Thursday 3 May 2007
New Media Technologies
new media technologies have revolutionised the way in which society consumes media. Society has gone from a more passive and simplistic way of consumerism concerning media, to a digital democrative society reliant on contemporary sublime media.
Sunday 29 April 2007
Sony's God Of War II PS2 game launch- an ethical controversy
Sony have being slammed by critics upon the releae of their new PlayStation2 game launch 'God Of War II' by the means of how they promoted the game.
Pictures released in the Sunday 29th of April issue of 'The Mail On Sunday' taken from the company's official PlayStation magazine showed the extent of Sony's horiffic promotion stunt.
Images show party hosts standing over the carcass of a decapitated goat symbolising sacrifice which reflects the content of the game which is evidently violent.
Guests at the event were even given the opportunity to reach inside the goat's still-warm carcass to eat offal from its stomach. This quite rightly has infuriated animal right welfares and has sparked a whole new ethical row in which Sony have publically apologised for their actions and have promised to recall the entire print run.
Critics stated tjhe grotesque 'sacrifice' highlighted increasing concerns to do with the content of violent video games such as 'God Of War II' and the lengths to which the gaming industry will go to exploit youngsters.
This evidently further adds to the growing moral panic that gaming is destroying this generations children through obesity, condolence of violence, and negative, stereotypically reinforced representations of women.
Pictures released in the Sunday 29th of April issue of 'The Mail On Sunday' taken from the company's official PlayStation magazine showed the extent of Sony's horiffic promotion stunt.
Images show party hosts standing over the carcass of a decapitated goat symbolising sacrifice which reflects the content of the game which is evidently violent.
Guests at the event were even given the opportunity to reach inside the goat's still-warm carcass to eat offal from its stomach. This quite rightly has infuriated animal right welfares and has sparked a whole new ethical row in which Sony have publically apologised for their actions and have promised to recall the entire print run.
Critics stated tjhe grotesque 'sacrifice' highlighted increasing concerns to do with the content of violent video games such as 'God Of War II' and the lengths to which the gaming industry will go to exploit youngsters.
This evidently further adds to the growing moral panic that gaming is destroying this generations children through obesity, condolence of violence, and negative, stereotypically reinforced representations of women.
Friday 27 April 2007
Gaming- Moral Panics
Society's fear that gaming is fast taking over and controlling people's lives through its stigmatised influence that it encourages obesity, violence, and negative representations of women is fast becoming a reality.
For example in Singapore, citizens are currently 'beset by a moral panic surrounding young people’s use of online gaming', according to an article written by Catherine Howell.
In Singapore, December 2006, a teenage boy was arrested and sentenced to early military service for illegally accessing a neighbour's unsecured wireless network. His parents had recently become concerned at his recent change in attitude and lack of interest in his schoolwork came to the conclusion that he had been spending too much time gaming which had consequently led to his deviant behaviour. They decided to cut his access to the Internet, resulting in his inability to connect to the Internet and game online. At this, his response was to take his laptop and wander the streets until he found an unsecured wireless network to tap in to. He was discovered by a neighbour who then reported his actions to the police after the boy allegedly became aggressive.
Since then, the issue of online gaming has broke in to a global controversy asking the question: Is online gaming affecting our social values?
I personally believe that online gaming is like a drug. Once you are hooked in to the web of freedom and creativity it becomes an addiction. And curbing the addiction can be a difficult process, resulting in young people becoming frustrated and rebellious that their outlet to release their 'bad' energy in to has been removed from them. I think this consequently could lead to a decline in social values.
For example in Singapore, citizens are currently 'beset by a moral panic surrounding young people’s use of online gaming', according to an article written by Catherine Howell.
In Singapore, December 2006, a teenage boy was arrested and sentenced to early military service for illegally accessing a neighbour's unsecured wireless network. His parents had recently become concerned at his recent change in attitude and lack of interest in his schoolwork came to the conclusion that he had been spending too much time gaming which had consequently led to his deviant behaviour. They decided to cut his access to the Internet, resulting in his inability to connect to the Internet and game online. At this, his response was to take his laptop and wander the streets until he found an unsecured wireless network to tap in to. He was discovered by a neighbour who then reported his actions to the police after the boy allegedly became aggressive.
Since then, the issue of online gaming has broke in to a global controversy asking the question: Is online gaming affecting our social values?
I personally believe that online gaming is like a drug. Once you are hooked in to the web of freedom and creativity it becomes an addiction. And curbing the addiction can be a difficult process, resulting in young people becoming frustrated and rebellious that their outlet to release their 'bad' energy in to has been removed from them. I think this consequently could lead to a decline in social values.
The Future Of Gaming
In terms of the rate of consumerism where gaming is concerned, it is continually growing at an alrming rate. The question is, as future gaming platforms develop, how high will the consumer's demand for realism amount to?
In the following article on 'The Future of Video Gaming' by Michael Dolan, he predicts that the virtual world of online gaming is set to become a global village. He determines that 'the average age of the gamer is rapidly approaching 30' and that this will effectively consequent in game genres expanding in order to accommodate these audiences and their discretionary income.
He goes on to state how gaming has become a media outlet for other media technologies such as the music industry. For example, he points out that the latest Beastie Boys single can be heard and replayed in Grand Theft Auto 6. This indicates the rapid development and progression of gaming in to the contemporary society. The race is on for the new media technology which accommodates for all digital devices, and gaming is well on its way to the finish line.
In the following article on 'The Future of Video Gaming' by Michael Dolan, he predicts that the virtual world of online gaming is set to become a global village. He determines that 'the average age of the gamer is rapidly approaching 30' and that this will effectively consequent in game genres expanding in order to accommodate these audiences and their discretionary income.
He goes on to state how gaming has become a media outlet for other media technologies such as the music industry. For example, he points out that the latest Beastie Boys single can be heard and replayed in Grand Theft Auto 6. This indicates the rapid development and progression of gaming in to the contemporary society. The race is on for the new media technology which accommodates for all digital devices, and gaming is well on its way to the finish line.
Feedback #2
Well done, some excellent posts here, but you still have some key debates to look at - the future of gaming? Moral panics surrounding gaming / virtual reality? Have a look at ohter students' blogs and follow some of the links on the dept blog too to get you in the right direction.
Thursday 26 April 2007
Key Words/ Terms Applicable To Gaming
- revenue streams
- demographics
- digitisation
- high definition
- blue-ray
- second life
- MMO (massive multiplayer online)
- RPG (role-playing game)
- EDi – Electronic Distribution initiative
- Social interaction
- Community
- Customisation
- Open source
Key Words/ Terms Applicable To My Case Study
- convergence
- lean-back
- lean-forward
- democratisation
- web 2.0
- linear
- push technology
- pull technology
- digital divide
- old media technologies
- new media technologies
- endism
- global village
- narrowcasting
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