c1 gaming (video games)

 Wednesday 18th, September 2024

Video Games 

 Lo: To Explore the history & context of Video Games.

Do Now:

1) Social Media, Magazines, Newspapers, Television, Print Media, Books, Digital Media , Radio, Film, Video ; are all examples of different media forms.✓

2) You can access different media forms online, in shops, bookstores, libraries, cinemas, film trailers, (posters, billboards, advertisements etc.)✓ 

Decade     Games                                                               Features 

1970s:    Pong, Doom, Maze Wars,Space Invaders.       Simulation Games, Single-player, Atari

1980s:    Pac-Man, Mario, Tetris, Legends Of Zelda.    Home consoles, Multi-player, Nintendo

1990s:    Sonic, Mortal Kombat, Tomb Raider,             Sega, First person, Playstation, Sony Online.

2000s:   The Sims, Halo, Super Mario Kart,                 Xbox, PC gaming, Nintendo DS, Wii, Iphone

2010s:   Indie, Story-games, Virtual Reality.                Minecraft, Twitch, Pokemon Go, Smartphones.

Uses and Gratification:

Uses and Gratification is a theory, from two men called Blumler & Katz.

Personal Identity

Information

Entertainment

Social Interaction

Baseline Test:

The Uses and Gratification theory shows and explains that audiences indulge in media, (Video Games) because of four main reasons. Blumler & Katz stated that for some, playing Video Games is an opportunity to interact socially, playing Games with friends, siblings and players online increases social interaction and helps people create relationships from these games. Also, for some, a main reason for interacting with these games is entertainment. When a certain piece of media is exciting or 

fun to play, people are more likely to play it more and even replay it. Certain games with violent and suspenseful storylines can cause many people to find it interesting and entertaining. (eg: Call Of Duty, Resident Evil). Another one of Blumler & Katz's points is; information. Audiences can gather useful information from educational games and help with skills when playing in the future. This is more prevalent in simulation games such as Minecraft and The Sims 4. The final point Blumler and Katz made was Personal Identity, (using video games as context), when a audience member personally connects with a character due to their personality/backstory. This causes the audience to relate more to this character due to their personal identity. 

Wednesday 2nd October 2024

Exploring Context in Video Games.

Lo: To explore the content of video games.

Prince Harry:

Prince Harry believed that Fortnite should be banned, he believed its "designed to keep you in front of a screen", and should be banned. The World Health Organisation considers "Gaming addiction", as an official disorder. Banning it takes the game away from everyone and is excessive, more responsible actions should be taken to minimise how many matches/games are played by each player hourly/per day. I think that Fortnite is addictive yet, should not be banned because of its mass popularity and fanbase. Many players will be distressed by this and this could cause the downfall of Epic Games.

Healthcare Triage:

This YouTuber considers that there is no apparent link between Video Games and behaviour. He states that ,"sad books can give you sad thoughts just like how violent video games can give you violent thoughts." These thoughts are not acted against and do not create dangerous situations, therefor there is no link between violent media consumption and behaviour. He also believes that parents/guardians should take action and monitor the video games their young children are playing. This is the opposite opinion to Prince Harry as this YouTuber believes that censorship/ban is not the way forward. I think that his points are reliable and also that banning certain games is not the way to solve this problem.

Media Insider:

Albert Bandura's experiment consisted of having a group of children aged 3-6 watch videos of adults using violent behaviour against dolls. Bandura then let the children into the room and watched as they did the same. Yet, the group of children who didn't get showed the violent video played calmly. This implies that violent behaviour is copied and repeated. Now, this "copycat" theory is used against violent movies, songs and video games, young teens and children might consume. The theory states that , when a child sees an adult/older teen committing dangerous acts and reclusive behaviour, they might start to copy them because its portrayed as the right thing to do. And although Bandura's experiment was staged, in modern times, violence is blamed on the person and not the media. 

I do not believe that video games create violence and a dangerous behaviour. Although experiments such as Albert Bandura's "Bobo Doll" experiment showed evidence to suggest that, when children are shown violent videos of adults, they will copy the behaviour. Yet, it is proven that violent video games create violent thoughts that re not acted on. I think this idea is more reliable.