Running head: FIRST PERSON VICTIM First Person Victim: Using Interactive Drama and Tragedy to create Awareness about the Consequences of War

What will you do when an air strike is announced, the attack is targeting your hometown, and you can hear the bombers coming nearer? How will you find your loved ones in the carnage after the explosions? What would it be like to be on the other side of the guns pointed at you by the invaders? What happens when we turn the roles around and the "First Person Shooter" becomes a "First Person Victim" experience? Scientific and psychological studies claim a variety of triggers in video games with violent content may promote aggression. To oppose the violent behavior of players in these games, this paper will describe how the sources of aggression and first person shooter conventions have been exploited in the “First Person Victim” experience to create awareness about the consequences of war for civilians. The paper will also explain how our “Interactive Dramatic Experience Model” organizes the various events of the experience and mediates an emergent narrative by the use of the first person shooter form. The theme is communicated through the use of tragedy, and turns the roles around to let the participants encounter a realistic warscenario while being confronted with ethical issues, by enacting the experience of being a victim of war. An evaluation of the implemented experience indicated that the participants were engaged in the experience, despite the tragic theme, and that they were able to acquire an understanding of the theme being mediated.