Cultural Reflections of Video Games

[Date of Submission]Cultural Reflections of Video Games

Introduction

Video games have dramatically increased in importance over the past few years. It has become among the largest and most profitable industries including the Hollywood movies. According to the (ESA) Entertainment Software Associations, the video game industry generated $10.5 billion in 2009 as revenue (esrb.org, 2012). This figure is including the fact that there are millions of dollars that are lost every year due to piracy being dominant. The humble origins of gaming began with the first Atari game consisting of two lines with a dot floating between them. A humbler and digitized version of the table tennis or tennis. After that Dave and Pac-man swept the world in frenzy and then onwards came on the list of constant popular titles like Super Mario, Sonic, Crash Bandicoot, etc. Video gaming is no longer restricted to the age old perception of having two joysticks with a console; it has extended its influence on to the PC as well. Indeed, PC's have been established as an actual gaming source nowadays and most of the rapidity of advancements and the performances of the individual parts are benchmarked according to their performance in running games. From the first Atari games to PS3's motion censored gaming nowadays, the gaming industry has taken leaps and bounds in a mere 30-40 years.

Discussion

Older Media and Gaming

After the gaming industry was developed in the 1970's, the only major media formats or entertainment platforms used to be books and television. Cartoons and movies on TV as well as paperback books were the only two mediums that were used in order to impart knowledge awareness and for entertainment purposes as well. Books used to help the reader create a world in which they could immerse themselves according to their own imaginations. The characters of the stories could resemble any readers own familiar faces, like his uncles, brothers, sisters, friends etc. However, this would be boring for people who lack imagination and patience to browse through books. Also reading needed a certain level of education, knowledge of the language and vocabulary. Without these constituents, reading becomes a dull exercise of moving the eyes to and fro and constantly turning the pages. When TV came into existence, people became fascinated as it allowed being a third person witness to all the events that were occurring. They were able to view everything from the eye-view of a person, present on the scene during the story witnessing the event happening. However, there was always the scene that anything happening had no effect on the viewer or in other words there is always a sense of detachment in the viewer. He knows what he is watching is not real and is out of his control. Video games came along and took the essence of both these mediums and combined them. It involved the gamers by making experience the game first hand, giving them choices, allowing them to experience the consequences of the choices first ...