My presentation suggests a relationship between video games and economic concepts, and takes a deeper look at teamwork in World of Warcraft. I find it interesting how games, MMORPGs in particular, relate to real-world concepts.
DJ‘s looks at games as an art form, investigating how Assassin’s Creed uses aesthetics and writing to create a game that can be reviewed and critiqued by gamers around the world. Indeed, all games convey messages through aesthetics, story (or lack thereof), and mechanics, and it is awesome to see a game by studying it rather than just playing it.
Jessica takes a detailed approach to examining how horror game music affects the player experience. She describes the brain and characteristics of horror genre music, and goes on to compare the horror genre in games and movies.
Allyssa looks at video game desensitization and chemical release in the brain upon playing video games, and relates her ideas with Koster’s and Bogost’s to drive home her point.
Lastly, Jennifer examines pornography in gaming culture through Japanese and United States’ rating systems, games, and hentai.
There are a lot of themes in the gaming world. Collectively, the class covered several. How are games art? Why are games so addictive? What effect does the soundtrack have on a game? What are some game taboos? When I began to understand and relate the course material to games I have already played and am playing, I saw the games in a new light. I never knew the intricacies of Pac-Man, that each ghost had a name and a particular strategy, before reading the Pac-Man Dossier. I never realized the real-life connections to World of Warcraft until I researched the topic. For games to be a successful art form, we can’t just play them. We have to analyze them. What are they trying to tell us?