Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/donateidea Do you control or are you your video game avatar? Avatars have increased in complexity over the years, from paddles and Pacman to highly rendered and human-like beings and first-person floating cameras. Whatever your avatar is, it is consistently a TOOL, a way for you to engage with the videogame world. But are you merely controlling it or ARE YOU your avatar? This is an important question because if a player truly feels that their avatar embodies them, we might have to think differently about what our moral and ethical obligations as videogames present us with a plenty of uncomfortable and moral choices. So are you really controlling your avatar? Watch the episode to find out! Check out Jamin Warren's GameShow episode about Gender Swapping in Videogames! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFOVVAhnAns ---------------------------------------­-------------------------------- Links and Sources: Wired Article http://wrd.cm/19woANe Gamespot's Reality Check: http://bit.ly/19woEfZ Problem Machine http://bit.ly/HhVfw2 Gonzalo Frasca: http://bit.ly/19woGES Extra Credits: http://bit.ly/19woJR4 ---------------------------------------­------------------------------ Music: "Europe" by Roglok (http://www.roglok.net/) "Carry on Carillon" by Roglok (http://www.roglok.net/) Level 5: Room for the Homeless http://bit.ly/10N0Ykm "Bouncy Castle" by Roglok (http://www.roglok.net/) ":P" by Roglok (http://www.roglok.net/) Binaerpilot "Geeks" http://bit.ly/10N0UBf "Squarehead" by Roglok (http://www.roglok.net/) Outsider "Explore" http://bit.ly/197EQnY StatueofDiveo "Final Days" http://bit.ly/GYljwI Chiptune - Kenzalol http://bit.ly/15vKwpN EatMe http://bit.ly/17ludvN ---------------------------------------­---------------------------- Tweet of the Week: http://bit.ly/1ahGZhY ---------------------------------------­---------------------------- Come hang out in the Idea Channel IRC! http://bit.ly/138EHBh Check out the Idea Channel SubReddit! http://bit.ly/GNklUq ---------------------------------------­---------------------------- Let us know what sorts of crazy ideas you have, about this episode and otherwise: Tweet at us! @pbsideachannel (yes, the longest twitter username ever) Email us! pbsideachannel [at] gmail [dot] com Idea Channel Facebook! http://Facebook.com/pbsideachannel Hosted by Mike Rugnetta (@mikerugnetta) Made by Kornhaber Brown (http://www.kornhaberbrown.com/) ---------------------------------------­-------------------------- Want some more Idea Channel? Here's Last Week's episode: "Did Horse_ebooks Show Us that SPAM is the Web's Native Artform?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQsq9gCit9Y Want another one? Here ya go: "Can You Actually Enjoy Breaking Bad?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9QIGAHQZqQ Here's some more: "Is There An Introvert Craze Because of Technology?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtGscT3l-bs