Mass Media and Society

Chapter 10: Electronic Games

Feb. 24, 2014

Chapter 10:Electronic Games

• The evolution of electronic games

• Influential contemporary games

• Games’ impact on culture• Controversial issues

Game evolution• Pong: 1972• Arcade games: coin-

operated in public establishments

• Consoles arrive in 1972: Magnavox Odyssey; Atari 2600 first big success

• Cartridges developed

Crash and evolution

• 1983: Video game market crashes thanks to lackluster “Pac-Man,” “E.T.”

• Nintendo Entertainment System and “Super Mario Brothers” revolutionize console gaming

Innovation in 1990s

• Sega Genesis challenges NES

• “Mortal Combat,” “Street Fighter” establish higher levels of violence

• March 2007: Sony sells 102 million PlayStations

Shooters andonline gaming• First-person shooters like

“Doom” prove popular and controversial

• MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games) genre established (“World of Warcraft”)

21st-century games• PlayStation 2 (2000) and

Xbox (2001) ramp up console wars

• Portable gaming (GameBoy) grows in popularity

• Late 2000s: Market for video games is steadily increasing

Home consoles• PlayStation 3 (2006),

Xbox 360 (2005), and Wii (2006) give way to today’s PS4 and Xbox One

• Wii pioneered motion-sensitive systems; other platforms follow

Influential games• “Grand Theft Auto”:

violent, satirical “sandbox” (open-world) game; hugely popular

• “World of Warcraft”: MMORPG pioneers social gaming, economics within game

Influential games• “Madden,” “FIFA”: big

sellers, niche games; popular among athletes and sports fans; dedicated online communities

• “Call of Duty”: big sellers; pushes envelope on violence

Impact on culture• 2007: 72 percent of U.S.

population played a video game that year

• Gaming culture: competition, immersion

• “The fifth network”: video game influence rivals TV networks

Music, education• “Rock Band” and “Guitar

Hero”: participatory and focus on artists

• Video games used in classrooms, learning settings

• U.S. Army uses video games for recruitment

Controversies• Violence: Entertainment

Software Rating Board (ESRB) rates content

• Phenomenon of video game overuse or addiction

• Sexism: Women less than 12 percent of industry

Mobile games• Angry Birds, Candy Crush

Saga; tend to peak and fall quickly

• Industry has seen major growth tied to increase in smartphone use

• Expected to reach $24 billion in 2016 (up from $12 billion in 2013)