Annotated Bibliography
Works Cited
Fromme, Johannes. "Computer Games as Part of Children's Culture." Game Studies Vol. 3, Issue 1May, 2003 January 17, 2008 <http://www.gamestudies.org/0301/fromme/>.
Summary: Fromme’s work studies the intricacies of video games as a part of culture amongst children. Fromme studies numerous aspects of video game culture including how many children play, what types of games, how often, and how long that children interact with gaming. His study involved taking a sample of 1,111 children and giving them a survey. The survey addressed all of the prior issues. Fromme realized the importance of studying gaming due to its prevalence as a form of new media. The study found that the majority of children game players were males and that female use dropped as the child grew older.
Importance: This work provides my paper with the information needed to prove the widespread use of video games throughout society. It is important to address this issue to discuss how many people will be exposed to the characters and stories within the games. This piece will prove to be a valuable source for my paper.
"Heracles." Greek Mythology. 2005. Greek Mythology. 19 Jan 2008 <http://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Heroes/Heracles/heracles.html>.
Summary: This article describes who “Heracles” was, in Greek mythology. Heracles was a strong god, son of Zeuss but born of a mortal woman. After death he then became a god himself. Heracles was had immeasurable strength but a low intelligence and bad temper. However, when calm, Heracles was always very critical of his actions and served penance to redeem himself, along the way often times helping others.
Importance: Heracles is an important figure in my paper because he will be compared to modern game characters. Heracles shares many characteristics with many popular game characters. It is important for me to compare the icons of past and present in order to make a conclusion as to game characters becoming modern folk tales or mythology.
Jarvinen, Aki. "Halo and the Anatomy of the FPS." Game Studies Vol. 2, Issue 1July 2002 January 17, 2008 <http://www.gamestudies.org/0102/jarvinen/>.
Summary: Jarvinen addresses the game aspects of Halo as a perfect mixture of elements from other games. The game is not a revolutionary game as far as being original, but it is a great improvement on the genre. Halo is described as containing the best elements from the entire FPS genre.
Importance: This article is important to my paper because of my use of Halo’s main character, “Master Chief” as an example. “Master Chief” is a prime example of a pop culture icon. Jarvinen’s article helps answer the question as to why Master Chief is such a popular character.
Juul, Jesper. "Games Telling Stories?!." Game Studies Vol.1, Issue 1July 2001 January 17, 2008 <http://www.gamestudies.org/0101/juul-gts/ >.
Summary: Juul addresses the question of whether or not video games can be considered a medium for telling stories. Juul discusses the difficulties with considering it a medium for storytelling because of the individual player experience. However, the linear workings of video games do allow players to experience stories. Juul also discusses the poor ability for games to transfer into movies.
Importance: This work provides some opposing opinions for my argument of video games as a form of modern folk tales. It also raises some ideas about the experiences each person has while playing video games. Juul gives me some ammunition to use against the argument of video games having an individual experience that drastically differs from every other gaming experience. By realizing that each game might have a slightly different outcome, the story that is truly told through video games is the gaming experience. By playing the game, one may experience a new world or the world of the main character. This experience is where the true story is experienced.
Konijn, Elly, Bijvank, Marije, and Bushman, Brad. "I Wish I Were a Warrior: The Role of Wishful Identification in the Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggression in Adolescent Boys. ." Developmental Psychology Vol. 43(2007):
Summary: This article examines the relationship young boys experience with their favorite video game characters. It makes points concerning violence in gaming and why young boys choose to relate to such characters. The article provides readers with a psychological analysis of child behavior and how it relates to playing video games.
Importance: This article is important to my paper because it addresses the player-character relationship. The article provides me with information as to why certain characters become popular. It will allow me to compare video game icons with other cultural icons.
"Lara Croft Goes Wild for Pepsi." Advertising Age Vol. 72(2001):
Summary: This article addresses the use of Lara Croft in the Pepsi ad campaign. Lara has become such an icon that her image can be used as an advertising tool. The article describes the ad as Lara fighting her way to keep her Pepsi.
Importance: This article is important because it gives a specific example of a video game character transcending into another media. Lara Croft is a popular character that has become much more than a game icon. Croft is now the main character of two movies and numerous games and even, a television commercial. She is in fact a pop culture icon.
"Mario." Wikipedia. 19 Jan 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario#In_popular_culture>.
Summary: This web site has information all things Mario. It illustrates how much of an icon Mario has become over the years. His image has been used in over 100 games and is the mascot for one of the largest video game companies in the world. The article covers everything from the history of Mario, to the cultural significance of Mario in different countries
Importance: This article is important to my paper because it provides me with information as to the history of Mario. Although I am very familiar with Mario, I was not aware as to the vast use of this character. Mario is the most influential video game character of all time and is instantly associated with the Nintendo company. For people of my generation, it is hard not to think of Mario when the topic of video games is brought up.
Darrell, you found several good sources. The Wikipedia article is useful as a starting point, but don't cite it in your final paper. Use Wikipedia to point you towards other, more scholarly, sources. Likewise, The greekmythology.com website is a good place for you to familiarize yourself with the various figures of mythology, but not a good source to quote in your paper. Neither Wikipedia nor greekmythology.com count as peer-reviewed sources. When I was sick I spent hours reading a fan-produced, user-editible site on Battlestar Galactica, so I recognize that wikis have cultural value. And if you were doing a study on how Battlestar Galactica fans respond to the the echoes of Greek mythology found in the TV series, then a fan-produced website would be a legitimate source of opinion. But a library will have numerous reference works on classical mythology, and you may also find online journal articles.
If you're looking at mythological sources, you might want to look at the Hero's Journey (or the Monomyth... I'll send you to Wikipedia to get you started.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth
Another source you might find interesting is Vladimir Propp's studies of folktales. Rather than focusing on the development of the hero, he breaks the plots of fairytales down into recognizable bits that are a kind of raw material from which all myths are constructed.
http://social.chass.ncsu.edu/wyrick/debclass/Propp.htm
Mario is obviously an important game to you and to many in your generation, but to make an academic argument it makes sense to look also at other games that had a big impact. You might tone down any claims that suggest Mario is the "best" or "most influential," and instead simply focus on the evidence you can find that discusses its impact, or articles that discuss the particular appeal of jumping games (is it that kids like to jump, parents don't mind these games because they are non-violent, and as Koster would suggest, a game about avoiding bad guys echoes the survival skills that a child would need to develop in the wild, so parents are conditioned not to mind if kids practice jumping games?)
The book Trigger Happy is history of video games that's a bit dated now, but it has lots of material on Mario, and you can download it free from the author's site.
http://stevenpoole.net/blog/trigger-happier/