Intro to Mass Communication Chapter 10 - Electronic Games

Arcade Game

A coin-operated video game placed in public establishments 

Atari

The video game company that was responsible for the arcade game Pong and that led the home console market in the 1970s and 1980s 

Home Console

A video game system designed to be attached to a television to simulate arcade video games 

Game Cartridges

Interchangeable cartridges containing video games for use in home consoles 

Video Game Crash of 1983

The economic failure of the video game industry in 1983, caused by an oversupply of games and waning demand 

First-Person Shooter

A video game genre developed in the 1990s that puts the player in the perspective of a character who primarily uses guns to defeat enemies 

Death Race

A 1978 arcade game that drew protest over its depiction of violence 

Columbine High School Massacre

The 1999 high school shooting that many people connected with the first-person shooter genre of video games 

Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB)

The organization that creates ratings for video games 

Video Game Overuse

The term used in lieu of “video game addiction” by the American Medical Association while further research is conducted to determine the correct classification 

Sandbox Game

A video game in which the player chooses among a number of different objectives 

Server

A computer in a network that provides a service to other computers linked to it 

Gold Farmers

Players in World of Warcraft who work to get virtual gold so that they can sell it for actual money 

Development of Gaming

• Nintendo dominated through the late 1980s with youth market 

• Sega Genesis branded for teen market 

• Nintendo countered with Super NES 

• Game content matured – role playing, social interaction 

• PC became a leading console 

• Added internet connectivity and mobility 

“Geek”

• Video games originally belonged on the margins of society 

• “____” image 

• First-person shooters changed that, but violence was kind of an issue 

Hot-Button

The depiction of violence and the ability to simulate murder has always been a ___-______ issue for video games 

• Although designed for mature audiences, realistic games are played by minors 

• Many real-life tragedies have been “linked” to violent video games 

• Video game supporters say violent people are drawn to violent games 

Video Games and Identity Discussions

• 52% men vs. 48% women gamers 

• Majority of gaming studios focusing on identity components 

• Only 69.3% of game protagonists are male 

• Newer games place gender at the center of their games, to varying degrees of success 

Grand Theft Auto

• First released in 1997 

• Players stole cars and committed other crimes: extreme violence was an audience draw 

• One of the first “sandbox games” in which players freely pursue their own objectives 

• GTA series has evolved over 10 years with increasing realism and explicit content 

Call of Duty

• First-person shooter game 

• $3 billion in sales in 2009 was record-breaking 

• Controversy over an option to shoot civilians 

• Calls to ban the game despite the Mature rating (M) (not appropriate for minors) 

Video Games’ Influence on Culture

• Mobile gaming 

• Streaming services have identified video games as the most important competitor -> Gaming = dominant mass media of the 2020s 

• Massive increase in sophistication of production: soundtracks, graphics, purpose -> Games becoming more and more immersive 

• Standardizing once marginal sub-cultures 

1950s

Precursors to modern video games were created as early as the _____ 

Tic-Tac-Toe

1952 a computer simulation of ___-___-___ was developed for EDSAC, one of the first stored information computers 

Tennis for Two

• 1958 a game called ______ ___ ___ was developed at Brookhaven National Laboratory as a way to entertain people coming through the laboratory on tours 

• Created an interfaced in which anyone with basic motor skills could use a complex computer 

1970s

_____ saw the rise of video games as a cultural phenomenon

Spacewar!

• Game developed in the 1960s at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that spread to other college campuses and computing centers 

• Very few people owned computers and most computer users worked or studied at university, business, or government facilities 

Computer Space

First coin-operated arcade game; Fared poorly among the public because of difficult controls 

Pong

• 1972 Table-tennis simulator that has come to symbolize early computer games was created by the fledgling company Atari and was immediately successful 

• Was initially placed in bars with pinball machines and other games of chance, but as video games grew in popularity, they were placed in any establishment that would take them 

Space Invaders

• International phenomenon that exceeded all expectations 

• In Japan, game was so popular that it caused a national coin shortage 

Magnavox Odyssey

The first video game console designed for the home got started in the early 1970s 

• Created in 1972 

• Based on prototypes built by Ralph Behr in late 1960s 

• System included a Pong-type game (began to sell well when arcade version of Pong became popular) 

Atari

• Decided to produce a home version of Pong and released it in 1974 

• This system could only play one game; however, its graphics and controls were superior to the Odyssey 

• Sold through a major department store (Sears) 

• Because of these advantages, Atari home version of Pong sold well and a host of other companies began producing and selling their own versions of Pong 

Space Invaders and Pac-Man

Atari’s 2600 console had upper hand because of company’s work on arcade games 

• Atari capitalized off its arcade success by releasing games that were well known to a public that was frequenting arcades 

• _____ ______ ___ ___-___ 

Game Cartridges

In the late 1970s, a major step forward in the evolution of home video games was the development of ____ __________ that stored the games and could be interchanged in the console 

Altair

Birth of the home computer market in the late 1970s paralleled the emergence of video game consoles 

• First computer designed and sold for the home consumer was the ______

• First sold in 1975 

• Sold mainly to a hobbyist market 

ET: The Extra Terrestrial

Similar mistakes made with game based on movie __: ___ _____ ___________

• Gained notoriety as one of the worst games in Atari’s history 

• Piles of unsold ET game cartridges buried in the New Mexico desert under a veil of secrecy 

Past Successes

Strengths eventually proved detrimental to the company and led to what is now known as the video game crash of 1983 

• Atari bet heavily on ____ _________ (released Pac-Man) 

• Did not translate well to the home console, leading to disappointed customers and lower-than-expected sales 

• Atari produced 10 million of Pac-Man games in its first run, despite total active consoles estimated at 10 million 

1985

The video game market picked up again 

Nintendo

Japanese card and novelty producer that had begun to produce electronic games in the 1970s, helped the industry recover 

• Responsible for successful arcade games like Donkey Kong in early 1980s 

• First home console, developed in 1984 for sale in Japan, tried to succeed where Atari had failed 

• ________ system used newer, better microchips, bought in large quantities, to ensure high-quality graphics at a price consumers could afford 

Games

Keeping console prices low meant Nintendo had to rely on _____ for most of its profits and maintain control of game production (something Atari failed to do) 

Super Mario Bros

• Game employed a narrative in the same manner as more complicated computer games, but its controls were accessible and its objectives simple 

• Game appealed to younger demographic (generally boys aged 8-14) which was different from the one targeted by Atari 

• Designer Shigeru Miyamoto looked to mimic the experiences of childhood adventures, creating a fantasy world not based on previous models of science fictions or other literary games 

• Gave Nintendo an iconic character who has been used in numerous other games, tv shows, and a movie 

NES

Nintendo introduced its Nintendo Entertainment System (___) in the US in 1985 

• Game Super Mario Brothers released with the system 

Sega Genesis

Sega Master System had failed to challenge the NES but with the release of its 16-bit system, ____ _______, the company pursued a new marketing strategy 

• Nintendo targeted 8–14-year-olds, Sega’s marketing plan targeted 15–17-year-olds making games that were more mature and advertising during programs such as the MTV Video Music Awards 

• Campaign successfully branded Sega as cooler than Nintendo and moved mainstream games into a more mature arena 

Saturn

Sega released 32-bit ______ system in 1995 out of fear its system would become obsolete 

• System rushed into production and did not have enough games available to ensure its success 

PlayStation

Sony stepped in with its ___________ console when Sega’s Saturn was floundering and before Nintendo’s 64-bit system had been released 

• System targeted 14-24-year-olds and made a large effect on the market 

• By March 2007 Sony had sold 102 million PlayStations 

Niche

Computer games had avid players but were a _____ market in early 1990s 

First-Person Shooter Game

First popularized by 1992 game Wolfenstein 3D 

• Doom (released in 1993) and Quake (released in 1996) used the increased processing power of personal computers to create vivid three-dimensional worlds that were impossible to fully replicate on video game consoles of the era 

• Games pushed realism to new heights and began attracting public attention for their graphic violence 

Myst

Adventure game where the player walked around an island solving a mystery, drove sales of CD-ROM drives for computers 

Nonviolent

__________ games appealed to people who did not generally play video games, increasing the form’s audience and expanding the types of information that video games put across 

Internet Use

Major advance in game technology came with the increase in ________ ___ by the general public in 1990s 

• Major feature of Doom was ability to use multiplayer gaming through the internet 

• Strategy games (Command, Conquer, Total Annihilation) also included options where players could play each other over the internet 

• These games used internet as their platform, creating a space where individuals could play the game while socially interacting with one another 

Game Boy

Nintendo released ____ ___ in 1989 using same principles that made NES dominate the handheld market throughout the 1990s; Unit’s simple design meant users could get 20 hours of playing time on a set of batteries, and this basic design was left essentially unaltered for most of the decade 

Tetris

Game Boy released with the game ______ (using games popularity to drive purchases of the unit) 

30%

Despite using technology almost a decade old, the Game Boy accounted for __% of Nintendo of America’s overall revenues at the end of the 1990s 

Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo

By 2000s video games were firmly established in American culture and three huge corporations moved into the market: ____, _________, ________

PlayStation 2 (PS2)

Console released in 2000 

• Could function as a DVD player, expanding the role of the console into an entertainment device that did more than play video games 

• Console incredibly successful (more than 106 million units sold by end of decade) 

Xbox

• Attempt by Microsoft to enter the market with a console that expanded on the functions of other game consoles 

• Unit had features similar to a PC, including a hard drive and an ethernet port for online play through its service, Xbox Live 

• Popularity of first-person shooter game Halo (an Xbox exclusive release) boosted sales as well 

Xbox 360

Release of Microsoft’s ____ ___ in 2005 

• Featured expanded media capabilities and integrated access to Xbox Live, the online gaming service 

GameCube

Did not offer DVD playback capabilities and chose to focus on gaming functions instead 

PlayStation 3 (PS3)

• Sony console released in 2006 

• Also featured enhanced online access as well as expanded multimedia functions, with the additional capacity to play Blu-ray discs 

Wii

• Nintendo released console: ___ 

• Featured a motion-sensitive controller that departed from previous controllers and focused on accessible, often family-oriented games 

• Combination successfully brought in large numbers of new game players, including many older adults 

Nintendo DS

Handheld console that featured two screens and Wi-Fi capabilities for online gaming 

PlayStation Portable (PSP)

• Sony device released in 2002 

• Featured Wi-Fi capabilities as well as a flexible platform that could be used to play other media such as MP3s 

Mobile Games

Apple incorporate ______ _____ in its iPhones 

• 2008 and 2009 alone, iPhone games generated $615 million in revenue 

Games Themselves

• Biggest advancement in electronic games throughout the 2010s was in the _____ __________

• Became bigger, more detailed, and vastly more expensive to produce 

• Studios became devoted to successful titles and spent hundreds of millions to produce games like Grand Theft Auto V and Fortnite 

Twitch

• Online Streaming Device

• ______, particularly after being acquired by Amazon in 2014, brought about a large growth in ESports 

• ______ allows participants to watch as well as play electronic games 

• 36 million viewers watched the League of Legends World Championship surpassing viewership of some of the most popular athletic events in the world 

Nintendo Switch

• Released by Nintendo

• A hybrid that blends mobile and console experiences 

• System allows players to take games like Legend of Zelda and Super Mario with them wherever they go 

Death Race

(Arcade game released in 1976) 

• Encouraged drivers to run over stick figures, which then turned into Xs 

• Made national news even though the programmers claimed that the stick figures were not human 

Stories that Relate to Video Game Violence

1999 Columbine High School Shooting 

• Quickly linked to teenage perpetrators’ enthusiasm for video games 

• Families of the victims brought a lawsuit against 25 video game companies claiming that if the games had not existed, the massacre would not have happened 

2008 a 17-year-old boy shot his parents after they took away his video game system which killed his mother 

2008, 6 teens were arrested for attempted carjacking and robbery, they stated that they were reenacting scenes from Grand Theft Auto 

M Rating

(Mature; 17 and older; “may contain mature sexual themes, more intense violence, and/or strong language”)

AO Rating

(Adults Only; 18 and up; “may include graphic depictions of sex and/or violence”)

M and AO

Two most restrictive ratings

Adults; youth-oriented

Although many of the video games are designed for ______, the distribution system and culture surrounding video games is still largely _____-________ 

Video Game Addiction

• Early 1990s many stories of people dropping out of college or getting divorced because of addiction to games 

• Heavy video gaming can result in painful repetitive stress injuries 

• Rare, but serious, causes of death resulting from video game overuse 

• Early 1980s two deaths were linked to video game Berzerk 

• Both in late teens, suffered fatal heart attacks while struggling to achieve top scores 

Online Gamers Anonymous

Developed a 12-step program similar to Alcoholics Anonymous to help gamers deal with problems relating to game overuse 

• Run by former online gamers and family members of those affected by heavy game use 

Jim Rossignol

Book titled This Gaming Life: Travels in Three Cities 

• Describes his job as a journalist for a financial company and his increasing involvement with Quake III (he trained a team of players to compete in virtual online tournaments, scheduling practices and spending the hours afterward analyzing strategies with his teammates) 

“Gaming Disorder”

The World Health Organization 

• Added “______ ________” to 2018 version of its medical reference book 

“Video Game Overuse”

American Medical Association (AMA) has not created an official diagnosis of video game addiction, citing the lack of long-term research 

• Instead uses term “_____ ____ _______” to describe video game use that begins to affect other aspects of an individual’s life (health, relationships) 

Grand Theft Auto

Game had players stealing cars and committing a variety of crimes to achieve specific goals 

• Game's extreme violence made it popular with players in late 1990s, but true draw was the variety of options that players could employ in the game 

• Specific narratives and goals could be pursued, but if players wanted to drive around and explore the city, they could do so 

• Variety of cars (sports cars, tractor trailers) and the extreme levels of violence (steal cars, kill pedestrians, engage the police in a shoot-out) 

• First establishment released in 1997

Fortnite

Relatively recent in the world of electronic games (released in 2017) and developed by Epic Games

• Game took advantage of time’s technology and avid user base 

• Most popular mode “Battle Royale” can put 100 players against one another in the usual fight for survival in a post-apocalyptic, zombie world 

• Game has free-form flexibility players expect 

• They can create their own game modes or congregate with friends and practice their skills 

Micro-Purchases

Fortnite makes money from additional features which Epic charges for 

• Makes money from numerous _____-_________ rather than one large purchase 

Parity

Epic offered ______ across multiple devices 

• No matter which device you use to play Fortnite, you will always be playing the same game and also play with your friends, who might be on a different service 

Cross-Platform

Popularity of Fortnite pushed Sony to reverse its stance on _____-________ play and let PlayStation players join matches with Xbox owners for the first time 

World of Warcraft

• Released in 2004 

• Massively multiplayer, online role-playing game (MMORPG) loosely based on Warcraft strategy franchise of the 1990s 

• Game is conducted entirely online though it is accessed through purchased software and players purchase playing time 

• Each player chooses an avatar that belongs to one of the several races 

• Characters spend their time on the game by completing quests, learning trades, or interacting with other characters 

• As characters gain experience, they obtain skills and earn virtual money 

Guilds

Various organizations like ______ (groups that ascribe to specific codes of conduct and work together to complete tasks that are cannot be accomplished by a lone individual) have emerged in WoW 

• ______ organized by the players and they use voice communication technology to speak to each other 

Call of Duty

• Series of first-person shooter games notable for its record breaking success, with billions of dollars in sales, but also for unabashed commitment to violence and killing 

• Released in 2003 (game first focused on plots set in WWII) 

• Modern Warfare 2 (2009) achieved success and controversy 

• Game included a 5-minute sequence in which the player takes part in a massacre of innocent civilians 

• Player not required to shoot civilians and could skip sequence if desired 

• Published by Activision 

• Continued to vary its setting from Cold War politics to outer space but the foundation remains shooting down bad guys 

• Has Mature rating 

Wii Sports and Wii Fit

• Nintendo Wii, with its dedicated motion-sensitive controller, was sold starting in 2006 

• Wii’s simple design was combined with basic games like Wii Sports to appeal to previously untapped audiences 

Wii Sports

Included with the purchase of the Wii console and served as a means to demonstrate the new technology 

• Included five games 

• Baseball, bowling, boxing, tennis, and golf 

• Nothing objectional about it and just a game for people to enjoy 

Wii Fit

• Combined previously incompatible terms “fitness” and “video games” 

• Used touch sensitive platform, players could do aerobics, strength training, and yoga 

• Game kept track of weights and acted as a virtual trainer 

• Used potential of video games to create an interactive version of an exercise machine, replacing workout videos and other forms of fitness that had never before considered Nintendo a competitor 

What Makes a Good Video Game

Studies found that “one of the main overall findings was the importance of a high degree of realism (sounds, graphics, and setting). Other important characteristics included a rapid absorption rate, character development, the ability to customize the game, and multiplayer features” 

Video Game

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said that the biggest threat to Netflix’s continued dominance in entertainment was a _____ ____: Fortnite 

Egames

The future of electronic games in the 2020s: ______ might become the dominant medium in American culture life 

2.7 billion

More than _._ _______ people (one third of global population) are gamers 

Virtual Reality

For years, people have predicted that _______ _______ (VR) would be the future of gaming 

• But VR technology is 2020s is terrible (hardware is expensive, specialized, and involves strapping heavy, thick goggles to your face that block out real world and leave you exhausted after 30 minutes 

• VR is a solitary experience and not one to enjoy with friends or 100 other players 

VR and AR

Forbes suggests blend of __ and augmented reality (__) has potential 

• Might get sensation of touching ammo as they pick it up in a shooter game or holding the wheel of a racing car 

NPCs

• Usually AI drives “non-player characters” (____) 

• In 2020s, NPCs will become more advanced 

• Rather than just an either-or reaction (either live or die), NPCs might become more creative, adding to the complexity of the games 

5G

Much hyped and long-awaited __ technology could be a gamechanger 

• For now, games are mostly still slow 

• Although cell phone producers are offering phones with capability, the phone companies are finding it difficult to offer widespread access to __

• With __, smartphones can stream content much faster 

• Designers will be able to create more powerful games and players will be able to engage immediately 

• The slow building __ breakthrough will not only make mobile gaming better, it will likely create a network effect in which more and more people get into mobile gaming and gaming in general 

Gaming on Cellphones

• Electronic games are increasingly streamed on cellphones 

• The rich, detailed, immersive content that makes games so powerful also makes them lag and buffer and crawl as they stream 

• Reason is not the game or the phone but the internet speed