining who is a gamer becomes increasingly complex (Granic et al. 2014; Schuurman et al. 2008). Research is becoming increasingly important to understand how video games are used and what their potential beneficial influence to enhance learning capabilities and participant interaction is (Hirumi 2010; José et al. 2010; Tanes and Cho 2013). The four approaches detailed above help to focus the analysis of the identified disaster-themed video games and identify features of these games which can move beyond a purely cognitive stimulus approach.

Exploring Disaster in Video Games With DPC and more specifically disaster-themed video games becoming increasingly prevalent, the literature shows a significant gap in research toward this area. Though existing DPC literature has acknowledged the existence of disaster video games (Quarantelli and Davis 2011), in particular as products of entertainment, the authors do not explore this area any further focusing instead upon more familiar popular culture products, like artwork, memorials and song. In parallel, video game studies have made very little use of disaster awareness building video games, instead disregarding them in favour of video games that appear to present clear links to social issues like violence or physical activity (Ivory 2013). As both the popular culture of disasters and video games are relatively new academic fields, this article aims to build literature in three key areas, the popular culture of disasters, disaster based video games and video game culture, in parallel to the main aim of providing a foundation for further disaster video game research as tools for DRR. It provides a typology of video games and explores inherent discourses with regards to disasters and DRR.

Methodology

Initially, this research project set out to identify serious games with the specific intention to build disaster awareness. Inserting a variety of keywords relating to diverse hazards and disasters (e.g. flooding, earthquake, preparedness, recovery), real

291 Gampell & Gaillard: Video Games: Tools for DRR life events (Haiti Earthquake) or humanitarian organisations (Red Cross, UNISDR) into various internet search engines, such as Google, Yahoo, YouTube, Dailymotion, Vimeo and the Apple iTunes store, provided a starting point for the identification of video games focused upon building disaster awareness. During the course of identifying serious disaster video games, the concept that mainstream entertainment disaster themed games could also potentially build disaster awareness informally, in the form of edutainment, became apparent and therefore should be included. Due to the lead author’s gaming background, many existing mainstream disaster titles were familiar and easily identifiable, with some mainstream titles identified via gaming magazines, online gaming reviews, and discussions with other gamers.

Table 3: Video Game Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria

Inclusion Exclusion  Stakeholders (UNISDR,  Technological disaster Red Cross Save the Children etc.)  War

 Natural Hazards  Food Security

 English, French, South  Zombies East Asia (Singapore, Thailand), Spanish  Post-apocalyptic

Educational(Serious Games)  Windows and IOS  Android operating operating systems systems  Post-apocalyptic  Zombies

 Natural Hazards  Android and PlayStation operating systems  Technological, War and Food Security (As additional components within these games)

 English, Russian Entertainment Games  Windows, IOS and Xbox operating systems

To enable an unrestricted preliminary collection of disaster themed video game, there was an attempt to have no inclusion/ exclusion criteria. The project focused upon video games which include elements of DRR or disaster at large, with the majority of games included focusing upon natural hazards. Though some games focus upon nuclear fallout, these games have underlying principles surrounding DRR. However, due to time constraints upon the project itself and the sheer number of video games available other disaster scenarios, like zombie apocalypse and war, were not included. Table 3 presents details of the inclusion/ exclusion criteria in place for

292 Gampell & Gaillard: Video Games: Tools for DRR this study. As this is an agenda setting paper, these games are to be explored further in future research. The content analysis against a DRR framework following the identification and typology process presented the real distinction between the video games. All identified video games were subject to the collection of basic information, in order to help the creation of a disaster videogame typology. Table 4 demonstrates this process with a small selection of video games that achieved relatively high scores after content analysis.

Table 4. Basic Information Collected for Some of The Disaster Video Games

Game Title Video Game Information

City management simulation game. Developed by ProjectThree for the UNISDR in 2009. 9-16 year old children Stop Disasters are the target audience. Intention is learning about disaster prevention.

Policy Simulation. Developed by Playgen in 2008 to build Floodsim awareness of flooding danger to the United Kingdom.

Interactive comic book story with elements of problem Disaster master solving. Is part of the Federal Emergency Management

Agency's Youth Preparedness Program in the United States. Educational (SeriousGames) Educational

A Thai sidescrolling arcade adventure game. Developed by Sai Fah - The Flood Opendream for UNESCO in 2014 with intention to build flood Fighter preparedness.

Post apocalyptic roleplaying game (RPG). Developed by Fallout 3 Bethesda Game Studios in 2008.

SimCity City Management Simulation. Developed by Maxis in 2013.

Political City Management Simulation. Developed by

Entertainment Tropico Haemimont Games in 2014.

City Management Simulation dealing with the effects of Anno 2070 climate change. Developed by Ubisoft Blue Byte in 2011.

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CATEGORY PC EXCLUSIVE Black & Black & GOD White White 2 SIMULATIONS (2001) (2005) Simcity 4 Spore (2003) (2008) Red Cross CITY Simcity Simcity Anno Stop Anno Simcity Emergency Anno 2070 Simcity MANAGEMENT 2000 3000 1701 Disasters 1404 (1989) Response Unit (2011) (2013) SIMULATIONS (1994) (1999) (2006) (2007) (2009) (2009) FloodSim (2008) Citizen Disaster Beat the Quake Safe Disaster Young PROBLEM Build a Kit Ship Watch Quake Game Master Meterologist SOLVING (Unknown) (2005) (2006) (2008) (Unknown) (Unknown) (2012)

ISOMETRIC Wasteland Fallout 1 Fallout 2 Wasteland ROLEPLAYING (1988) (1997) (1998) (2014) GAME

FIRST/THIRD PERSON ROLEPLAYING GAME

ACTION/ ADVENTURE

Inside The FIRST PERSON Haiti SIMULATION Earthquake (2010)

FIRST PERSON 9.03M ART/EMPATHY (2013)

SIDESCROLLING

Earth Girl (2013)

ARCADE Notes: i) Game titles in yellow correspond to educational disaster games. ii) The changing colour scale represents a change of 10 years. iii) Titles located in grey rows indicate a sharing of characteristics of the categories either side

Figure 1. Gamecade of Disaster Related Video Games Exclusive to a Computer

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CATEGORY MULTI-PLATFORM PLAYSTATION IOS From GOD Dust SIMULATIONS (2011)

Simcity Simcity Simcity CITY Simcity 2000 2000 Tropico 3 Tropico 4 Tropico 5 for MANAGEMENT Buildit (1995- (1995- (2009) (2011) (2014) iPhone SIMULATIONS (2013) 2009) 2009) (2011)

PROBLEM SOLVING

ISOMETRIC ROLEPLAYING GAME

FIRST/THIRD Fallout PERSON Fallout 3 New ROLEPLAYING (2008) Vegas GAME (2010) Metro Metro Last 2033 Light (2010) (2013) Monster ACTION/ Infamous 2 Guard ADVENTURE (2011) (2014)

FIRST PERSON SIMULATION

FIRST PERSON ART/EMPATHY

SIDESCROLLING Sai Fah - Earthquake The Flood Response Fighter (2010) (2014) ARCADE Notes: i) Game titles in yellow correspond to educational disaster games. ii) The changing colour scale represents a change of 10 years. iii) Titles located in grey rows indicate a sharing of characteristics of the categories either side.

Figure 2. Gamecade of Disaster Related Video Games on Different Gaming Platforms

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Armed with a small selection of disaster video games, a process that will from here on be called a ‘Gamecade” was used to identify further video games. This method has similarities to that of snowballing, however, takes an approach that identifies the predecessor, successor, related video game/ series or games created by the same developers from a pre-identified video game, the final product resembling a cascade (Figures 1 and 2). As Figures 1 and 2 demonstrate, video games are categorised either under a particular genre or between genres to demonstrate that they display characteristics of both genres and linked to their required operating system. Those games considered serious games or gamified games are colour coded to differentiate them from the mainstream entertainment games. The video games flow down the list in chronological order, earliest games on the far left to the more recent on the far right, the transition between decades is colour coded for easy reference. The Gamecade method allows an individual to either pool video games by genre, decade or the equipment required to play the video game and provides an opportunity to view the progression and subsequently game titles that influenced future game titles. While every effort was taken to identify as many disaster related video games as possible, this typology of identified video games is in no way an exhaustive list and further research is required to identify earlier disaster video games, games in a foreign language and those on other operating systems.

Framing Disaster Risk Reduction: Constructing a Disaster Video Game Typology

The construction of a DRR framework outlining the main DRR strategies and their related actions was required to build a disaster video game typology. Table 1 provides the definitions of three main DRR strategies, prevention, mitigation and preparedness, detailing the actions under each strategy. These actions ranged from the need for basic services, like shelter, food and water, to hazard warning systems and coordinated evacuation. With the construction of this framework, both educational and entertainment video games could be grounded and referenced within the context of DRR and subsequently allow both content and discourse analysis to be conducted.

Determining DRR Content: A Process of Content Analysis

With the DRR framework constructed and video games identified, content analysis could begin. If possible, each video game was played to determine which DRR actions were present within that particular video game. If a video game was unable to be played, like Infamous 2 and Monster Guard, gameplay videos were sought and used in an attempt to identify any DRR actions present. The DRR framework (refer to Table 1), was the foundation from which the scoring system was generated. The actions of each category, prevention, mitigation and preparedness, become the criteria for the identified video games to demonstrate levels of DRR content. The identification of any one of these 14 possible actions, through the course of gameplay or video watching, was systematically recorded upon the DRR video

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game framework. DRR actions were identified in a variety of ways ranging from dialogue with non-playable characters (NPC), incorporated into the game design or were actions undertaken by the player. For example, if, in any game, the player has the option to place sandbags to help prevent flooding damage, then the manmade structure category on the DRR video game framework receives an x to show a prevention action. The outcome of this process provides a simple typology that effectively demonstrates which games align most closely with DRR actions and therefore could have the potential to build greater disaster and DRR awareness.

Framing the Disaster Discourse Analysis

Discourse analysis aims at understanding how society constructs, understands and organises its knowledge of the world and surrounding environment (Crawford 2004; Foucault 1971). Similarly, Laffey and Weldes (2004) define discourse as the socio- cultural resources used by people in the construction of meaning about the world and their activities. The meanings of any discourse are created, supported and contested through the production, sharing, and consumption that emerge from the interactions between social groups and the complex societal structures in which the discourse is embedded (Phillips and Hardy 2002). Discourse analysis is therefore a methodology to uncover and understand the socially constructed meanings in society and how discourses produce and distribute power over knowledge, identity and social relations (Crawford 2004; Hardy, Harley, and Phillips 2004; Laffey and Weldes 2004). Phillips and Hardy (2002) suggest two primary assumptions for discourse analysis. The first is the active construction of social reality through meaningful interaction and the study of the social is therefore concerned with how objects and concepts populating social reality come into existence (Hardy et al. 2004; Phillips and Hardy 2002). The second is the belief that meaning arises from the interrelated bodies of text, aka discourses, which bring new ideas, objects and practices into the world (Phillips and Hardy 2002). These ideas were used to conduct a discourse analysis upon some of the identified disaster games to interpret the meanings of disaster and DRR discourses expressed and communicated to the player. Video games and DPC at large are complex assemblages of constructed meanings that translate into social reality (Hardy et al. 2004). To guide the discourse analysis and the subsequent interpretation of the selected video games, a series of questions were developed for addressing the objectives of this study and in the context of the four criteria of video game analysis: game content, player motivation, skill building and social interaction. Firstly, to determine the categorisation of each video game, how, why and for whom each game was constructed was considered. Second, the representation of game content and subsequently the derivation of meaning was explored, including which meanings were observed to be promoted or subordinated. Thirdly, what motivations could exist for choosing to play and continue playing the games was examined. Fourthly, what areas of potential skill development existed within the game and finally, what social interactions were present for players within

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the game environment. The content analysis provided a rationale to select video games with the highest scores in terms of DRR content for specific discourse analysis. Similar to the content analysis process conducted, after playing the selected video games, consideration of the questions helped guide the observations toward the portrayal of disaster and DRR discourses within the chosen games. This process of discourse analysis requires a subjective view by the researcher and requires consideration in regards to reflexivity. The researcher plays a constant role in the social context of investigation therefore the understanding of a particular social context is reliant upon their day-to-day experiences (Tolich and Davidson 1999). The interpretation involved in the discourse analysis of disaster video games reflects the lead author’s personal background as a gamer and therefore insider, who is also investigating video games with an outsider’s perspective. As a result, some of the interpretations may reflect personal experiences but also provides greater insight into the overall framing of the video game process.

Disaster and DRR in Video Games

The content analysis for educational disaster video games and entertainment video games, depicted in the following two tables, demonstrate the amount of DRR content in the various video games. While some of these games are set in the aftermath of the disaster, the depiction of DRR actions like basic needs and services are still relevant and have been marked accordingly. The video games that classify as gamification, serious games or otherwise educational are represented in Table 5. Comparing these games against the DRR framework shows two video games, FloodSim and Stop Disasters, ranked top equal achieving scores of 12 out of a possible 14. The next highest scoring games were Disaster Master and Sai Fah – the Flood Fighter, achieving a score of eight equal. The remaining games in this category achieved less than half of the possible actions, achieving scores between one and five. In contrast, Table 6 includes the videogames that classify as entertainment. Games, which were part of a series, were compiled due to the similarity in game content. The highest scoring entertainment game series, Fallout, achieved a score of 12, equal to that of the educational games. SimCity ranked second with a score of seven and closely followed by Anno 2070, Tropico 4, and 5, achieving scores of six. The remaining videogames in this section achieved scores between two and four. The DRR framework provided an entry point to review how both educational and entertainment video games reflected the DRR strategies or actions required for successful DRR. What becomes obvious is that no serious game demonstrated the complete possible range of DRR actions within a game. Instead, most games concentrate upon a particular strategy or specific action. Some mainstream entertainment video games, not designed in an educational capacity, scored just as highly as the top ranking serious games in terms of the DRR criteria. However, just

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Table 5. DRR Content Analysis of Educational Disaster Video Games

DRR Prevention Mitigation Preparedness Engineering Basic Stockpiling Use of techniques/ Disaster Early Training Landuse need and Engineering Environmental Public equipment Coordinated Emergency Public manmade hazard risk warning and field regulations services design policies awareness and evacuation operations information structures resistant analysis systems exercises provision supplies construction

Build a Kit X

Beat the X X X X Quake Citizen Ship X Disaster X X X X X X X X Master Disaster X X X X X Watch Earth Girl X X Earthquake X X X Response FloodSim X X X X X X X X X X X X Inside the Haiti X X X X Earthquake Monster X X X X

Guard Educational Disaster Games Disaster Educational Quake Safe X X X X House Red Cross X X X X ERU Sai Fah - The X X X X X X X X Flood Fighter Stop X X X X X X X X X X X X Disasters Young X X Meterologist

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Table 6. DRR Content Analysis of Entertainment Games Featuring Disasters

DRR Prevention Mitigation Preparedness Engineering Basic Stockpiling Use of techniques/ Disaster Early Training Landuse need and Engineering Environmental Public equipment Cordinated Emergency Public manmade hazard risk warning and field regulations services design policies awareness and evacuation operations information structures resistant analysis systems exercises provision supplies construction

Fallout series X X X X X X X X X X X X

Metro series X X X X Post apocalyptic Post Anno 2070 X X X X X X SimCity series X X X X X X X

City City Tropico 4 X X X X X X Simulation

Management Management Tropico 5 X X X X X X Black & White X X

Series

Disaster Entertainment VideoGames Entertainment Disaster God From Dust X X Simulation

Note: Due to the size of entertainment games, in terms of game length, world size, possible storylines and gameplay variation, not all possible content may be reflected in this preliminary typology.

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because these video games demonstrate higher scores than other video games in their respective categories, does not necessarily mean that this information translates to developing player awareness (Ulicsak and Wright 2010). As discussed earlier, serious games inform and train upon specific content (Abt 1970; Kapp 2012; Rao 2011). The serious games identified generally outlined the intended focus of the video game content for players to learn (Table 4). These learning objectives generally focused upon a particular DRR strategy like preparedness or prevention but some focused only on a specific activity or action like stockpiling equipment and supplies. Games like Stop Disasters and Build a Kit reflected these intentions when compared against the DRR framework. Through the lens of a city management approach, Stop Disasters provides players with a disaster scenario requiring the use of DRR strategies to reduce the impact of the impending disaster. The intention of Stop Disasters is to increase awareness of disaster prevention. Stop Disasters demonstrated this by achieving all criteria under the prevention strategy. Stop Disasters uses prevention orientated quantifiable outcomes like placement of schools, hospitals and housing among others in order to win the game. In contrast, the Build a Kit video game focuses upon a particular preparedness action instead of all the actions within the preparedness strategy. Build a Kit, as the name suggests, tasks players with choosing appropriate equipment and supplies from around the household or supermarket for an emergency kit before supplying players with a downloadable checklist. These two serious games ultimately achieve their respective content aims however, further study with participants would help to determine whether players could utilise this information after playing a serious disaster game. The identified entertainment video games reinforced their potential to be a form of edutainment by demonstrating the ability to satisfy many of the different criteria within the DRR framework each taking a very different approach to portraying DRR. While serious games set some form of learning objective, entertainment games do not and leave players to set their own agendas within the constraints of the video game. Disasters are often associated with city management simulations as challenges for players to prepare for and overcome with as little damage to their cities as possible. City management games like SimCity, Anno 2070, Tropico 4 and Tropico 5 all feature natural hazards and provide players with some capacity to lessen the impacts if they choose to implement them. These games generally focus upon the preparedness aspect of DRR, as seen in the content analysis and emphasise the usage of early warning systems and emergency operations to deal with an event rather than taking actions to prevent or mitigate potential impacts. The survival agenda of the Fallout series results in a completely different approach to DRR. Not only are players encouraged to prepare effectively for hazards they may face throughout exploration of the game world. Players also have the opportunity to help various settlements in the game recover and reduce the risk of future hazards. The Fallout series ranked the top entertainment game for presenting DRR content. Unlike serious games, it does not explicitly tell players how to play the game but instead players make personal decisions toward implementing prevention, mitigation and preparedness actions. The

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results of the content analysis show that both educational and entertainment games have the potential to provide players with an understanding of DRR strategies and actions. While no game successfully achieved the entire range of potential DRR action, this may in fact keep the intended DRR content easy to identify and understand, without added complexities of other actions to help the translation process toward improving a player’s disaster awareness. The discourses presented in Tables 7 and 8 represent the games that achieved high scores in terms of the DRR content analysis. The meanings of these discourses and some of the other video games which did not score as highly in terms of DRR content are explored further in the following section.

Table 7. Discourses Present Within Educational Disaster Video Games

DRR Strategy Prevention Mitigation Preparedness  Focus upon  Hazard risk maps developing basic  Implementation of allow for better service public awareness infrastructure infrastructure programmes placement. (hospital, schools,  Use hazard resistant  Focus upon early and housing) materials. warning systems for Stop Disasters  Infrastructure can  Must save a certain evacuation. be protected via number of people to  Use of staff training hard or soft achieve game to improve engineering. objective. Mitigation evacuation and  Infrastructure must strategies help therefore survival remain to achieve achieve this. rates. the game objective.  Improving  Hard and soft  Policies put in place to preparedness options are given to mitigate flooding through warning

reduce the risk of impacts but do not systems flooding. consider  Public information FloodSim  Landuse regulation environmental given by door to implementation implications. door, leaflets or text. requires decision on  Highlights the use of  Each approach who is important, media and texting in having different urban, rural or both. time of emergency. costs and effectiveness.  After an event,

Educational (Serious Games) (Serious Educational survivors are rescued  Basic provisions  Media and officials quickly and by focus. direct the flow of emergency Disaster master  Does not highlight information therefore operations any other features. a top down approach.  Suggests no one will be hurt if they are prepared.  Sandbags as a  Focus on flood defence against  Presents a preparedness but flooding. comprehensive guide removes parental  Must also provide a to building a sand bag figure suggesting a Sai Fah - The defence against wall. small boy can Flood Fighter burglary.  Emphasise local prepare and fight  Highlights the need knowledge vs from an against the flood for basic services official. alone or with small (food, water, amount of help. medicine).

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Table 8. Discourses Present Within Entertainment Video Games Featuring Disasters

DRR Strategy Prevention Mitigation Preparedness  Underground  Emphasises the need shelters with all  Bottom up approach to prepare by basic services to writing a wasteland stockpiling provided to protect survival guide equipment and people from the detailing methods to supplies for outside world. survive in the games exploration.  Settlements require world.  Brotherhood of Steel Fallout 3 help to set up the  Information provided control the access to provisions of basic by the in game radio, fresh water needs and services detailing supplies therefore chooses or defences. required for survival where to send the  Emphasis on the or locations of raiders water to. requirement of and other dangers. .  Glorified defenders fresh water. of the wasteland  Manmade  Red Cross and structures are not  Breaking news SimCity developed used to prevent headline advises of downloadable impact of a disaster. hazard content to improve  Let nature run its  Also provides emergency course and assess information regarding management. SimCity (2013) the damage after actions being taken if  DLC provides Red the event. Red Cross or other Cross emergency  Destroyed buildings emergency operation centre, immediately rebuilt. management units are providing relief in the No consideration to available. Entertainment aftermath of the the wider social disaster. implication.  Tropico 4 nuclear  Hazard risk maps shelter is the only  Tropico 5 has a indicate areas structure to feature. disaster relief fund. outside of the risk Does not limit the Saves a set amount of zone. impact of a disaster money each turn to  Upgraded weather Tropico but does require a be used in the case of station, enables early choice toward who recovery after a warning systems to would use it disaster by reducing better prepare and (everyone or just the rebuild cost. lessen the disaster the president). impacts.  Use of the natural environment to  Eco shields prevent  Early warning system protect and mitigate provides 10-15 infrastructure from tornados, from Anno 2070 seconds to move tsunamis by building damaging ships from the behind mountain infrastructure. shoreline. ranges. Can lessen the risk of flooding.

The analysis of video game design suggests how these games can potentially improve disaster awareness. Tables 9 and 10 deal with the aspects of video game design for games that achieved high scores in the DRR content analysis. Analysis and reflection against the other disaster games are elaborated in the following section. .

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Table 9. Results of The Educational Video Game Analysis

Video Game Analysis Game Title Cognitive stimulus Motivation Skill Social  Interest in  Cost analysis disasters. regarding  Rationale for  Failure as a tool budget actions are  Single player to continue. constraint. Stop Disasters defined by a  Online leader  Improve final  Infrastructure series of key board. score. placement. facts.  Collecting all the  Working under key facts. time constraint.  Learn about flooding in the  Consideration of  Complexity of United Kingdom. policies. game design  Attempt to  Single player  Cost in terms of FloodSim reflects improve their  Online leader budget complexity of final score. board constraint. reality.  Try act on

immediate feedback.  Critical thinking  Understand the  Story in regards to the necessity of Educational (Serious Games) (Serious Educational  Unlock the next particular action  Single player Disaster master preparation chapter with the required to game. before a required score. reduce the risk disaster. of a hazard.  Puzzle solving.  Story  Quick reaction  Play again to speed Sai Fah - The Flood  Flood improve score  Single player  Understand the Fighter preparedness and collect game. process of achievements preparedness missed. and evacuation.

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Table 10. Results of The Entertainment Video Game Analysis

Video Game Analysis Game Title Cognitive stimulus Motivation Skill Social  Storyline.  Quick reaction  Moral decisions  Character speeds. on actions taken creation. Level  Moral in the game up and thought  Single player Fallout 3 which decide customise toward game. how the rest of skills. actions and the game plays  Can set own long term out. goals. impacts.  Can understand concepts faced  Single player. by decision  Build own city.  Urban  Online SimCity makers but not  Set own planning multiplayer necessarily the objectives  Budgeting mode underlying social causes

Entertainment  Build your  Single player  Urban  The relationship own city.  Online planning of political  Set own goals cooperative or Tropico  Budgeting power upon  Choose competitive  Political development. political multiplayer structures orientation mode.

 The potential  Build your  Single player dynamics of own city.  Urban online Anno 2070 future climate  Set own goals planning multiplayer change and sea  Attempt to  Budgeting mode level rise. win missions

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Interpreting Disaster and DRR in Video Games

All video games played and examined as part of this study tell a story and reflect discourses around the causes of disasters, how people face such events and also how people and society should reduce risks. These are discussed in the following paragraphs. The Fallout series highlights the underlying social conditions that make particular groups vulnerable. The poor, homeless and radiated people (aka ghouls) are generally segregated and found in hazardous areas of the wasteland, pushed out by those who hold wealth and therefore influence. Interestingly, many of these influential individuals can also be classified as homeless. The ghouls (Image 1) act as scapegoats in the world of Fallout, blamed for any problems which others may face (Wachtendorf 1999; Webb 2007). These ghouls generally display acts of aggression toward humans and law enforcement, and are forced to live in areas of high risk, which make them extremely vulnerable. This concept is in some ways naturalised within the game and is seen in reality as travellers, the homeless and homosexuals act as scapegoats by shifting the blame onto these marginalised individuals (Gaillard, Liamzon and Villanueva 2007; Wachtendorf 1999).

Image 1. Ghoul from Fallout 3

Inside the Haiti experience gives players a first person view of the post-earthquake setting. The live footage provides shocking imagery of the devastating impacts an earthquake can cause. One scenario that the player can play is the journalist, this scenario provides an interesting insight regarding looting. Players see a male, shot by police bleeding out on the concrete (Image 2). The game requires players to choose between different answers to sum up that particular scene. This portrays the disaster myth of looting (Quarantelli and Dynes 1972), one must determine whether the individual was in fact looting to make monetary gain or to gain resources for survival (Constable 2008).

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Image 2. Inside Haiti - Image of Looter?

Fallout and Metro portray concepts of community resilience and capacities in dealing with disasters. NPCs create temporary shelters, homes and equipment from scavenged materials as they begin rebuilding amongst the rubble, metro tunnels or out in the wasteland. New forms of currency, like bottle caps or bullets, replacing the traditional forms of currency and becoming new tangible financial resources linking back to the concept of livelihoods (Chambers and Conway 1991). The bullets in Metro also reflect the survival dimension of the currency, as a way to obtain resources to sustain their daily needs or in self-defence. Both of these game series portray symbolic monuments (Image 3) in the game as symbols of human resilience, representing the visible signs of progress while surrounded by destruction (Samuels 2012).

Image 3. The Washington Monument in Fallout 3 versus Reality

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The use of the word ‘fighter’ in the titles of both, Earth Girl – The Natural Disaster Fighter and Sai Fah – The Flood Fighter, suggests disasters are something that can be physically fought against. Both of these games were developed in Asia, which generally takes an approach to being one with nature, the idea of fighting against nature or mastery over nature is often associated with Western ideals (Hewitt 1983), demonstrated with water fountains that defy gravity. Earth Girl – The Natural Disaster Fighter provides the title character, Earth Girl, the ability to kick tsunami waves or turn flaming balls of rock into dumplings displaying dominance over nature physically (Image 4). Sai Fah – The Flood Fighter does not take the same approach but instead displays perseverance in the face of adversity.

Image 4. Kicking a Tsunami Wave in Earth Girl.

Fallout 3 further addresses the role of the political landscape in DRR and how this can have different results depending upon the choices the player makes. While some factions have good intentions, aid is not directed to those who need it most, depicting the ideas of access, and claim (Chambers and Conway 1991). Modern day situations face similar scenarios as outsiders who lack local knowledge judge and assess the areas that require the most aid. Often this aid is accumulated in areas where the media are situated, though these areas may not necessarily require the aid and therefore does not accurately reflect the true situation (Wisner et al. 2012). City management games like SimCity, grants players positions of extreme power controlling most processes within the game space. Players can design the city how they see fit, without regard to the underlying social process and taking actions not necessarily reflecting the reality of a mayoral position (Rowley 2010). While these games suggest the virtual city can be prepared for disasters by way of warning systems or providing multiple emergency services, they often lack measures to prevent or mitigate a hazard, instead suggesting that the disaster is inevitable which should not be the case (Collins 2013). Anno 2070 provides no preventative measures

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like sea walls or planting mangroves to reduce the impacts of a tsunami (Gero et al. 2011). Instead, players can attempt to strategically place their infrastructure on rocky islands and use the cliffs as protection (Image 5).

Image 5. Tsunami in Anno 2070.

The preceding paragraphs only demonstrate a small number of the possible discourses seen in the identified video games. These games clearly demonstrate and portray hazards, disaster, vulnerability and capacities in ways that reflect disaster stereotypes, a potential consequence of being developed by elites. More importantly, these discourses demonstrate a potential issue in regards to risk communication and disaster awareness. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) states the necessity of harmonising key messages of DRR to ensure these messages are consistent when conveyed to different audiences (IFRC 2012). The IFRC (2012) suggests sustained repetition of the same messages is required for effective disaster awareness. Therefore, an issue lies within the discourses video games portray. In order for the harmonisation of key DRR messages, DRR practitioners need to further explore how such discourses are depicted through, not only video games, but DPC at large, and deconstruct these ideas to ensure this aim of consistent messaging.

Using Video Games as Tools for Building Awareness

The identified video games clearly show a pattern in how they can potentially build disaster awareness in players of these games. While game content, which acts as a stimulus, is generally the usual approach (Granic et al. 2014), this article has attempted to include three other approaches toward video game analysis, i.e. player motivation, skill building and social interaction. The interrelatedness of these approaches provides a clear rationale for how game content may influence a player’s awareness and understanding of disasters and DRR.

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The motivations for playing a particular game and what keeps players motivated to continue playing a game is the first approach to consider (Granic et al. 2014; Lee et al. 2012). Learning would be the most common motivation for playing a serious disaster game. However, game design can also provide players with further motivations to continue playing a game. The narrative design of Disaster Master uses chapters of the story to represent game levels. Players must complete a chapter to receive the password for the next chapter of the story and subsequently the next level of the game. This process encourages players to play through each chapter to reach the end of the story and therefore game. A common motivational tool in video games is the use of failure (Granic et al. 2014). Players know there is a way to beat the particular challenge they face or attain the score needed to progress, and are therefore engaged in the process to achieve the objective. The immediate feedback provided in FloodSim after a player’s decision demonstrates the use of failure. The policies and decisions made by the player generally receive both negative and positive feedback (Kapp 2012). However, if a player does not implement any action at all, the game still provides both positive and negative feedback. Therefore, the use of failure in FloodSim attempts to draw players back to achieve better results though this does not appear to be a reality. Consideration of player motivation is important as motivation is a key determinant in what skills a player potentially learns. The fact a player returns to a particular challenge can reinforce the particular game content involved with that challenge. A point to raise here is the idea of reverse learning, where players purposefully experiment with the boundaries of the video game and attempt to play the game in an alternative fashion. The experiment and play dimension of video games allow players the ability to play a game how they want and potentially engage players into a thinking process regarding their actions (Kapp 2012). The design intention of Stop Disasters is to save lives though players also approach the game with a single intention ‘to kill’ as many NPCs as possible. Players may place infrastructure in high- risk areas or remove vegetation, which could help minimise the damage from a hazard (Gero et al. 2011). While this may be seen as a negative dimension to video games, an interview conducted with a game developer revealed this to be a valuable teaching tool. By doing the wrong actions, players can learn what conditions cause high risk and fatality. While this is considered fun, eventually players realise they cannot win the games objectives and proceed to play the game to achieve the goals required for the winning state. At present no social disaster games appear to exist, though city management games have a multiplayer mode, the content focuses upon cooperative or competitive city building. Game developers remove disasters from this process, as they do not want players to win based upon pure luck that an opponent must deal with the impact of a disaster. Definite potential exists for a disaster game that requires players to work together and overcome the impacts of a disaster or alternatively work cooperatively to prevent, mitigate and prepare for a disaster scenario. The three approaches discussed here come together to influence how players perceive the game content. The motivations that attract players to a game and then

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continue playing a game is a necessary step to comprehend as it is this motivation that presents the opportunity for players to begin learning skills from the video game. It is this process which acts as a cognitive stimulus for building awareness and therefore influences player behaviour and not necessarily the game content itself. It should also be noted that video games have the potential to demonstrate long-term dynamics over a short time period and may prove useful tools to influence ‘behavioural change’ by allowing players to engage these dynamics within their thinking process. While this study did not formally assess the video game approaches with participants, it is an area intended to be addressed in future disaster video game research.

Disaster Popular Culture and Video Games

The content and discourse analysis provides enough detail to enable the categorisation of video games as formal products of DPC, using the four dimensions outlined by Webb (2007): product characterisation, producer identity, the time of production and the way in which the product is distributed and used. Video games may therefore be considered material popular culture products, primarily developed by elites, classifying video games as mainstream products. While the video games identified in this article were not found to be developed by or designed with input from disaster survivors, this is not to say they do not exist. The fact video games identified in this study are classified as mainstream products may explain the presence of some of the stereotypes identified during the course of discourse analysis. Interestingly, some of the educational game titles were developed and subsequently released following a major event, like Earthquake Response and Inside the Haiti Earthquake after the Haiti Earthquake in 2010. Entertainment games often were not released directly following an event, most likely due to the logistics of scale surrounding game development. However, such games may be observed to be influenced by particular events, such as Infamous 2, which features a game environment representing the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It should also be noted that most of the video games identified focus upon large-scale extreme hazards like, earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes and nuclear fallout. Focus upon the extreme and rare dimension of disasters within video games, disassociating such events from the fabric of everyday life and further strengthening the so-called hazard paradigm (Gaillard 2010; Hewitt 1983). Video games can be distributed in a variety of ways, ranging from downloading full games from the internet or via in-store purchases. The video game analysis conducted upon these disaster based video games suggests video games are not just used or exist as products intended for entertainment (Quarantelli and Davis 2011). Both educational and entertainment games are also intended or may be used as products for raising awareness. Therefore, video games may be better categorised as products of edutainment. Conclusion

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Two main objectives guided the overall aim of this article. The first objective was to identify and compile a disaster and DRR-themed video game typology. The second objective deconstructed disaster-based video games, both mainstream and DRR- specific, to identify how some of these video games portrayed hazards, vulnerability, capacities, disasters and DRR. The aim and objectives of this article begin to provide knowledge not only toward video game literature but also contributes toward the body of DPC literature regarding how video game portrayal of disaster discourses can provide a foundation for building disaster and DRR awareness. Deconstruction of disaster-based video games, both mainstream entertainment games and serious games concerned with disaster and DRR, has provided important insights into this area of research. The DRR content analysis demonstrated that both categories of games provided players with some form of DRR content. While serious games often provide learning outcomes which developers have created game content for, the game may not necessarily demonstrate this content to the same extent as other serious games. Entertainment games, on the other hand, do not have learning objectives. However, DRR content from a survival approach or the requirement to build and effectively reduce a city’s risk of disaster provides players with an alternative learning experience. These experiences may be the required motivations for building disaster and DRR awareness. This study identified no video games developed by or were developed in collaboration with disaster survivors, therefore allowing the DPC categorisation of video games to be considered mainstream DPC products. This suggests video games are the produced by elites who may influence the disaster discourses included in the games. In the future, game developers may consider developing a game with survivors, as a video game developed with survivor knowledge could provide different insight into the portrayal of disaster discourse through gameplay. Another major issue identified during this study was that most of the serious games produced by NGOs and other organisations appear to be one off projects and are often unheard of within the organisation. There is a lack of research surrounding the success of these games or whether the intended learning objectives are translated into positive initiatives towards DRR. A few studies have attempted to consider these questions. However, these studies often only consider one aspect of video game analysis, namely the content. Organisations and NGOs creating such disaster video games should attempt to conduct parallel research to identify and test whether useful messages and positive impact in terms of DRR is possible through their video games. This article is a first of its kind for video games and disaster research. With no previous model to follow, the methods outlined here are preliminary and will definitely evolve with future research. Serious disaster games were difficult to find based upon their age or the requirement of particular keywords. While the list provides many games, the list is not exhaustive and further research is required. There is definite scope to branch out into video games that feature other disaster scenarios like war, medical epidemics and zombies and investigate the relationships between natural hazards and these alternative scenarios. The nature of video games means this

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study has captured one moment in time and can be irrelevant in the near future, signalling a constant need for disaster video game research. This paper sets an agenda for future research. As this is a preliminary study, aspects of content control, evaluation and opportunities for video games to facilitate DRR are to receive further focus in future research. These video games, and subsequently games released since this paper, intend to be tested with participants in future research to better explore opportunities for DRR. The current categorisation of prevention, mitigation, preparedness and response content intends to be broad, due to difficulties in categorising everything. Therefore, this method allowed a more unrestrictive and universal approach. Future research will see the further refinement of these categories. This paper has therefore provided the foundation to enable such future research. This study intended to act as a springboard for future research in the area of disaster video games. The video games used in the typology all met various criteria required for successful DRR and with further study these games may prove to be positive tools to raise and reinforce a player’s awareness of disaster and DRR. Future projects aim to assess whether players gain some knowledge to improve their perception and awareness of disasters and DRR after playing a disaster related video game and how game design features may influence their motivations to play a game and therefore their potential to learn. This may involve comparisons between the design features that attract players toward serious games and/ or entertainment. The ability of video games to demonstrate long-term dynamics over a short time period may prove, through assessment, that video games can be useful tools to influence DRR initiatives through the engagement of these dynamics within a players thinking process. Academic literature is severely lacking research upon disaster video games, an area that will become increasingly important, as more people become regular users of video games.

References

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Video Games

4A Games 2013, Metro Last Light, cross platform: PC, Deep Silver, Ukraine. Bethesda Game Studios 2008, Fallout 3, cross-platform: PC, Bethesda Softworks, Maryland. Canadian Government 2010, Inside the Haiti Earthquake, computer game: PC, PTV productions, Canada. Christian Aid 2006, Disaster Watch, computer game: PC, Playerthree, London.

EOS 2013, Earth Girl: The Natural Disaster Fighter, computer game: PC EOS, Singapore. FEMA Unknown, Disaster Master, computer game: PC, Unknown, USA. Haemimont Games 2014, Tropico 4, cross-platform: PC, Kalypso Media, Worms. Haemimont Games 2014, Tropico 5, cross-platform: PC, Kalypso Media, Worms. Maxis 2013, SimCity, computer game: PC, Electronic Arts, California. Obsidian Entertainment 2010, Fallout New Vegas, crossplatform: PC, Bethesda Softworks, Maryland. PlayGen 2008, FloodSim, computer game: PC, PlayGen, London. Ubisoft 2011, Anno 2070, computer game: PC, Ubisoft Blue Byte, Germany. UNESCO 2014, Sai Fah- The Flood Fighter, app: IOS, Opendream, Bangkok. UNISDR 2008, Stop Disasters, computer game: PC, Playerthree, London.

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