Looking back on my reactions while playing Phone Story, I noted two significant things: 1) videogames can be a form of news media and 2) I feel like I just participated in the Milgram experiment but to a lesser extent. The Milgram experiment was conducted in 1961 in response to Nazi workers “following orders” during the Holocaust. It tested the extent to which one will comply with authoritative orders and defy their morals.

While playing Phone Story, I still heard the narrative in the background but almost became immune to it. I’d like to say that I kept hitting “try again” so that I could save more people, but in actuality, the game turned into a competition between the computer and me, similar to Tetris. Now don’t get me wrong, I was definitely disturbed by the story that the game told; nevertheless, it turned the story of 17 suicides into a game. This brings up the question of whether or not it is appropriate to produce games that portray specific, traumatic instances throughout history (i.e. Foxconn or 9/11). Or is there a point in time when the majority of people become immune to the trauma, like with the narrative, which is when videogames are acceptable?

Therefore, videogames can convey news, but I do believe they make the news a reality because it is still in a “game world”. My reaction to the game was simply to beat it (following orders of authority) even though people were being killed and I was hearing all of the horrors that the game was based on (testing my morality).