What are the current trends in video game culture? How does game play influence society and what advantages and disadvantages are occurring from this huge industry? These are just a few questions we need to ask when thinking about the directions our culture, that is the
Global Village Marshall McLuhan theorised, is taking and where it is we think it should go and why.
The Financial Times article from April 2008 by Chris Nuttall in San Francisco and Matthew Garrahan in Los Angeles,
Game on for comic 'Iron Man' faces big screen test, which compares the then upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto IV and comic book Marvels Ironman film, who share the same target audience, shows that in this case the video game was predicted to be chosen over the film in America. Sales figures record that over 13 million copies of GTA IV have been sold sold according to this Take Two press releases
http://ir.take2games.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=370041To get an idea of the popularity of video games just visit the video games charts website
http://vgchartz.com/"In 2008, video games (all formats) saw more money made from product sales than DVD and Blu-ray combined. Packaged media, which includes movies and games, saw a six percent growth over 2007, leading to USD $61 billion in overall sales for 2008."
(
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Games-DVD-Blu-ray-Economy,news-3364.html)
So what does this mean? It means that kids are choosing to play video games over watching movies. Why is this so? Its hard to say exactly without doing a detailed study but it could be to do with the fact that games engage the viewer/user because it is interactive.
Games provide an interactive nonlinear narrative where the player, to a limited extent, creates and dictates the path of the experience or story. This is empowering, challenging, can involve more than one person (multi-player) and also with developments and emerging technology such as the Nintendo Wii allow more physical interaction.
So how will this impact culture overall? As more people play video games less people go to see Hollywood films. As video games challenge and push the player(s) creatively and cognitively, the advantages that can be seen here are more freedom of thinking and a more organic or rhizome like and immersive experience.
A direct effect of this is that the Hollywood film industry are hurting. This could be considered a disadvantage as it may see the demise of the Hollywood film industry but at the same time it could be seen as simply a shift and give independent film a better chance offering something which is a good honest story rather than just re rewrite of a comic or novel with special effects. The change we are seeing here is no different to the change film made to photography. The old form of media was simply refined and left as a traditional medium which has its time and place.
There is no doubt that today's most popular medium is the video game, which is a great thing for digital and online industry. However, where there is doubt is how this will impact society or education, science and art. This is a shift in the way we communicate, but for better or for worse is what we need to ask!
Some useful links:
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/04/21/nifty-gaming-gadget.htmlhttp://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/news/2007/04/gamereviews_0402http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1018992751109983360.html?mod=Page+Onehttp://toucharcade.com/2009/04/21/a-preview-of-gamelofts-upcoming-terminator-salvation/
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