Video Game Stereotypes

Video games can have positive, therapeutic effects on players of all ages, especially those with mental or emotional problems. Games provide a chance to tune out the stresses of everyday life and decompress. Giving your mind time to rest is critical for emotional and mental well-being. Relaxation reduces the risk of heart problems and stroke, boosts memory, buffers against depression, and helps decision making. It even has physical health benefits, by suppressing

Diversity, Stereotypes, and Representation Diversity is not common in the field of animation. This leaves many character designs being made up with the same formula which consists of skinny conventionally attractive characters with light skin and light eyes. Something many companies fail to understand is that when creativity is concerned, not only is it good to be diverse but it is essential for the representation of minority groups. Having a cast with a diverse and culturally rich set of characters in a project also benefits the look and feel of a story.

Video games are progressively becoming a crucial medium today, despite the light connotation of its initial categorization. Today they are a business that produces billions of dollars and employs engineers and artists alike in an art form connecting interactive games, to virtual societies where millions of people dwell. However, like all human products, our same emotion, flaws and injustice show in the games, with the impression of hatred, racism and stereotypes that are our everyday background. What are the creators of these video games real intentions in the desire they produce in the human?

As video games become more and more popular, we will inevitably see an increase in amount of video games being produced. The growth in popularity of video games is facilitated by the creation of a website known as Twitch.com. This website allows gamers and content creators to stream themselves playing video games online and interact directly with a live audience via chat. This new platform makes gaming both more accessible and more acceptable. The social stigmas that accompany video games are diminishing; in fact there has been an increase in competitive electronic sports as well. Logically, the growing interest in video games encourages programmers to make more and more games. Melinda Burgess et al presents an interesting perspective about video games. She explores the prevalence of racial stereotypes and how their effects are detrimental to society as a whole. In Burgess’s essay, “Playing with Prejudice: The Prevalence and Consequences of Racial Stereotypes in Video Games”, she provides fantastic commentary on how top selling video games show “overt racial stereotyping” (Lunsford et al 551) and negatively affect how we think. By providing statistics and data about the videogames that she is critiquing, she effectively shows that there is may be a correlation between video games and how we think and interact with the world around us.

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.

It’s easy to see the appeal of the video game. They allow us to do things that most people would never have the chance to experience, or something that’s flat out impossible. From the roar of a massive v-12 engine in a Ferrari, screaming down a straight at 230 miles per hour, to the rat-tat-tat of a heavy machine gun, complete with the imagined scent of cordite and powdery, obliterated dry wall, or even directing stalwart troops across a decimated sci-fi battlefield, there’s nothing quite like the visceral experience of a well-made video game. I’ve plummeted feet-first through Earth’s fiery atmosphere in a vessel no bigger than a phone booth with blue and purple iridescent plasma-bolts

Meet Shrek. Shrek is an ordinary guy who has a job, a girlfriend, and a house. He often plays video games in his free time and tells his colleagues about his experiences in gaming. But his colleagues call him a loser and a dweeb for playing games. This is because when the word gamer is said, images of fat, unemployed, basement dwellers who have nothing better to do than play games come to mind.

In Trigger Happy, the author Steven Poole elaborates on the many aspects of video games, ultimately revealing them as complex. Poole covers in this book his explanations on the purpose of video games, past influences, art and icons, and a number of other fascinating details, along with his own opinions on video games. Besides revealing the reason for playing, Poole’s details on games ultimately serve to show the author’s positive opinion on the subject, along with his argument against the negative viewpoint of critics, who regard them being a waste of time and being detrimental for one’s mental health. One important point that Poole continues to stress is the importance of engagement between the game and the player;

To begin, video games can be used a way to escape the reality when times are hard for someone. In the article, “Playing video games is good for your brain” by Mark Griffiths, a Washington Post journalist, states an example on how video games can be used as a way to forget about what’s going on in the real world. For example, when Mark says, “Because video games can be so engaging, they can also be used therapeutically.” (Mark). In other words, video games can be used as a way to get your mind off of things during bad times. Another example is when Mark says, ”In another experiment, they trained gamers who had little previous experience of playing action games, giving them 50 hours practice. It was shown that these gamers performed much better on perceptual tasks than they had prior to their training.” (Mark). To clarify, multiple experiments were used to

In modern day, there aren’t any slaves and Blacks receive the same treatment as everyone else. But hidden in plain sight, the stereotypes regarding to Blacks still linger and one of them includes video games. Leonard (2006) mention stereotypes based on the race and Blacks were listed “as are the violent and muscular Black athlete” (p. 85). Due to their structure and history, game developers viewed them as a perfect race for enemies within the game. Deskins (2013) gave an example from Devine’s research that each participant was primed with stereotypic words such as “hostile”, “gangster”, and “Black” (p. 2). Although game developers have no ill intent towards Blacks, it was simply because it’s “default” of the discourse in society. According

The images portrayed in the media: spoken, written, or visual all have an effect on social constructions, reality and perceptions of the public, and policies of the criminal justice system (Collins, 2011). In today’s society, the public lives of individuals are inundated with media. At any time there are news stories being introduced to the public audience via television, radio, and new media (Surette, 2015). The new media sources are accessible from anywhere via laptops, tablets, and smartphones. The general public is receiving media stories from posts, tweets, blogs, and news websites. Because of this mass market of competing internet news sources, there has been a decline in the newspaper and television audience, resulting in a decrease of the subject content covered by reporters (Gest, 2010). So what

Contrary to the stereotypes, most gamers are not a socially isolated. So many of today’s games that your kids play are multiplayer games that require talking and strategizing with other people. According to research by Xbox, “70% of players play their games with a friend, either cooperatively or competitively”. Meaning that not only are they talking to people but they are meeting new people because of the random lobby system that multiplayer games use. The system also put’s you in a “match lobby” Meaning you get put with players who are at or near the same skill level as

There are many types that can be for both genders in anime or manga. The nerd is one type that most people know about they are considered to be extremely smart, wear glasses, and dress conservatively. Overachievers often have amazing grades and do well in basically everything they do this can include sports and club activities. Next is the childhood friend is generally someone who grew up with the main character there whole life. The jock is usually someone who excelles at sports, and is usually found doing something sports related. Most of the time there is the quiet type they usually are shy and don’t talk much. Another type is the popular one they are generally liked, and looked up to by everyone also they end up being the most popular

Ever since the video game was invented many years ago, violent, bloody games have existed also. Some include killing zombies, shooting people, and fighting that ends in either someone dying or being hurt. The outcome remains the same, and a select few continue to live out these games throughout their daily life. These games can sometimes cause people to become angry. Although, some video games may have a negative effect on some people’s lives, other reasons such as their home life can be a factor in these people’s behavior.

Gunshot says in his article that, video games are very violent. Gamers are emotionally connected to the game. When they have a choice to act violent towards opponents and when they choses do so they feel guilty and emotionally responsible. Gunshot interviewed a game designer named Will Wright agrees with Gunshot’s theory.