When we think of video games, what is the first thing we think about? Super Mario jumping over green colored pipes, collecting spinning coins and squashing goombas? Or maybe mindlessly Call of Duty shooting every enemy you see to advance to the next stage in the level? Either way, video games have been created through a clump of processes designed to emulate an understanding of the world through relating the technology used to make them with their designers. Games can produce a variety of societal structures, from opening doors to courting a mate; we are able to explore a broad variation of societal structures. In my essay I will be examining a few videogames and how action-based video games have changed from 1996 to now, examining closely with the rise of First Person Shooters, or FPS, and how they have changed since the 2001 World Trade Center Attacks. I will look at the intention of game makers by analyzing their content and the reaction of the public to games. I intend to show how cultural influences like post 9/11 times have influenced the gaming industry and have instituted a change in creation. In 1996, games have initiated the fear of scientific progression and environmental destruction and through 2005, video games have changed to imitate post 9/11 culture. They have shown to do this through a bigger interest pointed on war safety through constant companionship, nesting or development of a living space, that is consistently under attack, and protagonists fighting antagonists that have threatened to conquer the world, such as world-conquerors or scientists, and ignorantly motivated captivating enemies. These can directly relate to video games as a means to which technology, developers, and players all have common links.... ... middle of paper ... ... only gave players fun in the political climate, but they were also able to use the same technology used that were designed to destroy the world (Dyer-Witheford 2009). From then, video games had gotten popularity from the late 70’s to the mid 80’s and by 1984, had met their demise since they had become labeled as a fad due to their over-production and being saturated in the market (Aoyama 2003). This abandonment allowed Japanese companies, such as Sega Inc. and Nintendo to rise and take over the American gaming industry without making the same mistakes. And after the demolish of the American gaming industry, the Japanese gaming industry were able create a new wave of games not based on war-obsessed video games like the ones made in America. These games were based on pre-established comics and animations that were already popular in Japanese Culture (Consalvo 2012).
In[a] the novel, Trouble, Henry respects Chay nearing the end of their adventure, because he learned about his tragic life in Cambodia. Henry had been an ordinary boy with the “Great Franklin Smith”, living his own ordinary life, until a tragic car accident ruins all of the Smiths plans for the future. Now Henry and Sanborn travel to Mt. Katahdin for Franklin, but Henry loathes Chay for killing Franklin. To avenge Franklin’s death, their epic adventure to Katahdin brings, troubles, hardships, origins, and anger between all members, making a unique journey for all.
During the 1990’s the video games were constantly changing. This decade saw tons of innovations in the gaming industry. The creation of 32-bit games and 3D games dominated the virtual world: Contra, Battletoads, Mortal Kombat, etc. Video game genres developed and branched out, creating some of the popular genres in video games today, such Role-playing games(RPGs), 3D platformers, first person shooters, etc. During this time, the industry was ruled by Nintendo and it’s President, Hiroshi Yamauchi, who ruled with an iron fist.
Jayson, Sharon. “Video Games Tied to Aggression.” USA Today. USA Today, 1 March 2010. Web. 24 October 2011.
Grand Theft Auto IV promotes hetronormative hierarchical distinctions between feminity and masculinity through its framing of female and male bodies, its presentation of females as objects of the male gaze and its encouragement of players to adopt and act out a hypermasculine role. It is of vital importance that we do not exclude race, gender or sexuality from discussions of videogames, because as Leonard (2006, pp. 84) asserts, doing so ‘contributes to problematic, if not faulty, understandings of video games and their significant role in contemporary social, political, economic, and cultural organization.’ Instead as players we must engage in discussion regarding videogames and, as Jenkins writes, we must ‘find a way to move beyond our existing categories and to once again invent new kinds of virtual play spaces’ (1999, pp.
An examination of videogames in popular culture is a complicated one. There is a large debate as to what is the very first video game. The supposed earliest known video game was created by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann on a cathode ray tube in 1947. The game was a missile simulator similar to radar displays from World War II, and overlaid sheets of paper were used for targets since graphics were unknown at this time. On May 5, 1951, the NIMROD computer was presented in Britain. It used a panel of lights for its display and was used to play a game called “NIM”. Later, in 1952, Alexander S. Douglas made the first compu...
What ever happened to the simple games like Mario Kart 64, Baseball, Football and Sonic the Hedgehog? In the book The Sociology of War and Violence the author states, “Our popular culture, novel, history textbooks, mass media, art, games, children’s toys and many other everyday outlets are saturated with images and instruments of violence” (Malesevic). There has been a huge rise in violence in the media culture today. Television shows, movies, video games, etc. have all become more violent today than they have ever been in the past. Kids used to play these simple games and were fine with that, but now they only care about them if they have violence, killing and destruction. Today’s video games are being created to be based around nothing but
Bissell, Tom. Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter. New York, NY: Pantheon Books, 2010. Print.
To understand how video gaming relates to Japanese culture we need to understand more about the country of Japan. We will explore some important facts about Japan’s cultural society and environment.
Video games have come a long way. They have evolved from the simple game of Pong into a complex, multi-platform, multi-genre, multi-billion dollar industry.
Runge, Paul. “Video Games Represent the Most Powerful (and Potentially Dangerous) Era in Storytelling”. Huff Post Tech. 10/21/2013 31 January 2014
In the article “Why we need violent video games,” Gilsdorf draws attention to the fact that violent video games are not the reason for aggressive behavior amongst youths; rather he suggests that they are an outlet for people’s aggression (Gilsdorf, 2013). Ethan Gilsdorf started out in journalism as a Paris-based travel writer and he is the author of the travel memoir investigation Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms. He is known to be a writer, journalist and a critic (“About Ethan Gilsdorf”, n.d.). The author’s purpose in this article is to inform the readers that violent video games are not always related to the violence in reality. This is a timely argument as the article assesses the relation between violence and video games
3. “Video Games” by Chris Jozefowics. Published by Gareth Stevens Publishing 2010. Pleasantville, NY 10570-70000 USA. Produced by Editorials Directions Inc.
Society in the 1980s saw games as distraction and a waste of time. Arcade games in 1981 were regarded as a reason for cutting classes. Children and the youth were banned from playing arcade games during school hours and past ten in the evening on weekdays, and past midnight on weekends. Laws against children playing in arcades during the banned hours were implemented in order to prevent further disturbances in their studies (Kent 152). Games to the people in the 1980s were merely forms of entertainment that brought about many video game addicts. However, in the early 1980s video game consoles and personal computers were globally popular. This was because most of the machines that had enough power to...
Video games first appeared in the early 1970's. It all started with a simple white ball bouncing back and fourth on the screen. In 1986, Nintendo introduced its first line of home video game consoles. With the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) on the market, the home video gaming industry surged and immediately became popular among children. Since then, not only have video games increased in popularity, but there have been vast improvements in graphics, game play, and forms of gaming. Today, video games have become the preferred choice of entertainment among children and teenagers. Research done in 1998 has shown that kids who own video games spend an average of 90 minutes a day playing them. Clearly the video gaming industry is a profitable one. With the increasing competition between gaming companies, the advancement of technology and content of games began to change. One of the most significant and concerning changes in gaming is graphics. With the improvements in graphics the content of the game became more and more detailed and realistic. Visually violent actions can now be displayed on the screen. Images of blood, flying body parts, and gore have been integrated into every aspect of today's video games. Violence has always been a common factor in many games, but with the improvements in graphics and capabilities of gaming consoles, a growing number of people are becoming concerned about the effects on our children and society.
In a society driven by technology, video games are becoming more popular each and everyday. People of all ages enjoy video games in their free time; these games allow the player to become an athlete, a soldier, or a professional fighter at the tip of their fingers. The biggest problem with these video games is that they are becoming too violent. In today’s society, children often brag about the new video game they bought, and the number of people they have managed to kill while playing these games. Video games have become realistic, causing them to intrigue a larger amount of children. Many of these violent video games encourage killing and fighting of enemies, or strangers in the game. Each year a new game system, and hundreds of video games are released, and millions of kids go out and buy them and spend hours playing. Video games have a large effect on school performance and time spent with family. Children would prefer to play their games than sit down and talk with their parents (Saleem, 2012).