Ex. 5 Presubmission

Ex. 5 Term Paper Presubmission

By Darrell Kuntz

Dr. Jerz

Video Games and Culture

Thesis paragraph:

            Video games play a major role in the advancement of new technologies in modern society.  In America, almost every child has the option of participating in this new media by playing video games.  This fast growing form of new media will be a major influence on the future generations of our society.  This powerful form of media will expose large amounts of children to certain video game characters that will become so popular that the characters will be transformed into something larger than simply a video game character.  These characters will become so widely recognized and loved that their stories will become a form of interactive, modern folk tale.

Quotations to Support Thesis:

·         “It is also an oft-repeated but problematic point that game sessions are experienced linearly, just like narratives.” (Juul, 2001)

·         “Interactive video and computer games belong to the new multimedia culture that is based on the digital computer technology. These games have become increasingly popular in the past 20 to 25 years, especially among young people.”  (Fromme, 2003 )

·         “starting and playing electronic games has become easier in the past two decades. You don't need need specific computer knowledge to use a Game Boy or a television-linked console - it is just plug and play.”  (Fromme, 2003)

·         Patricia M. Greenfield addressed new media as cultural artifacts.  (Fromme, 2003)

·         “Only 2.2 percent of our 1,111 sample never played any video or computer game.  The sample was comprised of children.”  (Fromme, 2003)

·         “The interactive features of video games encourage players to identify with violent characters. TV and film viewers simply watch violent characters. Video game players, however, must take the perspective of the violent character to play the game.”  (Konijn, Bijvank, and Bushman, 2007 )

·         “Contemporary media fare offers a large variety of role models to imitate. Adolescents might select models that possess qualities they already have (i.e., similar models) or models that possess qualities they do not have but wish they had—“real heroes” they can look up to.” (Konijn, Bijvank, and Bushman, 2007)

·         “Of the two types of models, we believe that adolescents are most attracted to the “real heroes” with power and charisma in the media. For male adolescents, such “real heroes” are often tough, aggressive men with guts and glory. Identifying with these “real heroes” may also help boys feel more independent and mature.” (Konijn, Bijvank, and Bushman, 2007 )

·         “PepsiCo's Pepsi-Cola Co. launches its summer Wild Cherry Pepsi promotion, with a 30-second ``Tomb Raider''-themed spot.”  (Lara Croft Goes Wild for Pepsi)

·         “The commercial was shot on the movie set and shows video-game character Lara Croft battling demons to recapture her Wild Cherry Pepsi.”  (Lara Croft Goes Wild for Pepsi)

Quotations to Refute Thesis:

·         “this idea ignores the player's experience of being an active participant - this experience is so strong that most people will involuntarily change bodily position when encountering interactivity, from the lean backward position of narratives to the lean forward position of games.”  (Juul, 2001)

·         “If we look at the Mortal Kombat (Midway games 1993) game, it is a fighting game (beat'em'up) where different opponents (humans or computer players) battle in an arena. It is thus a dynamic system that allows many different people to interact with many different outcomes. The Mortal Kombat movie (Anderson 1995) is not a dynamic system, but a story with a specific set of characters entering a Mortal Kombat game and playing through with specific outcomes. The fairly non-descript game characters and open player positions become more detailed movie characters; the simulation is converted into specific events.”  (Juul, 2001)

·         “Boys play more often and more regularly than girls do. This indicates different media use styles, and to some extent different leisure preferences of boys and girls.”  (Fromme, 2003)

·         “While movies and theatre do not have a grammatical tense to indicate the temporal relations, they still carry a basic sense that even though the viewer is watching a movie, now, or even though the players are on stage performing, the events told are not happening now.”  (Juul, 2001)

Other Ideas that Support Thesis:

·         Game characters have become media icons with the ability to transcend the video game medium.

·         Games have inspired films, books, future games and even artistic game simulations that tell additional stories of the character.  (i.e. Red vs. Blue)

·         Characters not only become icons within their medium, but they also become pop culture icons.

Other Ideas that Refute Thesis:

·         Many games do not provide characters that gamers actually like or care about.

·         Many popular games do not have any real characters to speak of.

·         Movies based on video games are often poor interpretations of the games.

Preliminary Conclusion:

            The ability of popular video game characters illustrates their power within pop culture to influence other media.  The power of video games and their audience can carry over into other, more established media.  When this happens, the character is no longer just a video game character, but a pop culture icon.  The exposure that children have to these characters creates a general knowledge of their existence and what the characters are known for, much like folk tales or mythology in past cultures.  The characters that were held in Greek mythology were known by all that lived in Greece.  If video games continue to advance, it is not unfair to say that the knowledge and popularity of games and their characters can reach a similar status amongst American society.  When the children of today become elderly, the stories of the Mario brothers will still be known, as will that of Master Chief and numerous other characters.  Through interaction with the characters in video games, their stories are experienced by the gamers and remembered thus making the characters into more than just animated representations.  Video game characters represent ideas and a form of entertainment that society, thus becoming part of society.

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/>.

Juul, Jesper. "Games Telling Stories?!." Game Studies Vol.1, Issue 1July 2001 January 17, 2008 <http://www.gamestudies.org/0101/juul-gts/ >.

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):

"Lara Croft Goes Wild for Pepsi." Advertising Age Vol. 72(2001):