Week 10: Lecture Summary

Good Morning Elite Gold Coasters,
acoverdale here reciting what i absorbed from the New Communication Technology lecture on Thursday Morning. Josh was back with his perspective on "studying video games". He emphasised at the start that 'studying' was the key word, but not to be put off as it would be a fun lecture. He was right! This is what was said:

Why study computer games?

The demographic of gamers was up until 2005 not accurately measured. Traditionally, it was thought that 18-25 year old males were gamers. The Neilsen Active Gaming Study in 2005 confirmed that gamers are actually 25-40 year old males! (This is partly due to the fact that the 18-25 year olds are now grown up into 25-40 year olds).

The different types of games are PC games, Console games, Online games, Arcade games and Mobile games.

Neilsons study in 2005 revealed that while 59% of the market were still 18-25 year old males, 41% were females!

It is also interesting to note that mobile games are dominated by females - as a result of choice in genre.

Arcades are seen as a social phenomenon (a "date" josh joked) that both males and females participate in.

The genres of computer games are first person shooters, strategy, puzzle (moblie phone), fitness (wii) - these appeal to both genders.

In Joshs opinion, games are too much like everyday life in that you have to establish the objectives, learn how to do everything, and obey by the rules/constraints of the game!

"Work, earn, learn".

But, in all seriousness there are 3 different ways to study games:

1. Social Science Approach: Studying the effects of games on people (media effect = violence)

2. Humanities Approach: Studying the meaning and context of games.

3. Industry/Engineering Approach: Development of games and new technologies.