ABSTRACT
Understanding wordplay requires analyzing both the content of video games and the larger context in which those games are discussed, designed, and played. The framing discourse surrounding games has a tremendous impact on both what gets played and the kinds of games that are developed. One of the key elements of the rhetorical environment surrounding games is a belief that video games are kid’s toys. Although demographic data fi rmly refutes the idea that video games are the exclusive province of children, dominant themes most typically advanced by non-gamers focus on how video games are corrupting the young. The establishment of the perception that children are the target audience for games is a persistent one, more clearly developed in certain regions of the world than others. This belief grounds elements of how society at large processes discussions about games, making it a key element of the discourse of video games and a topic in dire need of deconstruction to better understand how words about video games impact the design and play of them.
