Society & Games

1. Society & Games • Recap • Society of Gamers • Concerns for society

2. Video Games & Art • Video games & new media • Conservative scepticism towards new media • Modern understanding of art • High concepts & truths, • Ideas & ideals • Authorship • Exclusive access • New media is disrupting all of the above

3. Disruption of Traditional View • History of ideas • Modern idealism disrupted → postmodern • Multiplicity of truths/ideologies • Questioning the authority of authorship • Pop art (blurring high art & entertainment)‏ • Cultural relativism • Technological development • Visual art → photography/film (mass printing)‏ • Original art work gains different meaning • Are reaching consumer – democracy of access • Entertainment and art becoming increasingly intertwined

4. Public Perception • Gap between the public perception & that of game designers and gamers • Media panic • Undermining the idealisation of games • Perceived dangers • Violence • Addiction • Anecdotal evidence of negative impact • Games moving from status of sub culture into the mainstream → lessening of public anxiety • Games influencing other cultural forms; cross fertilisation between different cultural forms

5. Film Not only narration taken over but the them of gaming explored (aesthetics)‏ • Fight scenes (Romeo Must Die)‏ • Multiple narratives (Run Lola Run)‏ • Game and Reality (Matrix & Existenz)‏

6. Fascination of Games Why play? Why entering the magic circle? Psychology: • Boosting self esteem (engaging in & developing a skill)- goals in relation to skill • Flow (pleasure of engaging in an activity which is fully absorbing )‏ • Different identity • Emotional engagement • Subversion (grief players)‏

7. Player Culture 'Within' • Communicating about the game • Shaping the game • Conventions 'Outside' • Reflective space • Metaculture • Identification through joining groups sharing cultural taste

8. Game Communities (in game)‏ Virtual communities • Independent of geography • Independent from actual identity • Membership • Relationship • Commitment • Shared values & practice • Collective goods • Duration Refining & developing rules Sense of belonging & succeeding

9. Cooperation & Conflict • Tension of conflict is necessary for most games– competition element • Intra mechanic (stemming from the rules of the game)‏ • Extra mechanic (successful player – meta culture) may be problematic (real life/magic circle – grey area)‏ • Cheating • Saboteurs (unfair play)‏ • Breaking with conventional & agreed behaviour • Grief players (sabotaging game)‏

10. Metaculture • Fan culture beyond game itself • External websites • Language (belonging & identity)‏ • Poaching (walk through -writing, comic, poetry, flash movies)‏ → extending authorship • MODs → development of new games • Encouraged by the industry (tool kits & entry into industry)‏ • Beta-tester events (testing online games)‏ • Professional players-> sport & tournaments DISCUSSION

11. Considerations for Society • Professional players – video game achievement equal to sport achievements? • Gender • Cultural diversity • Violence • Addiction

12. Gender • Production & Consumption male dominated • Target audience (changing character & equipment appearance)‏ • Gender difference in game preference & strategies? • Representation of women Feminist criticism of the objectification of women – male gaze → Game structure allowing for female subjectivity or disempowering female body even further • Game space (arcade / domestic) & competition → inclusion of cultural & ethnic difference power relationship

13. Ethical Dimension • Scepticism towards new media (subversive content)‏ • Essentially different to representational media → increased social impact • Interrelationship between imaginary worlds & reality • Player behaviour within the game & outside of it • Causal relationship?

14. Dangerous? • Question of aggression increase → risk study • Active Media perspective - • passive recipient being influenced by game • Social psychology & behaviourism → empirical testing • Not game specific • Effect tradition (game → player)‏ • Active User perspective • Active interpretation & engagement • Cultural & media studies → observation & context analysis • Challenging causal connection – active, selective & critical user (player → game)‏

15. Active Media Perspective • Behaviourism: school of psychology that regards objective observation of the behaviour of organisms as the only valid subject for study • Assumption about human nature: • Behaviour = meaning • Determinism (free will)‏ • Problem of induction & problem of isolating active causal factor • Experimental study,cross-section & longitudinal studies • Inconclusive

16. Theoretical Approaches • Catharsis theory: displacing aggression → reduction of aggression • Cultivation theory: distorted perception of social reality • Social learning theory:imitation of behaviour • General arousal theory: increased energy • Cognitive neo-association model of aggression: reinforcement of neural processes • General aggression model: combining traditional theories with cognitive schemata (learning aggressive behaviour, influencing cognitive schemata, increasing arousal)

17. Criticism • Ontological view of human beings – human nature • Scientific evidence – reduction to statistical evidence • Methodology – isolating causal factor → laboratory or every day situation • Problematic notion of 'aggression'

18. Active User Perspective • Humanities • Social Sciences • Focus on the experience of media • Media content & change in behaviour & attitude of player – importance of meaning

19. Theories • Literary reader response & reception: reader engagement – filling the gap; canonical evaluation • Play as meta communication: context of play – emphasis of meaning within → change of understanding of aggression • Children's perspective: meaning given through usage & culture of engagement • Hermeneutic revisiting and continuous analysis of behaviour & menaing

20. Criticism • Interpretative rather than clear figures • No clear scientific methodology – reliance on anecdotal evidence • Limited scope of results – no generalisation