Game Cultures: Studying Computer Games

In recent times the games industry has made the move into mass culture with, as Guest (2005) reveals, around 27 million people per week passing through virtual online worlds. A major reason for the rise in popularity of games is the vast technological improvements made to the gaming world. From the Sega, to the Playstation 1, to the Xbox 360, gaming has come a long way.

Online gaming is highly popular with many gamers. Playing online gives the opportunity to create a profile and play against other gamers from all over the world. In some cases, for example on World of Warcraft, an entire online virtual world is created by the user. They can create their own character and live out a virtual life through the game.

Although improvements in technology may have contributed to the rise in the gaming industry, the need and want for games has always been there. Before technological advances, people already played games. As children, everyone role played with their friends in the playground. Gaming consoles have merely provided a platform for these games to be played. Through the use of virtual worlds, it has become acceptable not only for children, but also for adults to create virtual profiles and role play in a scenario that they may never get the opportunity to be a part of in real life. Perhaps this is what draws people to the virtual worlds of games.      

“Worship at the Altar of Convergence”

Jenkins describes convergence culture as being “where old and new media collide”. Convergence culture is a way in which different media platforms come together to create something new. A great example of this is the ‘Bert is evil’ images described by Jenkins in this reading. Bert from the popular children’s television programme, Sesame Street was inserted into images of various individuals with evil connotations attached to them including Hitler, Sadam Husain and Osama Bin Laden. One particular picture was discovered by an anti-American protester. Unaware of the comedy value of Bert, this image went on to be used in an anti-American protest. This incident clearly demonstrated the power of convergence culture.

Consumers have more power than they might think. Since the creation of sites such as YouTube where users can freely display their own interpretations of mass media products, the growth of convergence culture has rapidly increased as convergence culture relies heavily on the participation of consumers. Audiences can make connections between different media products which may at completely different ends of the scale, yet can make some form of identifiable link, i.e. Bert and Osama.          

The intensification of Surveillance

The word surveillance often has negative connotations attached to it with many people’s main association being the watchful eye of Big Brother as depicted in George Orwell's book, 1984. The idea of being watched is often a concept that scares and intimidates people, with the media regularly focusing on scaremongering stories such as how many times a day we are caught on CCTV. However, as Kirstie Ball and Frank Webster discuss, there are also many positives to the surveillance that is undertaken in this country. For example, the intense surveillance that takes place through a variety of methods such as CCTV and monitoring internet usage and phone calls has enabled the police to obtain evidence against criminals that, without this kind of surveillance, would be difficult to achieve. But how much surveillance is too much? Ball and Webster discuss the way in which society has in theory given the green light to this kind of intense surveillance due to the fear of what could happen if it wasn’t there.

September 11^th whipped everyone into a frenzy, prompting, amongst other things, higher security measures in airports. In January 2010, airport security measures were taken to the extreme with full body scanners being ordered to be used in many UK airports. There was inevitable controversy surrounding these scanners as many people felt that this was a type of surveillance that was infringing too much on their personal rights.

Many people complained that the scanners made them feel uncomfortable and exposed, but what people forget is that many are voluntarily exposing themselves to surveillance in their everyday life. Forget CCTV for a moment, and think about the internet. It would be naive to think that your facebook profile is personal and only viewed by your friends. Many people don’t read the small print when they sign up and realise that any information they submit on facebook, as soon as it is published, is then owned by facebook. The information on facebook is regularly monitored, but not only this, your information is often used for a different purpose than you intended it to be, for example, it is not just a co incidence that the adverts placed next to your profile may all relate to your interests. In a world full of surveillance, it is sometimes the things that seem most harmless that can cause the most damage and the things that seem most frightening that can keep you safe.       

Castells The Information Technology Revolution

Today we live in a society where technology rules almost every aspect of our lives. From the moment we wake up in the morning, to the moment we climb into bed at night, we, in the western world are constantly using different forms of technology. The development of these technologies has been rapid and unstoppable over the years with technologies such as mobile phones being reinvented and improved all the time. As a society on the whole, we rely on technology to get us through our everyday lives. Think about last time your favourite gadget broke or stopped working. The day seemed to be that little bit harder than usual. And it seems that we are starting off with the use of technology younger and younger. Nowadays children as young as 8 and 9 have their own mobile phones and facebook profiles. This is all a natural part of a developing society, many might say, but others would disagree. There will always be people who choose, for example, not to have a television in their house, but does this mean that they are not as good as people who do own the latest flat screen T.V.? Of course not!  

Networks: The Nervous System of Society

Social networks are and have always been a vital element of society. However, the way in which these social networks work has changed drastically throughout history. At one time, social networks would be created within a community of people based on their geographical location. In past tines when transport was not readily available, the only people that you would come across in your life time would be those who lived close to you. Social networks broadened as technology grew. The invention of trains and other modes of transport meant that people could travel further and meet different people and telephones meant that people could easily stay in touch with these people that they met. Further along the line, radio and television meant that information was shared on a regular basis from around the world. This correlation between technology and society has lead to social networks spanning across the globe through sites specifically created for social networking such as Facebook and MySpace. These sites provide a platform for sharing information with each other. The extent to which our personal information is shared is often criticised with many people choosing to divulge personal information about themselves such as mobile numbers and revealing pictures which can be seen not only by their friends but also by complete strangers. Has social networking gone too far or is it just a natural process in within society? This is an argument that will inevitably never end.    

Consumer Cultures

This week I learnt a lot about the power of advertising and the way in which advertising creates ‘needs’ in people that they never knew they had. After watching one of the first T.V. advertisements, an advert for toothpaste played on ITV in 1955, it was clear to me how much advertising has developed since it began. The SR Gibbs toothpaste advert was very straight to the point and presented as a factual piece of film to inform people of the benefits of using this toothpaste. Whether the information presented in this advert was actually true is another matter, but we do know that the way in which this advert was put across was very different to adverts nowadays. In the 1950’s and 1960’s, a new type of advertising began, known as emotional based advertising. This was when advertising campaigns played on people’s insecurities and desires. These types of advertising campaigns, rather than just stating what the product is and what it can do, would often depict images of domestic situations, meaning that consumers would relate to the advert more easily. These advertisement campaigns would show their product as being the answer to all the consumer’s problems. For example, this beer advert:

A situation such as burning the dinner would usually be a disaster for a woman in the 1950’s but this advert shows that her husband doesn’t mind because he still has his favourite beer. Therefore this advert is not only selling a product but is also selling the idea of a happy and problem free marriage. Consumers of this product would not only be buying a product but would also be buying into a lifestyle, thinking that there would be both practical and emotional benefits to this product.

Although advertising has come a long way since the 1950’s, emotional based advertising is still widely used to persuade consumers to buy products. For example this advert for wash powder:

It is not just the unique selling point of getting tough stains out of clothes which really sells this product, but it is also the idea that if you use this product, you and your family will be happy. This is proof that emotional based advertising is still going strong today.

Simulacra and Simulations

This week’s reading discussed the dangers of simulation and how society is largely simulated without people knowing. Simulation is when something is copied and reflected from a real truth but is not really true itself. For example, actors and actresses are constantly simulating real life through their performances. If a television programme showed two characters going through a break up, although the feelings and reactions the actors might show could be accurate to how people in this position would feel, the whole situation is in actual fact just simulated to appear like real life. Simulation, according to Baudrillard’s theories, can be dangerous as it is difficult to distinguish between what is real and what is not. If someone is so good at simulating a particular state of mind then how do we know that they are not being truthful?

Hyperreality was also a common theme in the reading this week. If something is hyperreal, it is always constant. An example used to demonstrate hyperreality throughout the reading was Disneyland. Baudrillard said that Disneyland was presented in the way it is to distract the public from the fact that the rest of America is also hyperreal. Although I do not agree completely with this statement as I myself do feel that there must be some reality and truth in the world, I do agree that certain places which are marketed as being average, real and true are in fact hyperreal. For example, Celebration Town in Florida USA. This town was planned and manufactured by the Walt Disney Corporation. It was based on an idea from Walt Disney himself who wanted to create a perfect community where everyone is equal and citizens would have no worries or stresses about crime or any other unpleasant facts of life. Although this town is marketed as just a great place to live, to me there is something hyperreal about the way it was created and the way it is run. Although, some people would argue that the reason for this is the mere fact that this town is a Disney creation and that every product from Disney demonstrates hyperreality.

http://celebrationtowncenter.com/

I have also learnt this week, the vital differences between modernism and post modernism. Modernism is the idea that there is one definitive truth and nothing else can rival this. There are no questions, just facts and men are the centre of the earth as opposed to God. Post-modernism on the other hand is the complete opposite as the post-modern society questions the truths that modernism spelt out for them. There is no longer only one truth but instead different versions of truth which everyone is free to either believe or disbelieve. As a result of the post-modern society, audiences are given a lot more credit to understand different ways of entertaining for example through the use of parody and pastiche. A parody is when elements of a certain product are imitated. For example when Family Guy used elements from Star Wars in their programme. This is also an example of intertextuality.

Pastiche on the other hand is when elements from different products are put together to create something new.

Audiences: Passive or Active?

One of the main theories that stood out to me from the lecture was the Hypodermic needle model. This theory believes that audiences are greatly affected, personally and mentally by the media which they consume. For example, crimes committed by young offenders are often blamed on the violent video games that they may have played.

However, Empiricist research into the effects of the mass media seems to prove otherwise. Paul Lazarsfeld conducted research into the voting behaviours of American citizens in the 1940’s. His research led him to create the two-step flow model which talks about how the mass media talks directly to the professionals in a certain subject, who Lazarsfeld referred to as opinion leaders. These opinion leaders then pass the knowledge on to the rest of the population. For example someone who is known to have a broad knowledge of films will give advice to the recreational film watcher on which films are the best. This theory goes completely against the idea of the Hypodermic needle model as well as the Frankfurt school’s theories, as this study shows that it is not the mass media that influences audiences the most, but instead is the trusted friends and family of each individual who hold most power.

Studies like Lazarsfeld’s prompted a change in the way in which audiences are perceived. Rather than the audience being seen as passive, as the Frankfurt school thought, they were seen as active. The uses and gratifications theory explains this point saying that audiences are not merely dummies that sit in their living room being bombarded with endless messages not knowing the effect that these messages would have on them; instead they can understand what the media can provide for them and consume media products according to what they wish to get out of it.

Nowadays, the idea of an active audience has been taken one step further as audiences are now interactive. Through the use of YouTube, audiences can now be their own producers and make their own media products. Inevitably this means that the audiences are now controlling the media rather than the media controlling the audience.       

The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception by Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer

After reading this, I felt that Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer’s views were in some ways rather paranoid but in others incredibly insightful and thought provoking. The media is something which I always knew affected lives and I have always had some sort of awareness that it may be affecting me personally, possibly in a negative way. This is a point that Adorno and Horkheimer explored as they talk about the way in which an audience’s perception of the media has changed. At one time seen as an art form, audiences are under no dissillusion that this is the case in modern society as most are aware that the media is a business, out to make money. The fact that people accept this and allow it to go on is what enables the power of the media to grow.

The media, according to Adorno and Horkheimer is ruining high culture and folk culture by the creation of mass media products aimed at as wide an audience as possible, for example the X Factor. There is a distinct loss of individuality within mass culture as everyone in a particular market are brain washed into liking the same things as they feel like they need to fit into a mould. If everyone else likes the X Factor then they should too. Particularly the people working within the media itself need to fit into these acceptable moulds. For example, when Christine Bleakley left The One Show, the BBC replaced her with a woman who looked almost identical to her. The audience were obviously aware of this as they poked fun at this fact in various newspapers and magazines, yet on the whole it does not occur to the mass audience that this was not merely a coincidence but was a carefully planned move to ensure that the audience would not be disrupted by anything new and different, as difference and individuality, according to Adorno and Horkheimer is something that the media does not like to deal with.

Adorno and Horkheimer also felt that the media controls class systems by catering certain products towards certain people. They used the example of magazines. The cheaper magazines are aimed at the working class as they will have less money to spend on such things, whereas the more expensive magazines are aimed at the middle or higher class individuals. Knowing this, the media can decide what content should be included in which magazines, therefore controlling what each social class of people will be reading. Although I feel that this is a valid and carefully thought out point, I don’t entirely agree as I know that many middle class people will also choose to buy the cheaper magazines and vice versa therefore the idea that audiences are forced to read what is created for their market cannot be entirely true.

One of the main issues that Adorno and Horkheimer brought up is the major affect that bombardment of media has on society as they feared that people can no longer tell the difference between what is real and what is not. Films and television programmes pretend to depict ‘real’ lifestyles which makes an audience think, why is my life not like that? For example when a woman watches an episode of Desperate Housewives they will look up to the characters as idols and want to have a life like them, forgetting that these people and the lives they supposedly lead are not actually real. The boundaries between real and artificial are constantly being blurred as even shows that claim to be ‘reality programmes’ are false. Although it is usually stated in the credits of these programmes that some scenes were created for entertainment purposes only, it does not state which scenes they are referring to.

Although Adorno and Horkheimer, at first glance may come across as paranoid, they bring up some very good points backed up with well explained theories. I do not agree with all their opinions but this reading has definitely opened my eyes to the controversy surrounding the media and enabled me to question what is right and what is wrong within the media industry.