Have you ever been appalled or affected by the level of violence, misogyny, or racism in a video game you played (or watched being played)? What was the game narrative and what made it problematic? Most electronic games produced have a white, male, heterosexual point of view. Why is that? If you were a game developer, what kinds of game narratives would you like to see developed? To what extent are video game addiction and violent and misogynistic representations problems for the gaming industry? CHAPTER 3 Digital Gaming and the Media Playground Advances in Virtual Reality Technology • In 2014, Facebook bought the virtual reality company, Oculus VR, which promises ‘total immersion’ into a 3D virtual world. • Oculus, along with competitor products, may become a leading interface for transactions in the media business. The Development of Digital Gaming • Industrial Revolution • Promoted mass consumption • Emergence of leisure time • Digital games • Evolved from their simplest forms in the arcade into four major formats: television, handheld devices, computers, and the Internet Mechanical Gaming • Coin-operated counter machines • First appeared in train depots, hotel lobbies, bars, and restaurants • Penny arcade • Helped shape future media technology • Automated phonographs ? jukebox • Kinetoscope ? movies • Bagatelle ? pinball machine The First Video Games (1 of 2) • Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device • Key component of the first video games: the cathode ray tube (CRT) • Odyssey • First home television game • Modern arcades • Gathered multiple coin-operated games together The First Video Games (2 of 2) • Atari • Created Pong • Kept score on the screen • Made blip noises when the ball hit the paddles or bounced off the sides of the court • First video game popular in arcades • Home version was marketed through an exclusive deal with Sears. Arcades and Classic Games • Late 1970s and early 1980s • Games like Asteroids, Pac-Man, and Donkey Kong were popular in arcades and bars. • Signaled electronic gaming’s potential as a social medium • Gaming included the use of joysticks and buttons. • Pac-Man featured the first avatar. Consoles and Advancing Graphics (1 of 2) • Consoles • Devices specifically used to play video games • The higher the bit rating, the more sophisticated the graphics • Early consoles • Atari 2600 (1977) • Nintendo Entertainment System (1983) • Sega Genesis (1989) Consoles and Advancing Graphics (2 of 2) • Major home console makers • Nintendo • Wii • Microsoft • Xbox and Kinect • Sony • Playstation series • Not every popular game is available on all three platforms. Gaming on Home Computers • Advantages over early consoles • Greater versatility • Faster processing speeds • Better graphics • Resurgence in PC gaming • Free-to-play games • Subscription games • Social media games The Internet Transforms Gaming • Online connections are now a normal part of console games. • Made live online multiplayer play possible • Enabled the spread of video games to converged devices • Paved the way for social gaming, virtual worlds, and massively multiplayer online games MMORPGs, Virtual Worlds, and Social Gaming • Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) • Set in virtual worlds • Large groups of players • Online fantasy sports games • Actual sports results determine scores in their online games. • Popular in social networking sites Convergence: From Consoles to Mobile Gaming • Consoles become entertainment centers • Multiple forms of media converging in a single device • Portable players and mobile gaming • Portable devices are facing competition from smartphones and touchscreen tablets Video Game Genres • Electronic Software Association organizes games by gameplay. • Action games and shooter games • Adventure games • Role-playing games • Strategy and simulation games • Casual games • Sports, music, and dance games Figure 3.1: Top Video Game Genres by Units Sold, 2014 Communities of Play: Inside the Game • Two basic types of groups • PUGs (Pick-Up Groups) • Elite players • Noobs • Ninjas • Trolls • Guilds or clans • Players communicate through voice and text. Communities of Play: Outside the Game • Collective intelligence • Gamers sharing their knowledge and ideas • Modding • Game sites • GameSpot.com, Penny-arcade.com • Conventions • E3, Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), Blizzcon, and the Tokyo Game Show Electronic Gaming and Media Culture • Fantasy league sports have spawned a number of draft specials on ESPN and a regular podcast on ESPN radio. • Electronic games have inspired movies, and video game spin-offs are common for blockbusters. • Comic books and animation have also inspired video games. Electronic Gaming and Advertising • Advergames • Video games created for purely promotional purposes • In-game advertisements • Ads integrated as billboards, logos, storefronts, etc., within games • Some can be altered remotely so they can be tailored to players based on numerous factors. Addiction and Other Concerns (1 of 2) • Addiction • Associated with an increased incidence of depression, social phobias, and increased anxiety • More likely to affect males • Games are often addictive by design, with elaborative achievement systems. Addiction and Other Concerns (2 of 2) • Violence • Most games involving combat are intentionally violent. • Concern over personality traits of certain types of players • Misogyny • Games such as Grand Theft Auto 5 • May be due to the male insularity of the game development industry Regulating Gaming • Death Race (1976) • First public outcry over violence in electronic gaming • Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) • Labels games based on sexual and violent content • Categories: EC, E, E 10+, T, M 17+, and AO The Future of Gaming and Interactive Environments • Gaming technology will become more immersive and portable. • Gamification • Embedding of interactive game experiences to bring competition and rewards to workforce training, classrooms, social causes, and everyday business processes The Ownership and Organization of Digital Gaming • Console makers • Major players are Nintendo (Wii), Sony (PlayStation), and Microsoft (Xbox). • Game publishers • Console makers (in some cases) • More often independent companies • Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts • New major publishers King and Rovio The Structure of Digital Game Publishing • Development • Designing, coding, scoring, and testing a game • Licensing • Royalties to console manufacturers • Intellectual properties • Marketing • Often exceeds development costs Figure 3.2: Where the Money Goes on a $60 Video Game Selling Digital Games (1 of 2) • Pay models • Boxed game/retail model • Subscription model • Free-to-play (freemium) • Video game stores • Department stores • GameStop Selling Digital Games (2 of 2) • Digital distribution • Each major console has its own digital store. • Digital download sites • Steam • GameStop • Origin • GameFly • Mobile devices • Apple’s App Store and Google Play Alternative Voices • Mobile gaming has provided an entry point for independent game developers. • Cost of entry has decreased substantially. • Time and money are still needed. • Kickstarter • Gameifesto Digital Gaming, Free Speech, and Democracy • ESRB ratings do not have the force of law. • California tried to legally prohibit the sale of M-rated games to minors. • Supreme Court granted electronic games First Amendment free speech protections. • Will not make the rating system go away Purchase answer to see full attachment Tags: gaming industry Game developer Digital Gaming Level of Violence Misogyny heterosexual point of view Student has agreed that all tutoring, explanations, and answers provided by the tutor will be used to help in the learning process and in accordance with our company’shonor code & terms of service.

MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics

Guidelines for referring to the works of others in your text using MLA style are covered throughout the MLA Handbook and in chapter 7 of the MLA Style Manual. Both books provide extensive examples, so it’s a good idea to consult them if you want to become even more familiar with MLA guidelines or if you have a particular reference question.

BASIC IN-TEXT CITATION RULES

In MLA Style, referring to the works of others in your text is done using parenthetical citations. This method involves providing relevant source information in parentheses whenever a sentence uses a quotation or paraphrase. Usually, the simplest way to do this is to put all of the source information in parentheses at the end of the sentence (i.e., just before the period). However, as the examples below will illustrate, there are situations where it makes sense to put the parenthetical elsewhere in the sentence, or even to leave information out.

General Guidelines

• The source information required in a parenthetical citation depends (1) upon the source medium (e.g. print, web, DVD) and (2) upon the source’s entry on the Works Cited page.
• Any source information that you provide in-text must correspond to the source information on the Works Cited page. More specifically, whatever signal word or phrase you provide to your readers in the text must be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of the corresponding entry on the Works Cited page.

IN-TEXT CITATIONS: AUTHOR-PAGE STYLE

MLA format follows the author-page method of in-text citation. This means that the author’s last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in the text, and a complete reference should appear on your Works Cited page. The author’s name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence. For example:

Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (263).

Romantic poetry is characterized by the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (Wordsworth 263).

Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263).

Both citations in the examples above, (263) and (Wordsworth 263), tell readers that the information in the sentence can be located on page 263 of a work by an author named Wordsworth. If readers want more information about this source, they can turn to the Works Cited page, where, under the name of Wordsworth, they would find the following information:

Wordsworth, William. Lyrical Ballads. Oxford UP, 1967.

IN-TEXT CITATIONS FOR PRINT SOURCES WITH KNOWN AUTHOR

For print sources like books, magazines, scholarly journal articles, and newspapers, provide a signal word or phrase (usually the author’s last name) and a page number. If you provide the signal word/phrase in the sentence, you do not need to include it in the parenthetical citation.

Human beings have been described by Kenneth Burke as “symbol-using animals” (3).

Human beings have been described as “symbol-using animals” (Burke 3).

These examples must correspond to an entry that begins with Burke, which will be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of an entry on the Works Cited page:

Burke, Kenneth. Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and Method. University of California Press, 1966.