Videogames are an expressive medium, and a persuasive medium; they represent how real and imagined systems work, and they invite players to interact with those systems and form judgments about them. In this innovative analysis, Ian Bogost examines the way videogames mount arguments and influence players. Drawing on the 2,500-year history of rhetoric, the study of persuasiveexpression, Bogost analyzes rhetoric's unique function in software in general and videogames inparticular. The field of media studies already analyzes visual rhetoric, the art of using imageryand visual representation persuasively. Bogost argues that videogames, thanks to their basicrepresentational mode of procedurality (rule-based representations and interactions), open a newdomain for persuasion; they realize a new form of rhetoric.Bogost calls this new form "proceduralrhetoric," a type of rhetoric tied to the core affordances of computers: running processes andexecuting rule-based symbolic manipulation. He argues further that videogames have a uniquepersuasive power that goes beyond other forms of computational persuasion. Not only can videogamessupport existing social and cultural positions, but they can also disrupt and change these positionsthemselves, leading to potentially significant long-term social change. Bogost looks at three areasin which videogame persuasion has already taken form and shows considerable potential: politics,advertising, and learning. Bogost is both an academic researcher and videogame designer, andPersuasive Games reflects both theoretical and a game design goals.

“Whether we call them ‘serious games’, ‘persuasive games’, or simply ‘video games’, it is clear that there is much of rhetorical significance to mine from the electronic representations and interactions that have captivated such a large portion of the world’s population. Ian Bogost’s book is an excellent step towards understanding and appreciating these materials from an intellectual, critical, and humanistic perspective.”

Statistics and facts about the Video Game Industry
A video game is an electronic game that can be played on a computing device, such as a personal computer, gaming console or mobile phone. Depending on the platform, video games can be subcategorized into computer games and console games. In recent years however, the emergence of social networks, smartphones and tablets introduced new categories such as mobile and social games. Video games have come a long way since the first games emerged in the 1970s. Today’s video games offer photorealistic graphics and simulate reality to a degree which is astonishing in many cases.
 Video games are a billion-dollar business and have been for many years. In 2011, video and computer game spending in the United States amounted to 16.6 billion U.S. dollars. Newzoo, a market research firm specializing in video games, estimates that 145 million Americans played some sort of video game in 2011, more importantly 63 million Americans were actually willing to spend money on video games. Moreover, as the first generation of gamers is growing up, video games can no longer be considered child’s play: In 2012, 37 percent of American video game players were older than 36 years of age and only 32 percent were younger than 18. Kids and teenagers are among the heaviest users of video games though: according to the results of a 2009 survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, on a typical day,American 8- to 18-year olds spent 73 minutes playing video games.  There are three major players in the market for video game consoles: Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. Nintendo’s Wii is the best seller among current generation consoles. By the end of 2012, Nintendo had sold 99.4 million units of the family friendly console. The Wii was the first console to feature motion-controlled games and became an instant hit, especially among casual gamers. In 2011 however, both Sony and Microsoft released motion-based controllers for their consoles and the technically inferior Wii has since lost its competitive edge. The most popular video game genres in the United States are action, sports and shooter games. 

Video game culture (more accurately: a subculture) is a worldwide new media subculture formed by video games. As computer and video games have exponentially increased in popularity over time, they have had a significant influence on popular culture. Video game culture has also evolved over time hand in hand with internet culture as well as the increasing popularity of mobile games. Many people who play video games identify as gamers, which can mean anything from someone who enjoys games to someone who is passionate about it. As video games become more social with multiplayer and online capability, gamers find themselves in growing social networks. Gaming can both be entertainment as well as competition, as a new trend known as electronic sports is becoming more widely accepted. Today, the video games can be seen in social media, politics, television, film and music.

With lots of free-to-play games, companies aren't just competing for our money. They're competing for our time too.

Gaming feels like a constant chase for novelty. It feels like the graphics have gotten better but the gameplay hasn't changed,

We don’t want a game that is creative and original.

 We want a game plot that has been done a million times before.

We care too much about what the majority likes and not enough about what WE like.

		How to personalize the game to please different players
digital games place players into a position where they have power to control. Players have power because they are the actor in the game. Again, Flew wrote that "the engagement comes because the player is the performer, and the game evaluates the performance and adapts to it." Emergent games are becoming a popular type of video games as they offer environments and sets of rules where players' story can branch in various unexpected directions, depending on the players' own decisions. Players as users of these new forms of media, not only ingest narrative but also can more freely interact and engage in ways where they can actually create their own text