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Chapter 10

Digital Gaming and the Media Playground

CHAPTER OUTLINE

Chapter Opener: Digital gaming is a global industry worth billions of dollars, thanks to the

wide range of games available on a variety of devices. But gaming is more than just a

business venture; it is also a growing part of daily life for many Americans. As gaming and

gaming–related media like “Let’s Play” videos become more popular, scholars are studying

more closely the role that it plays in society and culture.

The Early History of Digital Gaming

The advances of the Industrial Revolution promoted mass consumption and the

creation of leisure time, both of which sparked the development of early mechanical

games that were forerunners of today’s digital games.

Mechanical Gaming. Coin–operated mechanical games like pinball, which were

available in penny arcades, were the forerunners of the modern digital gaming

industry.

II.

The Evolution of Digital Gaming

Digital games evolved from simple interactive competition to sweeping narratives with

adventures and sophisticated problem–solving opportunities featuring a variety of

possible outcomes.

Arcades and Classic Games. Early arcade games like Pac–Man foreshadowed

digital gaming’s development as a social medium because gamers often played

standing side–by–side in an arcade or bar.

Consoles Power Up. Many digital games are played on home consoles or handheld

consoles that are designed specifically for game play and feature detailed graphics.

The Big Three: Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft. The major home console makers

have continued to dominate the market by continuing to develop new

technology.

Computer Gaming. Early computer games mimicked arcade games, but as

consoles improved, computer gaming shifted to emphasize card games and board

games.

The Internet and Social Gaming. Online gaming, in which multiple gamers play

live in teams or individually, has become a contemporary social medium.

III.

Gaming Communities, Immersion, and Addiction

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In addition to interacting socially within the games, players can participate in

communities of interest organized around their interests in gaming. This feature makes

gaming one of today’s most powerful social media.

Communities of Play: Inside the Game. Players often form virtual social

communities to enhance their gaming experience and sometimes make lasting

friendships—or even romantic relationships—through their gaming.

Communities of Play: Outside the Game. Communities form outside of game play

through Web sites and face–to–face gatherings dedicated to digital gaming.

Collective Intelligence. Tips and cheats provided by gamers are available on

numerous Web sites.

Immersion and Addiction. Because games have become more elaborate and

alluring, they can feed addictive behavior in some people.

Immersion. The gaming experience has become more immersive with the

development of wireless motion–control technology and virtual reality.

IV.

The Economics of Digital Gaming

Today’s gaming audience extends beyond the young, male stereotype of the obsessive

gamer. The industry is so healthy that the market adds up to billions of dollars.

Selling Digital Games. The primary source of revenue is the sale of games and

consoles, although many games are now free with additional features sold to

players after they are hooked.

Pay Models. There are three main pay models: retail sales, subscription, and

free–to–play, which makes money by selling extras like upgrades.

Making Digital Games. With expenses for development, marketing, and licensing,

a major video game can cost as much to create as a blockbuster movie.

Digital Gaming in a Democratic Society

Although digital gaming may appear to be a simple leisure activity, it has generated

spirited public debate between those who want to regulate its content and advocates of

free speech.

Self–Regulation. In response to criticism over violent content, the industry

established a labeling system for games to inform parents of sexual or violent

content that might not be appropriate for younger players.

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LECTURE TOPICS

Discuss careers in the digital gaming industry. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor

Are video games worthy of First Amendment protection? Discuss in detail the Supreme

Court’s 2011 decision, Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, placing it in the

context of other decisions about the entertainment media. The movie, television, and

recording industries have all fought similar battles, and all the industries adopted a

variety of self–regulation standards to address public concerns.

Discuss digital gaming as part of youth culture, explaining how it has been associated,

LECTURE SPIN–OFFS

“Casual Gaming”

According to Jesper Juul, a video game researcher, “casual gaming” is the future of video

gaming. In his aptly titled book A Casual Revolution: Reinventing Video Games and Their

Players, Juul wrote that we are in the midst of a revolutionary change in the history of video

gaming in which designers are going back to the simple style of play of earlier games and

also making them fit better into the lives of gamers.

Many people who do not fit the stereotype of gamers—young men playing shooters—

are playing types of simple video games like card games, Angry Birds, or Pokémon Go.

These people often do not think of themselves as gamers, but in fact have been playing

The Evolution of Digital Gaming

•

Shigeru Miyamoto, who designed some of the most popular video games in the world,

including Donkey Kong, Mario, and Wii Fit, has been compared to a rock star for his

effect on fans. At one event in New York, people lined up to get his autograph, and one

fan wore a shirt that said “Miyamoto is God.” The Japanese designer, whom Time

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named one of the 100 most influential people in 2007, is actually self–effacing and told

one interviewer that he prefers to blend in rather than be recognized as a celebrity.

Miyamoto, born in 1952, grew up in the country outside of Kyoto and spent a lot of

time as a boy exploring caves and other natural features that helped inspire Mario and

Zelda. He studied industrial design and mechanical engineering in college, graduating

from the Kanazawa College of Art in 1975. He got a job at Nintendo as a staff artist in

1977 and helped make the company one of the most popular video game producers in

the world. The ideas for his games, like the Mario character, may seem unusual, but as

Seth Schiesel wrote in the New York Times, they “have some ineffable lure that inspires

you to drop just one more quarter.”

Sources and further reading:

•

Designers go to incredible lengths to make their games realistic. Chris Salazar, art

director for Medal of Honor: War Fighter, said it was important to have actual soldiers

show the designers how they did things like load a pistol. He compared it to watching a

professional basketball player demonstrate how to shoot a basket. “I was pretty much

blown away by how much character, how much fluidity there was in his motion,”

Salazar said. Still, too much realism can be trouble when the United States is at war. EA

(Electronic Arts), the producer of Medal of Honor, changed the name of the enemy in

an earlier version of the game from “Taliban” to “Opposing Force” after emotional

public complaints about allowing players to pose as insurgents who were killing

Americans.

Games also require musical background. The soundtrack for Halo 4 was composed

by Neil Davidge, producer and writer for the trip–hop duo Massive Attack. Davidge has

written music for a number of movies, including Clash of the Titans. He told Edge

magazine that for Halo 4 he wrote about three hundred pieces of music that would fill

about four hours. The musical talent to play the music included a choir, assorted

vocalists, and a fifty–piece orchestra.

(Sources: Evan Shamoon, “Medal of Honor: Warfighter,” Electronic Gaming Monthly,

May/June 2012, pp. 42–46; “Halo Forte,” Edge, June 2012, pp. 14–15.)

•

Interest in older video games is widespread and includes collectors who are willing to

Two stories in Retro Gamer in 2012 illustrate the significance of older games. One

story was about Atari’s celebration of the fortieth anniversary of Pong, in which Atari

announced a contest for designers to create a new version of the classic game updated

for a mobile platform. Atari said Pong was arguably the most recognized game in the

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world, and the competition would take advantage of the original “garage developers”

spirit that was present at the beginning of the industry. The second story noted that a

variety of Atari’s classic games were released for the Apple App Store and have been

downloaded collectively more than 7 million times.

Original copies of retro games can be worth a lot of money. A collector in 2012

bought a copy of a rare U.S. version of the Neo–Geo game Aero Fighters 3, originally

released in 1995, for more than $30,000. (Source: Retro Gamer, issue 102, 2012.)

Nintendo has also played an active role in the retro gaming revival, releasing

versions of its “classic” consoles in both 2016 and 2017.

Further Reading:

•

MMPORG games like World of Warcraft are not new but rather are a continuation of

the way people have played games for thousands of years. Ancient games like the

Mesopotamian Ur were multiplayer. During the Industrial Revolution, multiplayer

board games became popular in Europe and the United States.

Role–playing games traditionally have been something that children do. Researcher

Celia Pearce, however, wrote that multiplayer fantasy games are becoming so popular

among today’s adults that “online lives and alternative personas will soon be as

Immersion and Addiction

•

Concerns about video game addiction are widespread. Some doctors and counselors

compare it to problems with drugs, alcohol, gambling, and other addictive substances or

behaviors. The popular WebMD medical site provides warning signs for parents and

recommends that they keep a log of their child’s gaming. WebMD noted that one

treatment center uses detox for video game addiction, similar to treatment for drug

abuse. The difference, however, is that computers—like food—are part of daily life.

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virtual world rather than doing real things like playing sports or even dating. In fact, an

advice book for girls, The Pocket Guide to Girl Stuff, cautions girls that boys have weak

social skills because they spend so much time playing video games. The book noted that

one young man in Japan said he liked a dating simulation game because he wasn’t

interested in real girls.

•

On the other hand, some argue that digital games are improving society. One of the best

examples of this argument is made in Everything Bad Is Good or You by Steven

Johnson. (Sax references Johnson’s book, but argues against Johnson’s thesis.) Johnson

writes about television as well as video games, arguing that popular culture in general is

becoming more complex and is actually making us smarter, teaching us mental skills

that are different from those we learn from media like books. In fact, he claims that the

•

The best resolution to the debate over the danger of video games is that they can be

abused, but used properly they can be a great benefit to society. Susan Kane, editor–in–

chief of Success magazine, made that point when introducing a cover package about the

virtues of gaming for business owners. Kane, who had been editor of Parenting

magazine, wrote that she knew from experience that digital games were good for

teaching kids problem–solving and other skills as long as parents exerted control over

the gaming.

For adults, games can be used to attract and keep customers and to train and

motivate employees. Customers will go to business Web sites to play games offered by

companies, but the gaming can also be subtle. Collecting things like frequent flyer miles

•

Games can also be used to encourage good behavior. This type of “gamification” is

entering all areas of life. Research shows that drivers of hybrid cars alter their driving

behavior to increase their per–gallon mileage and battery life based on digital dashboard

displays. The displays keep a running tally of information that spurs competition in the

driver. Various athletic sites award points for things like miles jogged, encouraging

people to stay fit. A number of developers are designing “games for good” that tackle

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•

South Korea has long been one of the leaders in Internet speed and access, consistently

ranking higher than the United States in penetration. South Korea was particularly well

suited to become wired for speed. With an area slightly larger than the state of Indiana

and most of its population living in densely populated urban apartment blocks, building

a new Internet backbone in South Korea was relatively easy.

More important, however, Koreans have adopted broadband into their culture. The

most interesting phenomena are hybrids of Internet cafés and video game parlors called

PC bangs, literally “PC rooms.” By 2003, more than 26,000 of these dotted the country,

becoming the main hangout for teenagers and young adults. In a country where most

young adults live with their parents until they are married, PC bangs have become a

The Economics of Digital Gaming

•

A 2017 study by the Pew Research Center found that “six–in–ten Americans ages 18 to

29 and 53% of those ages 30 to 49 say they play video games often or sometimes” on a

computer, TV, game console, or portable device like a mobile phone. Gamers comprise

47 percent of men and 39 percent of women. Among Americans between the ages of

•

The film and digital gaming industries have had an uneasy relationship since the 1990s.

The video game industry was focused on technology and sold its games to a niche

audience. The movie industry made fortunes selling stories to a broad audience and

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bottom line for all. Gaming companies could make a lot of money from games based on

movies. Hollywood stars realized that although they don’t make as much money from

video game voice work as they do from acting in movies, their video game work helps

promote their movies and their individual careers. Vin Diesel, for example, struck a deal

•

Not only can a video game generate huge sales on several different brands of game

consoles, but the success of the release of a popular video game title can rival, or even

surpass, the release of popular films, DVDs, and albums. For example, Grand Theft

Auto V sales totaled $800 million (12 million units) on the first day it was available in

•

The market research company NPD Group has been tracking the business of video

games since 1995. Here is an excerpt of its findings from its “Gamer Segmentation

2016” report about different types of gamers

Digital Gaming in a Democratic Society

Unlike during World War II, Hollywood during the height of the wars in Iraq and

Afghanistan was reluctant to make heroic movies about Americans fighting in the various

theaters of the global war on terror (though in the last few years, more such movies—like

Lone Survivor and American Sniper—have been released.) On the other hand, many current

first–person shooters—games in which players visualize the battlefield as a combatant and

kill the enemy with a variety of weapons—are popular in the market.

Like World War II movies, these video games often inspire in gamers patriotism and

admiration for real soldiers. Many of the games, like Call of Duty and Medal of Honor,

allow players to take on the character of U.S. service members and fight terrorists or similar

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Movies were different, he said, because the audience was an observer, not a virtual

participant. Still others don’t like the games because they can be interpreted as propaganda

for the government. (The military often cooperates in the creation of such games.)

MEDIA LITERACY DISCUSSIONS AND EXERCISES

IN BRIEF: MOVIES VERSUS VIDEO GAMES

Ask the students to compare video games and movies. How many students have played

video games based on movies? How is the entertainment experience different, and how is it

similar? How does watching movie violence compare to participating in virtual violence in a

video game? What about when the violence concerns the United States’ global war on

terror? Is it in poor taste, propaganda, patriotic, or just entertainment?

IN DEPTH: VIDEO GAME DIARY

Pre–Exercise Question: How does digital gaming affect your life?

This media literacy exercise is designed to help students evaluate their video game

habits. Define video gaming and make sure students understand that video card games,

puzzles, and casual games like Solitaire, Trivia Crack, or Words with Friends are

considered digital games for this assignment. Some students may claim they don’t play any

video games of any kind. These students could write an essay on why they don’t play video

games and keep a diary of their media use instead, or they could try a video game and write

about that experience.

Description. Ask students to take an inventory of their video games, categorizing them

by platform (handheld device, PC, console, etc.), including games that they don’t

personally own but play regularly with family or friends. Ask them to keep a diary for

one week of the number of video games they played.

Analysis. Compare the total to that of the class average and national statistics. What type

of games do they play most often?

IN DEPTH: UNDERSTANDING VIDEO GAMES AS AN ART FORM AND A MEDIUM

Description. Have students write a review of a video game. The game should be new to

them rather than something they have already played for hours. Have the students read

some sample reviews from gaming magazines or Web sites as an example of what to

look for.

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Analysis. Students should rate the various aspects of the game’s design, such as graphics

and music. They should consider the play qualities, such as level of difficulty and the

time it takes to complete the game. If the game includes story elements, they should rate

artistic qualities like dialogue and credibility.

IN BRIEF: GAME DESIGN?

Break the class into groups of about six students. Ask them to come up with an idea for a

new game or to update a classic game. Have them write a brief report describing the game

and how they came up with the design. What platforms were considered for the game and

why? They should include some artwork showing how the game would look. Have the

groups present their ideas to the class and let the class decide which ideas, if any, they think

are marketable.

CLASSROOM MEDIA RESOURCES

VIDEOS/DVDS/CDS

Angry German Kid (2006, 4:19 minutes). A German boy named Leopold wants to play

Unreal Tournament but can’t (the computer is too slow), and he has a violent fit. This

video, which became an Internet meme, was believed to be true, but it was staged. It is

still a good discussion starter about violence and video games (and there are other

The Big Bang Theory (2008, Season 2). This sitcom features nerdy scientists who play lots

of video games in their spare time. Gaming is central to several episodes, including

“The Barbarian Sublimation,” in which the scientists’ neighbor gets hooked on an

MMPORG.

Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade (2007, 90 minutes). A documentary featured at the

Sundance Film Festival about early video game stars and the 1982 Video Game World

Championships.

Indie Game: The Movie (2012, 94 minutes). An award–winning documentary that tells the

struggles of four video game developers trying to succeed in a highly competitive

business.

Leeroy Jenkins (2006, 2:51 minutes). This famous YouTube clip illustrates World of

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WEB SITES

User generated content—cheats, reviews, and walkthroughs.

Association for companies that publish video games and computer games.

Assigns ratings for video games and apps.

Association for the fantasy sports industry.

Anita Saarkeesian’s site offering videos about the representation of women in popular

culture, including video games.

A magazine of reviews, previews, and other information about gaming. Owned by the

parent company of the GameStop chain.

Organization that supports the use of games for social impact.

An industry gaming site with news and reviews.

Professional association for individuals from all areas of game development.

An independent community–building site.

A user–updated and maintained encyclopedia of World of Warcraft knowledge.