How Far Gaming Has Come In The Media Culture

Gaming has become a large part of society nowadays, with everyone ranging from young boys to older girls seemingly interacting in gaming with each other. This “gaming” includes hardcore gamers who play multiplayer shooters, to casual gamers who play candy crush on Iphones on the way home. It also provides gamers with almost never ending content in the world as Raessens describes, computer games can easily be “modified, copied and distributed without the loss of quality” (2005, p. 374). Video games are now a form of participatory medial culture.

 

It used to be that gaming was only played by nerdy young boys and society looked down on video games as ‘uncool’ or ‘childish’. In a study by Juul Jesper (2012), he stated that video games have been reinvented sense the year 2000 and now acts as a casual revolution. These days around 45% of gamers are women, and according to the Entertainment Software RatingBoard the average gamer age is now 34 with 49% of gamers in the age range of 18-49. Video games have come a long way from being look down as ‘uncool’ and now contribute to one of the strongest points in entertainment.

The readings of Joost Raessens give an interesting insight on gaming and how it has and will continue to affect the media. He stated that the “young mass audience" (Raessens, 2005) will explore the notion of multimidality, virtuality, interactivity and connectivity through gaming. A recent example on how far gaming has effected are culture was success of the new game GTA V, which took  $1 billion income in 3 days, breaking the all time record for profit in all areas of media. This is one of many examples of how gaming has impacted our lives, and clearly will continue to affect the world around us.

 

Video games are usually seen as merely a form of entertainment, but in some cases they can also be utilised in teaching young people about everyday life skills that they will need in the future (Gee Paul 2003). In many news articles the teaching values of video games are overshadowed by the writer’s focus on the use of violence in games. However recent studies contradict the cliché ‘video games are bad for kids’. A study by Squire Kurt (2011) found that video games do not increase the level of violent behaviour in kids, and are a “vital key to teaching people participatory culture.”

Games can also be very important for the development of the human brain. For example, in your everyday life you will be faced with variety of problems which you must overcome. Likewise in computer games, you are faced with a variety of similar issues and are required to solve these problems in a specific time limit. Studies have shown that these video games actually help people deal better with problems in real life by remaining calm and behaving rationally when sudden issues arise (Diana Graf 2009). 

 

I consider myself a casual gamer, someone who plays video games once in a while (on my phone when on a bus or tram), and I think many video games are an art and a form of escapism. I use video games to escape from my problems and they provide me with “a window back into our world.” (McCloud 2005). While gaming can provide social interaction with other people and serve as a way to escape reality from time to time, it is important that it does not serve as a replacement for communication or addiction. While virtual reality can be fun it is important that it doesn’t make you break away from reality.

A video game that I think has impacted my life (and most of my friends) the most is Pokemon. The game (for those who have been living under a rock for the last 19 years) centres around a child who lives in a fictional world where you catch and train imaginary animals called ‘pokemon.’ The role playing game allows players to roam freely through the game with the goal to complete the Pokédex by collecting all of the available Pokémon species found in the fictional region where that game takes place, and to train a team of powerful pokemon to eventually become the strongest Trainer i.e. the Pokémon Master. Funny enough both goals are actually impossible as not every Pokemon is catchable, and it is nearly impossible to be the best trainer in the world. This was part of it’s appeal as it was a journey without end, an aspiration that could never be fully achieved.

 

When I was growing up Pokemon was the most popular video game, it spawned countless spinoffs in the form of TV shows, movies, trading cards, toys.etc. Pokemon was so popular it even connected children from different cultures. When I was in primary school my class went to Japan to experience a different culture. I thought it would be impossible for our class to connect to Japanese people as we were too different, however I couldn’t have been more wrong. While we did not have much in common we did have one thing, which is Pokemon. My class not only connected to other children through Pokemon but we also ended up becoming friends, some who I still connect with on Facebook to this day. Looking back at that experience, it highlighted the positive side of globalization and cross-cultural communication.

It is also worth noting the different range of media forms that have developed in this current media culture, and although I do not see myself as a hardcore gamer, I do think that I unconsciously follow the range of aspects of this current culture, where even though I am uninterested in video games at times, because of the social media I still unintentionally follow what video games are coming out. Thanks to the current era I interact, develop and express a portion of my ideas online, and due to globalisation and the internet, the power of media cultures will only grow stronger every day.

 

The virtual world of gaming went from being socially look down on to being the highest grossing means of entertainment. Although video games are now seen by many as a bad example for kids or just another use of entertainment, it also has overseen teaching values that help people in everyday life skills and can serve as way of communication from one culture to another. Every year the population of video game players seem to grow higher and in my opinion video games is the future of entertainment.

Reference List:

Link 1: http://variety.com/2013/digital/news/who-plays-video-games-more-girls-than-you-may-think-1200569882/

Link 2: http://www.esrb.org/about/video-game-industry-statistics.jsp

Link 3: http://www.businessspectator.com.au/news/2013/9/23/technology/gta-v-sales-speed-past-1-billion-three-days

Link 4: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon

Image 1: https://dov5cor25da49.cloudfront.net/products/921/636x460design_01.jpg

Image 2: http://images.thesource.com.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/gta-v-details-revealed-rockstar-0.jpg

Image 3: http://gamerfitnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Screen-Shot-2011-11-05-at-11.16.32-AM.png

Image 4: http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/33100000/Pikachu-Gangnam-Style-pokemon-33193931-1049-1038.jpg

Image 5: http://scienceblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/video-games-reality.jpg

Raessens, J 2005, ‘Computer games as participatory media culture’, Handbook of computer game studies 2005, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass, pp. 373-388 

McCloud, S 2005, Scott McCloud: The visual magic of comics, TED.com,

Squire, K. (2011). Video Games and Learning: Teaching and Participatory Culture in the Digital Age. Technology, Education--Connections (the TEC Series). Teachers College Press. 1234 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027.

Gee, J. P. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. Computers in Entertainment (CIE), 1(1), 20-20.

Graf, D. L., Pratt, L. V., Hester, C. N., & Short, K. R. (2009). Playing active video games increases energy expenditure in children. Pediatrics, 124(2), 534-540.

Juul, J. (2012). A casual revolution: Reinventing video games and their players. The MIT Press.

Tearing the Typical Hollywood Formula

Hollywood films used to follow the exact same formula in nearly every movie, it follows a ridiculous and overdone plot where the protagonist is a handsome male, who defeats the bad guy and gets the beautiful girl, rinse and repeat. However in the last few years Hollywood films have started to become as Klein (2004) will describe it Asianized and stated to drift apart from this cliché Hollywood formula, while Asian films on the other hand have started to become Hollywoodized.

 

A great example of how Hollywood films have become Asianized can be seen in the block buster hit The Departed. This film is a crime thriller and remake of a Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs, It provided a fresh story, deep characters and didn’t end up with the protagonist getting the girl or having a typical happy ending. The Departed was regarded at the time as a masterpiece and won countless awards including an Oscar for best picture and as Klein put it an “Asianization of Hollywood”. This film to me represents the degree of change we all want from current films. As Kleins stated “a partial erosion of the boundaries that once separated Hollywood from local Asian film industries, and a consequent intertwining of industries, and a consequent intertwining of industries on both sides of the pacific” (Klein 2004, p. 361) 

 

Asian films have also become Hollywoodized in many of the recent films, ranging from films such as Pacific Rim to even Godzilla, Hollywood has had a huge impact of the Asian cinema culture, which is both a good and bad thing. The Pros for Hollywoodization is that Asian films are getting much more attention from around the world and this results in higher budgets and more movies from many different Asian regions. However the Cons to the Hoolywoodized Asian films are that it too is also starting to mimic the Hollywood formula of happy endings and explosions. 

In my opinion, both western and Asian cultures are helping each other create a unique perspective on cinema, and are starting to tear the classic Hollywood formula of happy endings and replacing them with meaningful movies such as the Departed. Overall Klein’s prediction of the morphing of Hollywood and Asian films is still evident to this day, and will probably continue to grow in the coming future.

References:

Image 1: http://richkleber.com/family/rich/moviereviews/moviereviews/movieimages/thedeparted.jpg

Image 2: http://monstermoviekid.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/kk-g-3.jpg
Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmscqtJLk1Y

Link 1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Departed

Klein, C 2004, 'Martial arts and the globalisation of US and Asian film industries', Comparative American Studies, SAGE Publications, London, p.360.

How Celebrities Have Changed And The Specular Economy

Celebrities are people who are probably just like us, there is probably nothing too special about them and they act and think in similar ways just like us, however our current society has put them into a category as special or deemed them as role models who people everyday want to look, think and act just like. As Marshall stated celebrities have ‘developed into a particularly powerful and pervasive trope for contemporary culture' (2013 p.1). Global celebrities like Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber and Rebecca Black have shaped the way people act and behave and sadly usually serve as a bad role model for people everywhere.

The term “celebrity” has changed over the last years, celebrities used to be people that mattered, people who were leaders or people who made a real difference to the world. But lately the term ‘celebrity’ can be literally given to anyone who owns a YouTube account or ‘accidently’ leaks a sex tape (I really hate you Kardashians). This is all due to the rise in social media, where anyone who is entertaining on Twitter, Facebook or YouTube can become one of the most known people in the world. For example the Global celebrity Rebecca Black is an individual who clearly has no talent or has anything to truly say, however she made one horribly laughable music video that was so bad became a worldwide hit. Now Rebecca Black is (I can’t believe I am saying this) one of the world most successful singers with more than 167 million views on her hit song Friday.

Thanks to Global Celebrities people are doing everything they can to be just like them, people buy cloth that celebrities wear, people dress like celebrities and even try to act like celebrities. Marshall (2010) suggests the specual culture is spreading with the rise in technology and that “we are becoming more conscious of how we present ourselves and how others perceive us (Marshall 2010, p. 499).” Due to this we are acting more and more like someone we are not (e.g. Global celebrities) and I personally think it is important to maintain who we are and not who we can be.

 

On the topic of who celebrities should be, I consider the man in the picture above. Do you know this man? No didn’t think so. This man is David Justino who is currently being called a hero who helped saved a young tourist women’s life after she was hit by a taxi and lost both of her legs. People like him are what I personally think should be celebrities of this world, the only reason no one knows about this man is because global celebrities like Miley Cyrus taking advantage of the media by posting videos of her twerking has overshadowed people who really matter.

 

With Globalization and the power of social media, literally anyone can become a celebrity, while people who are probably more worthy of the title are overshadowed by not so talented global celebrities who take advantage of the media.

References: 

Link 1: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/2013/09/25/13/53/hero-claims-he-was-fired-for-saving-woman

Image 1: http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1432607!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/plumber22n-4-web.jpg

Image 2: http://www.worthashare.com/assets/miley-cyrus-twerking.jpeg

Marshall, D, (2010). ‘The Specular Economy.’ Society, 47, 6, pp. 498 – 502, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 31 August 201

Marshall, P. David, 2013. Persona Studies:Mapping the Proliferation of the public self. Sage Publications,  pp 2-18.

Media Cultures

Gaming has become a large part of society nowadays, with everyone ranging from young boys to older girls seemingly interacting in gaming with one and other. This “gaming” includes hardcore gamers who play multiplayer shooters, to casual gamers who play candy crush on Iphones on the way home. It also provides gamers with almost never ending content in the world as Raessens describes, computer games can easily be “modified, copied and distributed without the loss of quality” (2005, p. 374).

 

This week’s readings of Joost Raessens give an interesting insight on gaming and how it has and will continue to affect the media. He stated that the “young mass audience" (Raessens, 2005) will explore the notion of multimidality, virtuality, interactivity and connectivity through gaming. A recent example on how far gaming has affected are culture is on the topic of the new game GTA V, where gaming has become so popular that a recent game has reached $1 billion income in 3 days, breaking the all time record for profit in all areas of media. This is one of many examples of how gaming has impacted our lives, and clearly will continue to affect the world around us.

I consider myself  a casual gamer, someone who plays video games once and a while (on my phone when on a bus or tram), and I think many video games are an art and a form of escapism from reality. I use video games to escape from my problems and they provide me with “a window back into our world.” (McCloud 2005). While gaming can provide social interaction with other people, it is important that it does not serve as a replacement for communication.

It is worth noting the different range of media forms that have developed in this current media culture, and although I do not see myself as a hardcore gamer, I do think that I unconsciously follow the range of aspects of this current culture. Thanks to the current era I interact, develop and express a portion of my ideas online, and due to the enhancement of globalisation and the internet, the power of media cultures will only grow stronger every day.

Reference List:

Link: http://www.businessspectator.com.au/news/2013/9/23/technology/gta-v-sales-speed-past-1-billion-three-days

Image 1: https://dov5cor25da49.cloudfront.net/products/921/636x460design_01.jpg

Image 2: http://scienceblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/video-games-reality.jpg

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR8p2lkuq14

Raessens, J 2005, ‘Computer games as participatory media culture’, Handbook of computer game studies 2005, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass, pp. 373-388 

McCloud, S 2005, Scott McCloud: The visual magic of comics, TED.com, http://www.ted.com/talks/scott_mccloud_on_comics.html