Gampell & Gaillard: Video Games: Tools for DRR 283 International
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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 284 Gampell & Gaillard: Video Games: Tools for DRR 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