Bethesda Softworks: A Brief Summary

Bethesda Softworks, a subsidiary of ZeniMax Media company, released their video game Fallout 4 in November 2015 resulting in over $750 million of sales within days of its release (Bethesda Softworks, 2015). The title is the latest installment of their successful anthology that explores an alternate reality where humans commercialized nuclear technology ushering in an atomic age. The player, cryogenically frozen in a fallout shelter as bombs drop on the United States, awakens 200 years later to a post-apocalyptic nightmare where radiation warped the ecosystem almost beyond recognition and humans struggle to survive (Bethesda Softworks, 2015). While pop culture critic Roger Ebert once argued that video games can never be considered an art form …show more content…
Humans develop ideological orientations for specific environmental conditions for a specific amount of time. When two or more share a particular ideology, they establish a bond due to their common identification. According to Burke, consubstantiality builds from this shared identification: “A is not identical with his colleague, B. But insofar as their interests join, A is identified with B. Or he may identify himself with B even when their interests are not joined, if he assumes that they are, or is persuaded to believe so” (Burke, 1969b, p. 20). Burke acknowledges that persuasion is historically an important part of rhetoric and that identification is a form of persuasion. However, Burke believes that identification has greater impact than traditional modes of persuasion (Burke, 1969b, p. xiv). A presidential candidate presenting his or her position and arguing for its merit without understanding the audience is merely attempting to persuade. If that same presidential candidate establishes a common ideological orientation with his or her audience, he or she would have greater