ABSTRACT
One of the key themes of this book is that the words we choose to use matter. In regular life, selecting to use ‘like’ rather than ‘love’ may have a substantial impact on how that life plays out. Although microlevel examples are relatively straightforward, examining situations with higher stakes provide an opportunity to ascertain more information about how larger social structures work and what their value systems are. Take, for example, political speech. In giving a political speech, a leader often taps into larger social forces by using specifi c words that trigger certain emotions or shape belief toward policy. In the wake of the Watergate investigation, Richard Nixon opted to pit beliefs about ‘confi dentiality’ against the ‘rule of law.’1 By appealing to two prominent values in U.S. culture, Nixon sought to excuse his actions, asserting that the confi dentiality required by a president required him to keep certain information secret. In repeatedly appealing to confi dentiality, Nixon demonstrated what he thought was most important in the wake of the scandal. Although confi dentiality may not be a prominent appeal in video games, the notion of balance is, and using wordplay to investigate how balance is employed in game design and play is instructive in understanding several of the values present in the discourse of video games.
