gaming, world’s culture - start-
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• Introduction • Types of Gamers • Slang & Terminology • Social or Anti-social Technology • Statistics • Rise of the Subculture Violence Narrative Influence of StarCraft in South Korea
20 • Gaming and popular culture
Gaming as portrayed by the media Television channels Internet shows Influences on music
30 • Video games and film crossovers Video game influences in film Interactive movies
Introduction
introduction Video game culture is a form of new media culture that has been influenced by video games. As computer and video games have increased exponentially in popularity over time, they have caused a significant influence upon popular culture. This form of entertainment has spawned many fads. Video game culture has evolved in time, particularly in connection with Internet culture. Today, the impact of computer and video games can be seen in politics, television, popular music, and Hollywood. Historically, the term “gamer� usually referred to someone who played role-playing games and wargames. Since they became very popular, the term has included players of video games. While the term nominally includes those who do not necessarily consider themselves to be gamers it is commonly used to identify those who spend much of their leisure time playing or learning about games.
types of gamers
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Types of Gamers
In the United States, the average video game player is 30 and has been playing video games for over 12 years. In the UK, the average video game player is over 23 years old, has played video games for over 10 years, and spends around 12.6 hours a week playing video games. The term “gamer� is composed of several subgroups.
casual gamer A casual gamer is a player whose time or interest in playing games is limited. Casual gamers tend to play games designed for ease of gameplay and don’t spend much time playing more involved games. The genres that casual gamers play vary, and they might not own a specific video game console to play their games. Casual gaming demographics vary greatly from those of traditional video games, as the typical casual gamer is older and more predominantly female. One casual gamer subset is the “fitness gamer”, which plays motion-based exercise games. The term casual gamer can also be used to distinguish between play styles of level-based character advance in nonlinear games with respect to the amount of dedicated hours of play. MMORPGs may require many hours of grinding to develop a character to maximum level and reach the endgame. Other games like Eve Online and The Lord of the Rings Online try to balance leveling so that casual gamers can play along with those dedicating more hours to the game.
Mid-core gamer A core or mid-core gamer is a player with a wide range of interests and enthusiast toward creative and diverse games but, without the amount of time spent and sense of competition of a hardcore gamer. The mid-core gamer enjoys complex games but won’t buy every novel release, doesn’t have time for long games, and is a target consumer that needs features not found in games for the other types. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata stated that they designed the Wii U to cater to a core gamer who is between the casual and hard-core categories.
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Types of Gamers
Hardcore gamer Hardcore gamers prefer to take significant time and practice on games, and tend to play more involved games that require larger amounts of time to complete or master. Hardcore gamers may take part invideo game culture such as competitions, events and conventions. Competitions are another defining characteristic of hardcore gamers, who often compete in organized tournaments, leagues, or ranked play integrated into the game proper, an example of this is Major League Gaming, an Electronic sports organization that often holds events for hardcore First-person shooter games such as Quake. There are many subtypes of hardcore gamers based on the style of game, gameplay preference, hardware platform, and other preferences.
Progamer Professional gamers play video games for money. Whether a professional gamer is a subtype of the hardcore gamer largely depends on the degree to which a professional gamer is financially dependent upon the income derived from gaming. So far as a professional gamer is financially dependent upon gaming, the time spent playing is no longer “leisure� time. In countries of Asia, particularly South Korea and Japan, professional gamers are sponsored by large companies and can earn more than $100,000USD a year, in addition to the following that some obtain. In the United States, Major League Gaminghas contracted Electronic Sports Gamers with $250,000USD yearly deals.
Newbie “Newbie” is a slang term for a novice or newcomer to a certain game, or to gaming in general. It can have derogatory connotations, but is also often used for descriptive purposes only, without a value judgment. Two derived terms are “newb”, a beginner who is willing to learn; and “noob”, a derogatory name (an alternate spelling for n00b), though “newb” and “n00b” have become opposites of each other, meaning “newb” is plainly someone who is new to the game (thus having the potential to get better) and “n00b” is a player who both lacks skill and mainly fools around (not wanting to become better).
Girl gamer A girl gamer/Gamer Girl is any woman who regularly engages in playing video games. According to a study conducted by the Entertainment Software Association in 2009, 40% of the game playing population is female, and women 18 or older now comprise 34% of all gamers. Also, the percentage of women now playing online has risen to 43%, up 4% from 2004. The same study shows that 48% of game purchasers are female.
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Types of Gamers
Gay-mer Gaymer, or Gay Gamer, is a term used to refer to the group of people who identify themselves as LGBT (gay, bisexual, lesbian, or transgendered) and have an active interest in the video game community (gamers). This demographic has been the subject of two large surveys: by Jason Rockwood in 2006, who noted the level of prejudice that gaymers endure, and by Paul Nowak in 2009, focusing in what contents gaymers expect in videogames.
Retro gamer A retrogamer is a gamer preferring playing and collecting retro games - older video games and arcade games. The term retrogamer is used mostly in the United Kingdom and Europe, while the terms classic gamer, or old-school gamer are more prevalent in the United States. The games are played either on the original hardware, on modern hardware via console emulation, or on modern hardware via ports or compilations. Some retrogamers are in the business of refurbishing old games, particularly arcade cabinets. Some even make their own arcade cabinets.
I HATE YOU!
PWNED!!
LOLOLOLO LOLOLOL LAGGER!
YOU SUCK!
gg guys.
1st!! HAHAHAH! GG GUYS :)
COD FTW! Hi! :)
WHO LET THIS NOOB JOIN!!??
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YOUR MUM!! B****!!
NOOOOOOO!!!!! HE WAS HACKING!! NOOB!!!!
Slang & Terminology
slaNg & t3rmiNology Certain words and phrases have been invented by, or have become popular with, the gaming community as a whole. Internet slang is similar to Leetspeak although the Internet Slang has been derived over time from Leetspeak. Some terms are used to describe large gaming events, games themselves, or aspects of games. Many games, especially online games, have their communities create neologisms to refer to specific events, situations, actions, or people in the games. Common phrases include “lol” (“laughing out loud”, lewl), “n00b” (deragoratory term for “new beginner”) and after a multiplayer match have concluded, “gg” (“good game”). Also glhf (Good Luck and Have Fun). Some other terms used in positive manners to congratulate one another are “ftw” (for the win), “pwn”, “pwnage” or “pwned” as in “You pwned (meaning to ‘own’ or ‘shut down’) him!” or “That’s total pwnage man!”
> Player joined game.
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Social or Anti-Social Technology
social There has been much debate among media theorists as to whether video gaming is an inherently social or antisocial activity. Terry Flew argues that digital games are “increasingly social, a trend that works against the mainstream media’s portrayal of players as isolated, usually adolescent boys hidden away in darkened bedrooms, failing to engage with the social world�. He asserts, rather that games are played in very social and public settings, for example computers and consoles are played in living areas of domestic homes, where people play with family or friends. > player quit.
Gosney Psycologist
Gosney argues that Alternate Reality Gaming is also inherently social, drawing upon Pierre Levy’s (Levy 1998) notion of Collective Intelligence. He states that the game relied upon an “unprecedented level of corroboration and collective intelligence to solve the game”. The issue of collective and corroborative team play is essential to ARG, thus are anything but a solitary activity. Hans Geser further rejects the mainstream media view that video gaming is an anti-social activity, asserting “there is considerable empirical evidence that Second Life serves mainly to widen the life experience of individuals who have already a rich ‘First Life’, not as a compensating device for marginal loners.”Thus highlighting the “fantastic social possibilities of Second Life”, as the intangible reward of social belongingness is of paramount importance. Bray and Konsynski also argue the ability of the technology to “to enrich their lives”, as most Millennials report: “No difference between friendships developed in the real world vs. friendships developed online, and most use the internet to maintain their social networks and plan their social activities”.
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Social or Anti-Social Technology
Jody Berland
Psycologist
Jody Berland argues the assertion that “social construction of technological systems stimulates a desire for human connectedness creates a paradoxical situation.” The Web offers a sense of place and community in the new wired “spaces” of the web. “Webness” assures Derrick de Kerchove (1998) is “connectedness”. However, Berland highlights the irony that “personal depression increases in direct proportion to Web time!”. She describes that in an industry sponsored study, internet use made family members isolated and depressed, and actually decreased the size of their social networks (Kraut et al., 1998). The researchers concluding that, “we are surprised to find that what is such a social network has such anti-social consequences”. People are communicating more, just as the McLuhanites claim, yet feeling less “in touch” than ever.
David Marshall
Psycologist
David Marshall argues against the rich source of “effects” based research, finding that games are “deliberating and antisocial forms of behaviour”. Rather suggesting “the reality of most games is that they are dynamically social – the elaborate social conversations that emerge from playing games online in massive multi-player formats” (MMOG). Exemplifying ‘The Sims Online’, he states “has built up entire political and social structures in given communities’ that provide an elaborate game life for participants”. Gamers in these online worlds participate in many-to-many forms of communication and one-to-one correspondence. The games are not only massive; they are also “intimate and social”.
gamer demographics gender distribution Male 58% feMale 42%
This number is slowly increasing as people who were children playing the first arcade, console and home computer games continue playing now on current systems.
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of gamers PlayiNg oN tHeir PHoNes or mobile devices
Gamer Statistics
of children between the age of 8 and 18 own a video game console.
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One possible reason for the growing increase in players could be attributed to the growing number of genres that require less of a specific audience. For example, the Wii console has widened its audience with games such as Wii Sports and Wii Fit. Both require more activity from the user and provide more reasons to play including family competition or exercise.
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Gaming communities have social elements beyond physical interaction and have come to a stage where online and offline spaces can be seen as ‘merged’ rather than separate.
Rise of the Subculture
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The advent of video games gave an innovative media technology that allowed consumers to archive, annotate, appropriate and recirculate media content. Consumers can use this media source as an alternative tool to gain access to information of their interest. The community aspect to videogaming has also had implications for the social interactions and collective behaviours of consumers Involved in the activity. There has been an increasing rise in the prevalence of gamers living together to save costs through sharing utilities and physical resources. Whether they are a part of a clan, guild, or other online association costs can be shared so that more time can be spent gaming. Current eSports titles that feature competitive online-play, such as LeagueofLegends, have been increasingly referring to this form of communal living as the ‘game-house’, as shared by Reginald from TSM gaming. Contemporary investigations have found that there is a prevailing social framework in place during gatherings of gaming enthusiasts or ‘gamers’. Mayra suggests that gamers who gather together to play possess a shared language, engage in collective rituals and are often interested in
cultural artifacts such as gaming paraphernalia. Cronin and McCarthy have also explored a liminal, hedonic food culture to be present among these socially connected actors. The commensal consumption of energy dense low nutrient foods is considered to be appropriate during long stretches of gameplay to contribute to the community and hedonistic aspects of social gaming. In response to the central importance that food plays in the collective enjoyment of social gaming, various websites have been created which allow gamers to rate their favourite foods to accompany play. The presence of rituals, shared discourse, collective action and even a liminal food culture among gaming communities gives credence to the concept of these cohorts existing as self defining sub-units within mainstream culture. However due to the ephemeral and transient nature of their rituals, and also the possibility of virtual interaction through online participation, these cohorts should be considered ‘postmodern subcultures’. Gaming communities have social elements beyond physical interaction and have come to a stage where online and offline spaces can be seen as ‘merged’ rather than separate.
YOU FRIGGIN LAGGER!! Ill kill you!! PIECE OF S*** F*** HEY MAN DONT TALK TO ME LIKE THAT ILL KILL YOU ILL CALL MY GANG YOU B**** COME ON!!!!! N00B!!! hey whats up? Dude! PARTY! FAGGOT!! YOU FRIGGIN LAGGER!! DONT YOU DARE TALK TO ME LIKE THAT AGAIN!! Ill kill you!! YOU’RE MUM, B**** PIECE OF S*** SUCK IT!!! F*** > player left HEY MAN DONT TALK TO ME LIKE COWARD! THAT ILL KILL YOU >player kicked ILL CALL MY GANG YOU B**** HAHAHAHHAH! FAIL! COME ON!!!!! N00B!!! hey whats up? Dude! PARTY! FAGGOT!! DONT YOU DARE TALK TO ME LIKE THAT AGAIN!! YOU FRIGGIN LAGGER!! YOU’RE MUM, B**** Ill kill you!! SUCK IT!!! PIECE OF S*** > player left F*** COWARD! HEY MAN DONT TALK TO ME LIKE THAT ILL KILL >player kicked YOU HAHAHAHHAH! FAIL! ILL CALL MY GANG YOU B**** COME ON!!!!! N00B!!! hey whats up? Dude! PARTY! FAGGOT!! DONT YOU DARE TALK TO ME LIKE THAT AGAIN!! YOU’RE MUM, B**** SUCK IT!!! > player left COWARD! >player kicked HAHAHAHHAH! FAIL!
YOU FRIGGIN LAGGER!! Ill kill you!! PIECE OF S*** F*** HEY MAN DONT TALK TO ME LIKE THAT ILL KILL YOU ILL CALL MY GANG YOU B**** COME ON!!!!! N00B!!! hey whats up? Dude! PARTY! FAGGOT!! DONT YOU DARE TALK TO ME LIKE THAT AGAIN!! YOU’RE MUM, B**** SUCK IT!!! YOU FRIGGIN LAGGER!! > player left Ill kill you!! COWARD! PIECE OF S*** F*** HEY MAN DONT TALK TO ME LIKE THAT ILL KILL YOU ILL CALL MY GANG YOU B**** COME ON!!!!! N00B!!! hey whats up? Dude! PARTY! FAGGOT!! DONT YOU DARE TALK TO ME LIKE THAT AGAIN!! YOU’RE MUM, B**** SUCK IT!!! > player left COWARD! >player kicked HAHAHAHHAH! FAIL! YOU FRIGGIN LAGGER!! Ill kill you!! PIECE OF S*** F*** ILL KILL YOU ILL CALL MY GANG YOU B**** COME ON!!!!! N00B!!! hey whats up? Dude! PARTY! FAGGOT!! DONT YOU DARE TALK TO ME LIKE THAT AGAIN!! YOU’RE MUM, B**** SUCK IT!!! > player left COWARD! >player kicked HAHAHAHHAH! FAIL!
violenc narrativ
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ce arrative!
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Violence Narrative
Violence content in video game is often a source of criticism, which again according to Terry Flew is related to the subject of ‘moral panic’. Terry Flew writes that the ‘effectsbased’ research which gives rise to the ‘computer games cause violence’ discourse is mostly psychologybased research, influenced particularly after horrific events such as the shooting of schoolchildren at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado in 1999. He says that the assumption behind
such research, cause-effect behaviouralist models of communication, is a flawed one. Several studies show a correlation between violent content conveyed through media (including videogames) and violent or aggressive behavior, while others consider that the evidence for such conclusions is thin and highly contestable. Fox News reported that the criminal Kimveer Gill, who is a player of Super Columbine Massacre, whose narrative attaches with strong violence sense, carried out Montreal shooting case in Canada. On the other hand, some people who hold social determinism theory assert technology is neutral, but it is the way that humans manipulate technology which brings about its social impact.
Influence of ‘StarCraft’ in South Korea ‘PC Baang (PC방)’, which is more commonly known as an internet café, is one of the very first phenomenons which occurred because of the influence of online gaming in South Korea (Flew 2005). This phenomenon sprung in 1998, mainly from the influence of the strategy game StarCraft. In South Korea, more than five million people played the game during that time. Males from their late teens to late twenties were the main players. Game players would usually visit internet cafés to play StarCraft because people could use better computers with faster internet connections compared
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to the computers they owned. Numerous clans and guilds were created among StarCraft players and they would gather around in online space to compete or to talk about strategy. Consequently, companies like SK Telecom held StarCraft competitions and these were broadcast full-time on three cable channels, which continue to this day. Id ‘SSam-Jang’ was the first professional online game player who gained fame, publicity and fortune by winning many StarCraft competitions such as ‘Battle.net’ competition
Influence of Starcraft in South Korea
and also he was a winner of the “StarCraft” world competition in 1999. He became a celebrity and also did a TV commercial. He still remains a legendary gamer that created a number of strategies such as ‘under tank drop ship’. Online, his fans created many fan blogs and web sites which were dedicated to him. These people would also go to competitions where ‘SSamJang’ would compete to support him. http://cafe.daum. net/SSamjang is a fan page that is still remaining. In addition, he influenced many gamers to become professional gamers or full-time gamers and introduced the idea of considering full-time gamers as a professional job in Korean society. Subsequently, online games like Lineage, Kart-rider, Ragnarok and World of Warcraft are those few games which became national online games since StarCraft. There are many online web sites created by players
to post information about online games, record diaries of daily adventures, chatrooms to talk about personal adventure story of online games and more. For example, often Ragnarok players would meet up in chat-rooms to decide when they would log in to meet up online to trade weapons, medicines and others things they need in-game. Online gaming culture grew as games like ‘StarCraft’ and ‘Lineage’ contributed to the birth of other new online games where people not only play games but also to meet and communicate online where it created almost a new society where it can be seen as imagined community. Moreover, the Korean internet and computer industry believe the popularity of online gaming contributed in many ways to develop a very robust and profitable infrastructure. In South Korea, the Online game industry is currently quite profitable and even enjoys government subsidies.
In the 1999 Columbine shootings, violent video games were for a time directly blamed by some for the incident, being labeled murder simulators. p22
Influence of Starcraft in South Korea
Gaming as portrayed by the media Games are also advertised on different TV channels, depending on the age demographic they are targeting. Games targeted toward younger kids are advertised on Nickelodeon, while games targeted toward teenagers and adults are advertised on MTV, G4, Comedy Central and in NFL Network. From the 1970s through even the 1990s, video game playing was mostly seen as sub-culture hobby activity and as a substitute for physical sports. However, during several times in its early history, video gaming caught the attention of the mainstream news outlets. In 1972, Pong became the first video game pop-culture phenomenon. This was followed by Pac-Man in 1981. Other video games labeled as pop-culture phenomena include Final Fantasy, Halo, Metal Gear, The Legend of Zelda, Tomb Raider, Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, Pokémon, Guitar Hero, Sonic the Hedgehog, and the Mario games. As games became realistic, issues of questionable
content arose. The most notable early example is NARC, which through its use of digitized graphics and sound and its adult-oriented theme quickly became a target of the press. These same issues arose again when Mortal Kombat had debuted, particularly its home video game console release on the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo systems (due to Nintendo’s strict contentcontrol guidelines, that system’s version of Mortal Kombat was substantially re-worked to remove any ‘extreme’ violence). In response to these issues (and in parallel to similar demands made upon the music and movie industries), the ESRB was established to help guide parents in their purchasing decisions. 1993’s Doom caused quite a stir, with its detailed 3D graphics and copious amounts of blood and gore. In the 1999 Columbine shootings, violent video games were for a time directly blamed by some for the incident, being labeled “murder simulators”. Some serious psychological problems have been attributed
to desensitization to violence in video games combined with their often-addictive nature, though debate has yet to be conclusive about game addiction and other related issues. In 2001, Grand Theft Auto III was released, which started the controversy over again. The main issue was that the graphics had advanced much, which made the game seem to have a greater potential impact. Today, video gaming is viewed as a serious industry (and in a nonbiased standpoint, since despite multiple outlets reporting on the information above, many of them also report on positive and/or neutral news, such as advancing technology and highly anticipated games) comparable to the movie industry or the music industry. News outlets cover video game console releases in the same manner as they cover the release of a highly anticipated movie.
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Internet Shows
Influences on music Popular musicians in many ways have utilized video game music. The earliest example was the electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra’s self-titled album, released in 1978, which utilized Space Invaders samples as instrumentation. In turn, the band would have a major influence on much of the video game music produced during the 8-bit and 16-bit eras. During the golden age of arcade video games in the early 1980s, it became common for arcade game sounds and bleeps to be utilized, particularly in early hip hop music, synthpop, and electro music. Buckner & Garcia’s Pac-Man Fever, released in 1982, featured songs that were both about famous arcade games like Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and Berzerk, and also used the sound samples from the games themselves as instrumentation. In 1984, former Yellow Magic Orchestra member Harry Hosono produced an album entirely from Namco arcade game samples, entitled Video Game Music.
Aphex Twin, an experimental electronic artist, under the name “PowerPill” released the Pacman EP in 1992 that featured a heavy use of Pac-man sound effects. An entire music genre called chiptunes, or sometimes gamewave, have artists dedicated to using the synthesizer sets that came with past video game consoles and computers, particularly the Commodore 64 and the Nintendo Entertainment System. These bands include Mr. Pacman, 8 Bit Weapon, Goto 80, 50 Hertz and Puss. The influence of retro video games on contemporary music can also be seen in the work of less purist “Bitpop” artists, such asSolemn Camel Crew and Anamanaguchi. Moreover, many gamers collect and listen to video game music, ripped from the games themselves. This music is known by its file extension and includes such formats as: SID (Commodore 64), NSF (NES) and SPC (SNES). Cover bands like Minibosses have been founded recently that perform instrumentations, and groups like The Protomen have written rock operas inspired by the Mega Man video games.
A comedy sub genre has developed increasing the popularity of several musicians including Jonathan Coulton, famous for the song Still Alive featured in the credits of Valve Software’s title Portal, andJonathan Lewis, songwriter and composer credited with the Half Life themed parody album titled Combine Road. Full orchestras, such as the Symphonic Game Music Concert tour North America, the United States, and Asia performing symphonic versions of video game songs, particularly the Final Fantasy series, theMetal Gear series, and Nintendo themed music, such as the Mario & Zelda Big Band Live Concert. In Japan, Dragon Quest symphonic concerts are performed yearly, ever since their debut in 1987.
video game As video games often have settings, characters, and plots, they have often become the basis for Hollywood movies. Critics consistently denounced the first movie based upon a video game. It was 1993’s Super Mario Bros., which featured John Leguizamo and Dennis Hopper. Most film adaptions of other video games have been rated unfavorably as well, and the adaptions often fail at the box office too. 2001’s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was successful at the box office, despite poor reviews ($274,703,340 USD gross revenue). Director Uwe Boll has become well known for his film adaptions of video games, notorious for being poorly reviewed box office flops. This was the case with BloodRayne, which was reviewed terribly by critics, and only grossed $3,650,275 USD, a fraction of its $25 million budget. The contributing factors to the unsuccessful transition from home television to theatre screens are attributed to: a dramatic re-
influences envisioning of the video game that provides a disconnect from the game’s plot, the game itself lacking a plot rich enough to provide a decent script (particularly with versus fighting games), a substantially altered plot to make the movie more “mainstream” (Doom), and an emphasis on using celebrity actors over actors that would fit the part. Examples: Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, BloodRayne, Doom, House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark, Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Tomb Raider Hollywood are about the 1982 mistakes
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has also created films that video games themselves. In film WarGames, a computer a fictional computer game
Video Games Influences in Film
in film called Global ThermoNuclear War for reality. Also in 1982, Tron featured a programmer who was transported into a computer and had to directly take part in the games he had created. In the 1984 film, The Last Starfighter, a stand-up arcade video game is used as a test to find those “with the gift”, who are recruited to pilot actual Starfighter spacecraft in the conflict between the Rylan Star League and the Ko-Dan Empire. 1989’s The Wizard, starring Fred Savage is the first film about a real video game. The plot revolves around about adolescents who compete at games for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The film was also a first look at the mega-hit Super Mario Bros. 3. The main character from 2006’s Grandma’s Boy was a game tester who developed his own game on the side. The film made multiple references to video game culture and featured the game. Demonik,was cancelled by its publisher shortly after the film’s release. The most current example of a film of this type is 2006’s Stay Alive, a horror film about a next-generation video game that is so realistic that it kills its players in the same way their avatars were killed. Released in 2012, Wreck-It Ralph is also about the gaming world inside an arcade.
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Interactive movies as a computer and video game genre was the result of the multimedia expansion of computers and video game consoles in the mid 1990s, primarily because of the increased capacity offered by the laserdisc format. Interactive movies started out on arcade machines in 1983, but quickly expanded to computers and video game consoles such as the Sega CD, the Phillips CD-i and the Panasonic 3DO. The games are characterized by more emphasis on cinematic sequences, using full-motion video and voice acting. Interactive movie games have been made in a number of genres, including adventure games, rail shooters, and role-playing games. The first interactive movie game was Dragon’s Lair, originally released in the arcades in 1983, making it the first game to use a laserdisc and animation by Don Bluth, a man who worked for Disney on features like Robin Hood, The Rescuers,
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and Pete’s Dragon, but later worked for other film companies like MetroGoldwyn-Mayer (All Dogs Go to Heaven) and Universal Studios (The Land Before Time). In Dragon’s Lair, you control the actions of a daring knight named Dirk, to save a princess from an evil dragon, hence the name of the game. Since the dawn of this exact game, more and more companies were influenced by the technology used, and decided to make their own interactive movie games for arcades and consoles. The birth of the ‘interactive movie’ genre was studded with unimpressive flops, though the genre later came into its own; at the time, videocapture technology was still in its infancy, with short (and often grainy and lowquality) video segments being the norm for games of any length. Notable examples – Xenosaga, Bioforge, Night Trap, Sewer Shark, Under a Killing Moon, Rebel Assault, Dragon’s Lair, Space Ace, Heavy Rain
Interactive Movies
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The first video game TV show was GamePro TV. The first television channel dedicated to video gaming and culture, G4, was launched in 2002. However, over the years,
the channel has moved away from video game shows, and more towards male-oriented programs. X-Play, one of the channel’s most popular shows and the highest rated video game review
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In Korea, there are two cable TV channels fully dedicated to video games, Ongamenet and MBCGame, broadcasting professional game leagues that are held in Korea. In Germany, there is one digital cable and satellite channel
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fully dedicated to video games: GIGA Television. It is also seen via Internet stream by a lot of viewers. In Australia, there is one TV show that is based on gaming and games. Good Game on the ABC (Australian Broadcasting
Television Channels
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show, is still produced at G4. Ginx TV is an international multi-language gaming television channel, managed by the former MTV Networks Europe Managing
Director Michiel Bakker There are also video game shows that appear on other channels, such as Spike TV, Fuel TV and MTV.
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Corporation) which broadcasts on channel ABC2. The show is also available as a podcast on iTunes. In Russia, there are one satellite, the “Perviy Igrovoy”
(Gaming First) and one cable, “Gameplay TV”, gaming TV channels. Channels have Internet streams.
AVGN, The angry video game nerd, a fictional character created by James Rolfe. The nerd is portrayed as a foul mouthed, short-tempered retro gamer who reviews old nintendo games usually in a sarcastic and negative profile with frequent use of profanity for comical effect. While initially meant to be one of James's cinemassacre movies the nerd became very popular due to viral videos on youtube and has since been one of the most successful acts in gaming culture. James now focuses mostly on making a nerd movie after putting the monthly AVGN episodes on hiatus." Pure Pwnage, a fictional series chronicling the life and adventures of Jeremy, a self-proclaimed "pro gamer" has helped define gaming culture with its popularization of gaming lingo such as "BOOM Headshot!"
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Internet Shows
Consolevania, a game review/sketch show produced in Glasgow, Scotland. Unusually, the show was developed into a broadcast series, videoGaiden on BBC Scotland. Button Mashers, an original gaming news show for website Gamezombie.tv. It is shot at a $1 million HDTV studio and has millions of viewers all across the Internet. The Guild, a web series in which the cast are members of a guild that plays an MMORPG similar to World of Warcraft.
Red vs. Blue (made by Rooster Teeth), is a machinima (machine-cinema) filmed within many different video games. They consist of hundreds of short episodes with characters acting out short, comedic sections of their lives in their own video game universes.
Apart from Gaming being fun for everyone, it’s also played a huge impact on everyone lives for its outstanding art, music, and culture. We live in a time where gamers have to accept their industry is now shared by other forms of popular culture. Gaming culture as a whole is not seen as the dorky kid it once was. Gaming is the world’s culture,