As soon as the video game world pressed the start button on their business, they never stopped playing. Like any video game, they hit major checkpoints and beat levels. From Pac-Man with joysticks to Angry Birds on iPads, the video game industry has a consistent history of success. Today, everyone knows someone who plays or has played a video game. New games and gaming consoles are constantly being advertised and released. They are even an entertaining method of keeping people up with the growth of technology. According to Melissa Terlecki, a psychology professor, “Involvement and experience with current computerized technologies…is important to provide both men and women…Because computer video games are a seamless lead-in to the …show more content…
These successful early games made the entire industry a total of 27.3 billion dollars by just 1982. One of the first iconic characters of this generation was Pac-Man, which in its great success, led to the release of its partner in crime, Mrs. Pac-Man. This spinoff greatly expanded their audience. Joyce Worely conducted an interview in the Electronic Games Magazine in 1982 with Stan Jarocki of Midway upon the game’s release, he stated, "It expanded our customer base and made Pac-Man a hit. Now we're producing this new game, Mrs. Pac Man as our way of thanking all those lady arcaders who have played and enjoyed Pac Man.’" Due to Mrs. Pac-Man being the first iconic female protagonist in the female gaming industry, it resulted in a huge spike in female gamers. There was also little controversy surrounding the character being female due to lack of sexist qualities and undoubted success.
The industry spends its money towards more male-oriented gaming than towards female-oriented gaming because they believe that there is a higher demand for their male audience. These high numbers result in high profit for these industries. Mike Williams, a writer for Game Industry magazine, concluded that “14.8 billion dollars was spent on gaming in 2012”. Now, according to Gartner, Inc., the world's leading information technology research and advisory company, the video game industry
The author argues elderly and non-gamers have a pessimistic vision of technology and video games, assuming they are addictive and insignificant. Wright emphasize video games are vigorous and can set a creative imagination and boost self-assurance. Wright points out the difference between observing a video game and having an actual participation, there is possession of owning an actual experience. Wright continues to persuade that gamers have “possibility space” meaning there are multi opportunities to create, maneuver and succeed personal effect appropriate to each individual gamer.
“Be a Gamer, Save the World,” written by Jane McGonigal, is an article found in the Norton Reader 14th Edition. Video game critics are often quick to dismiss playing video games as brain numbing and a waste of time. McGonigal challenges critics of video games by discussing the benefits of playing video games. She makes a valid point by stating that video games make players more optimistic and help create better social bonds. These emotions can encourage people to desire working for the betterment of the world. McGonigal believes we can solve some of the world’s most difficult issues with the use of video games. The author makes a valid point, especially considering the advancements in technology and the
Video games have become a massive icon that has spanned decades, technology and even cultural boundaries. Whether you play on a computer, tablet, phone, or console: at some point in your life, video games have been a part of what you do. Strike up a conversation about games and you can make lasting friendships or bitter enemies. Even if they might not know the specific game, everyone knows what the genre is, and because of this, video games have taken their lasting place in our pop
If you are a parent during this time of information and technology, chances are you have a child who has played, is playing, or will be playing video games. The video game industry is a rapidly growing market that went from being worth $100 million in 1985 to $4 billion in 1990 (Gartner, 2013). Prior to the 1980’s, there were rudimentary computer games, commercially sold coin-operated games, and home consoles. Shortly after the North-American Video Game Crash of 1983 the industry took a big hit until the Nintendo Entertainment System induced a resurgence in popularity that has only continued to grow (Cesarone, 2014). In the years since, the gaming world has expanded and divided into numerous categories. There are casual, serious and educational games in mediums ranging from console games to online RPG’s also known as role playing games to the most recent and flourishing market of mobile games. In 2013, the worldwide value of the industry totaled $93 billion (Metrics 2.0, 2007).
“In today’s society computer and video games are fulfilling genuine human needs that the real world is currently unable to satisfy. Games are providing rewards that reality is not. They are teaching and inspiring and engaging us in ways that reality is not. They are bringing us together in ways that reality is not. And unless something dramatic happens to reverse the resulting exodus, we are fast on
Though gaming has its drawbacks, it also has many benefits to cover them. If controlled, gaming is extremely useful and with the amount of gamers in the world today, it proves that it is not just for children or for teenagers. There are millions of adult gamers that understand the importance of gaming in the under the existing circumstances of the world. Individuals that have studied gamers believe that gaming in today’s
Tom Bissell presents an article in 2010, to college students of which is “Why Video Games Matter.” Bissell isn’t intending for the argument to be about video game criticism, the history of the gaming, or an assessment of anything. On the contrary, he wants to articulate his own opinions and thoughts on what playing games feels like, why he plays them, and the questions they make him think about. Being a gamer myself, I have also endured the struggles of what being obsessed with a video game feels like. It is understood that when first purchasing a video game, all one thinks about is getting home and popping it in the console, disregarding everything else that is happening in the vicinity.
From the past till now, video game never loses its popularity, from Gameboy to Wii, and from NDS to LOL, millions and billions of people are obsessed with this imaginary world. Some of the video games are created for educational purpose, however, most are created for the people who wants to escape from reality. “In a national Harris Poll survey of 1,178 American youths (ages 8-18), ISU Assistant Professor of Psychology Douglas Gentile found nearly one in 10 of the gamers (8.5 percent) to be pathological players.” ("Figure 2f from: Irimia R, Gottschling M (2016) ") Not only the statistic shows the high rate of addiction towards video games, terrible consequences of the addictions are more than enough to be served. For example, an extreme case of an Chinese kid called Xioyi suicide because he lose in one of his game on December 27, 2004; where he left a note that said he wanted “to join the heroes of the game he worshiped.” Video game has the potential to ruin a person’s life, as well as their family, or even the
All people of all colors, ages and gender are represented in a similar way within the games, or do anyone stands out in all this? Someone is under-represented? How important to be represented in the media?
Many people have differing views on the topic of video games. While some individuals view gaming as positive, others view it in a negative light. Electronic games should not control a person’s life. Instead, individuals should prioritize and focus on objectives that matter in life. Spending time with family, friends, and studying, have countless benefits that gaming cannot provide in a person’s
The term “gamer” tends to be synonymous with “geek” in many people’s minds. They see gaming as a device that absorbs the majority of the time of the user, leaving them as mindless empty, pale husks with no ambitions other than beating that next boss or shooting the enemy in the face. However, few gamers waste their life away. On the contrary, many of these so-called geeks tend to be more social than the average person, and farther down the technological curve than most. For the truth is that gaming is a rather useful and beneficial hobby. It gives people an outlet to focus on, and can connect them with many others worldwide. It can teach and entertain at the same time, and can be a useful distraction at other times. In this essay then,
Gaming has a special place in the hearts of many because the games use can vary from user to user, it could be a be a form entertainment, to stress relief or even becoming a professional gamer. Today the gaming world has hit an astronomical at 1.8 billion players worldwide and is continually growing. Many have argued that gaming has influenced negative behavior, however, through the abundant amount benefits gaming provides and the constant stream of fresh innovations gaming has proven to have a positive impact on society.
Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill is the first game in the Nancy Drew game series by Her Interactive. This game was released in 1998 (“#01 Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill”). It centers on the detective Nancy Drew attempting to solve the mystery of who murdered Jake Rodgers (“#01 Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill”). Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy is the nineteenth game in the series and was released, ten years later than the first, in 2008 by Her Interactive(“#19 Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy”). This game centers on Nancy’s quest to find her friend’s fiancé who has gone missing shortly before their wedding (“#19 Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy”). These games are important as they give a place for the female self to be the hero through Nancy. Nancy is never presented on screen as a character; instead she is merely presented as a silhouette and voice that allows one to put their selves entirely in her shoes. This is powerful; however there are still some problems with gender in these games, particularly in supporting characters. In comparing these two games, it becomes clear that the game from the earlier time period, 1998, although focusing on the same protagonist explicitly reinforces oppressive gender and cultural roles while the newer game implicitly reinforces these similar roles. This highlights the idea that even though games are attempting to progress towards being more open and empowering of both genders,
Gender disparity in video games is a topic that both scholars and major gaming icons have discussed before. However, the topic recently resurfaced with the upsurging population of female gamers. The integration of females was a spectacle that caused a massive culture shock. Many members of the gaming community were unsure how to handle the change and took to discriminating females. While discrimination may seem unimportant, many scholars and icons believe it is a prominent factor of gender disparity: an environment which typically favors males, a hostile or “toxic” atmosphere, and repeated stereotypes all manifest certain behaviors of both genders that can cause a disparity to grow. Although some sources claim gender disparity is evident in gaming as a whole, others insist the novelty of female discrimination in video games is less prominent due to a more leveled percentage of male-to-females in gaming. However, both agreed that the competitive gaming community is a different story. Time and time again the competitive gaming community was mentioned for its exclusion of women due to biased and misogynistic members who sexualize and degrade females. These members believe women are inferiors that encroach on their territory with unskilled and seductive natures. Therefore, for the females in the gaming community, their actions will shape the future of women in the competitive gaming community. The change in female treatment is detrimental to gender disparity. Not only because
The video game console industry is a very competitive segment. This segment requires a keen eye on product development as well as strategic product marketing and a rather large logistics arm to ensure rapid distribution to targeted areas. Video game industry in the US, which is hugely driven by retail sales of software and hardware, registered revenues of USD ~ million in CY'2012. Even so with the advent of new video game players in the industry, the revenues decreased by 11.7% compared to