Journal Entry 10

One of the discussions that we have had in class was derived around the idea of gender representation and sexuality in video games.  We looked at many studies from the likes of Dietz (1998), Beasly and Standly (2002), and Haninger and Thomason (2004). These researchers coded games for the number of different features related to video game characters and how these features portrayed sex and gender.

Dietz (1998) found that 41% of games at that time were devoid of female characters all together.  The 21% that did feature female characters portrayed them as visions of beauty or damsels in distress.  The other 28% of games that featured female characters portrayed the women as sex objects, showing abnormal body image such as enlarged breasts and other curvy assets.

In 2002, Beasly and Stanly performed a similar research study, and their findings they found similar patterns.  They discovered that less than 14% of game characters were female, and 41% of those female characters were portrayed as voluptuous.  Of the 41% of voluptuous women, 31% were found in video games with an ESRB rating of E for everyone.  It is no wonder females are viewed as sex items.  Young children are most likely to be playing games that are rated E for everyone, so they are exposed to many visions of abnormal looking women that they assume to be true later on.

Haninger and Thompson’s study (2004) looked at T rated games for players thirteen and up.  Their findings showed that 77% of T rated games contain sex and profanity and are significantly more likely to depict women in a more sexual light. 

When we look at these studies, we can summarize by saying that women are less likely to appear in games as men are and when they do appear, they are depicted as helpless, or needing of saving.  They are also portrayed as sex objects with unrealistic bodies and show a lot of exposed skin and cleavage. 

Of course, these studies were done on outdated consoles and I believe that this depiction of women has changed over time with some of the main characters in recent games.  For this post, I would like to look at the other side of the spectrum and talk about some female characters that kick ass and are depicted in a different light. 

Nariko  (Heavenly Sword)

Heavenly Sword is a Play Station 3 exclusive that was released as a launch title for the console in 2007.  This game’s mane character is Nariko, a sword wielding badass chick who is tasked with protecting the “Heavenly Sword”, a god’s blade of immense power that drains its wielder of their life force.  If this sword gets into the wrong hands, the holder will have the power to take over the world.  Nariko does fit the depiction of the studies as a voluptuous sex symbol but she does hold her own in combat.  She does not fit the mold of the “damsel in distress” but instead is looked at as a powerful figure in the game.   

The New Laura Croft (Tomb Raider)

Everybody remembers the old Laura Croft from the Play Station 1 and 2 days. And is a sex symbol synonymous with sexual portrayal of women in video games.  Well, just like everything else today, Tomb Raider is getting rebooted and there is a new Laura Croft being portrayed.  No she isn’t a big breasted bomb shell with snarky comments and booty shorts, but instead she is a woman that is fighting for her survival all while killing enemies and wearing appropriate clothing for the job.  She is not viewed as sex symbol with an abnormal body (although she does look good), but instead she is viewed as a powerful, independent women that can handle her own in the face of diversity.  I personally love this new vision of Laura Croft, and the as the game play video will show, this game is shaping up to be a dark adventure that will have your heart racing throughout its duration.  I cannot wait to play this game.

Jill Valentine (Resident Evil 3)

In Resident Evil 3 you take control of Jill valentine, a ex special forces agent, as you try to escape the zombie infested Raccoon City.  Jill starts off to as being a scared women who doesn’t know what to do, but quickly changes into a zombie killing machine.  You will be solving puzzles and fighting zombies, zombie dogs, zombie dogs that are on fire, and other baddies as you try to escape with your life.  It is an intense game, and most of the time you will be running for your life.  But don’t let that image make you think that Jill is just another damsel in distress, she will shoot you on sight if she has to.  Also, it doesn’t seem that Jill visual represented as a sex symbol.  She has exposed shoulders but her body image is not abnormal. 

These are just a few examples of dominate women in video game history.  I believe that getting rid of the sexual portrayal of women in video games will never happen, but as the new consoles start to embody new technology, and games creators start using better motion caption and hire actual actresses, the sexualization of women will decrease over time.  I think it is headed in the right direction now, but we will have to see what happens in the future.

References: 

Journal Entry 9

As I gamer, I pride myself in playing any and every kind of video game that has been created.  As the consoles changed over each generation, game types have changed as well.  But one of my favorite games stood the test of time as one of the most challenging and fun games I have ever played…Mega Man X for the Super Nintendo.

Mega Man X is a multi-level side scrolling game that presents levels with new background graphics and game level layout that present new obstacles and challenges requiring different skills to complete each level as you move left to right down a given path.  The graphics of the game were amazing as well (for its time of course) rending a type of parallax scrolling which adds a dimension of depth to a side scroller, like Mega Man X, by having the foregrounds move faster than the backgrounds.  This allows the gamer to see the scope of each level and how detailed the environments can be. 

The best thing about Mega Man X is that every level is unique in its own way.  One level you will be required to endure extreme platforming as you are jumping from platform to platform making incredible leaps to the other side, and another level will have you solving puzzles and defeating enemies with your blaster cannon.  Each level has its own unique boss as well which, when defeated, increase your arsenal with a new skill that can be used to complete the next level and subsequent bosses.  

This game has caused me many a head ache over the years, but its difficulty is one of the reasons I keep on coming back.  It is a challenge, and is not for the faint of heart, but Megan Man X is one of the greatest games I have ever played and am still playing it today.

Reference: Edward Downs. Video Game Entertainment Lecture. September 12, 2012

Journal Entry 8

One of the greatest things about gaming is that each player has their own unique way of approaching how they play their games.  No two gamers are alike.  Each gamer likes different types of games, and chooses to approach playing these games differently as well.  I have the privilege of living with three other gamers, each with their own unique style of playing.

I, personally, would classify myself as a competitor.  A competitor strives to be better than his fellow game players.  I play a lot of sports games, and every time I play against one of my roommates, the only thing that I want to do is run them into the ground.  I am constantly on the edge of my seat and am in a zone that can rarely be broken.  I am constantly playing online and always trying to be the next challenger.  Sometimes things get a little heated when I’m losing.  I get increasingly frustrated and start to focus intensely on what I’m doing.

Now, I don’t freak out on the level of this kid, but I do hate losing.  It is the worst feeling in the world.

My roommate Chris loves open world style games such as Skyrim and Boarderlands.  He is what they call 

an explorer. Chris plays to experience boundaries of the game world and loves to discover what others do not yet know.  There are many times when I step into Chris’s room to watch him game, and he is in some dense forest doing nothing more than trying to find a cave or a secret stage that no one has yet found.  He is also a collector.  He plays these games not only to explore the vastness of the world he is involved in, but he also plays to acquire the most unlockables and loot in the game.  He is always trying to upgrade his weapons, or find that next piece of armor that will make him nearly invincible to his enemies.   I somewhat enjoy this type of gaming, but it is too big an investment to me. 

Ty, my third roommate, is classified as an achiever.  These game players play not only to be better now, but to be better in rankings over time, or thrive to have the most wins or championships over time. Ty is notorious for simulating lengthy careers in NBA2K13.  He sometimes plays the games, but he likes to see how well he can do over a 15 yea r career as he makes MVP caliber players and wins many world championships.  Sure he likes to play against other people, but he gets satisfaction from seeing how good he can become over time.

Kiel, my fourth roommate, would be classified as a Joker type player.  These players could care less if he wins or loses, but he just plays for the fun of the game alone and enjoys the social aspects of gaming.  Kiel loves playing Halo, but Kiel hates playing Halo alone.  He has way more fun when we are all playing together, exchanging trash talk and beating up on each other.  I too would consider myself as a joker type player as well because that is the main reason why I game, to have fun with friends.

References: Klug, G.C., & Schell, J. (2006). Why people play games: An industry perspective. In P. Vorderer, & J. Bryant (Eds.),Playing Video Games: Motives, Responses, and Consequences. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, New Jersey

Journal Entry 7

When I was growing up I played a lot of PC games.  I mainly played real time strategy games such as Command and Conquer and War Craft3, but my favorite real time strategy game of all time was Age of Empires 2.  The premise of Age of Empires is that you must create and defend a city that you build with soldiers you decide to make as the world advances from the dark ages to the golden ages.  You could pick one of twenty different countries to be, each bringing their own special troops and buildings to the game play.

This game is a great example of self-as-source identification.  

Self-as-source identification is the ability of the gamer to recognize their own input into the game.  Creating something relevant to game play increases involvement in the game, and it is also a vehicle through which identity can be expressed.  When playing Age of Empires, everything that you do has an effect on the game.  If you create a certain building or create certain soldier, you can have a distinct effect on the outcome of the game.  Everything that happens to you is because of you and you have to make everything work.  That is what I love about that game so much, and that is why I love that game to this day.

Here is just a little game play video for you to see the Self-as-source in action.

You can design your cities to be enclosed in a series of walls, or you can have scout towers that shoot enemies on site.  You can also create heavy weapons soldiers that do max damage, or have soldiers that can ride horses for max speed and attack ratio.  You can play anyway that you want to, and that is what makes that game so great.

References: Sundar, Shyan S. "Interactivity as Self-expression: A Field Experiment with Customization and Blogging." Interactivity as Self-expression. AMC, n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2012.

Journal Entry 6

Mario Kart 64.  Is there a better example of how a multiplayer racer should be made?  I don’t think so.  Is there any another game that brings out more hatred amongst the players involved than Mario Kart? I’m willing to bet no on this one.  As you progress through the tracks of Mario Kart 64, the difficulty level jumps to extreme levels as you are dodging banana peels, green shells, and question-mark-box land mines, all while trying to defeat your friend in a battle of kart racing supremacy. 

When my roommate Kiel and I play Mario Kart, all bets are off.  The trash talk begins hours before the game is even turned on as subtle text messages like “hopefully that test isn’t as hard as CoCo Mountain” and “you suck” are exchanged between the two of us, as we know it will be all out war when we get home.  The best part of this rivalry isn’t the fun being had between friends as we grow bonds and enjoy our time together, no, it is about making the other person so angry that they will almost take your head off if they see you again during the rest of the night. 

  

In class we talked about the frustration-aggression hypothesis (FAH), and I think that Mario Kart is the perfect scenario for this study.  The frustration-aggression hypothesis states that frustration leads to the arousal of a drive whose basic goal is to harm someone else.  This hypothesis tests if frustration always leads to aggression, and if aggression is always derived from frustration. 

The FAH research shows that the hypothesis is partially true.  Frustration leads to aggression because frustration is an aversive and unpleasant feeling.  There could be other feelings that can cause aggressive behavior as well including anger, nervousness, impatience, irritability, EST.  The study also shows that frustration is more likely to produce aggression when it is either unexpected or unwanted. 

I have to say that when playing Mario Kart, all of the above is true.  Frustration defiantly leads to aggressive behavior.  When you run over your twelfth banana peel on Rainbow Road because it blends into the yellow striping of the course, frustration builds up and usually a controller is thrown or a loud scream can be heard.  But the combination of the other feelings of nervousness, anger, and irritability could be one of the biggest drives to an aggressive act while playing Mario Kart.  When you are in first and your friend drops a lightning bolt just as you are about to jump the largest gap in the game resulting in a loss of momentum and the inevitable dive into the water below, you get a little angry causing a form of aggressive behavior, or a good punch in the arm, to your roommate.

Irritability is another common feeling when playing Mario Kart as well.  There is nothing more irritating than when something happens to you because something that could have been easily avoided (such as game glitches or getting stuck in corners) occurs and you are punished because of it.  I cannot tell you how irritating it is to get hit by your own red shell.  It’s a RED SHELL!  IT’S SUPPOSED TO HIT THE PERSON IN FRONT OF YOU, NOT FLY BACKWARDS HITTING THE USER!  AND WHY HAVE PENGUINS ON THE ICE COURSE!? ALL THEY DO IS SEND YOU FLYING INTO GOD-KNOWS-WHERE AND ULTIMATELY LEAVE YOU IN 8^TH PLACE! IRRITATING I TELL YOU!

This is by far the most irritating thing in all of video games.  Just watching this clip makes me angry. 

But the thing that really gets our aggression flowing is the fact that we don’t want to be shown up by one another.  Nervousness is the biggest drive to aggression for me.  I am in a zone of concentration, and as my heart is beating 100 miles an hour as I turn the corner to cross the finish line in first place, making sure to have a flawless race, a blue shell comes out of nowhere, hitting me directly in the back and sending me screaming off the map and into fifth place…Unreal.  That usually results in a controller thrown, or a tackle of my roommate off the couch. 

If researchers would just set a camera up in our living room, I’m sure they would get every bit of evidence they need to confirm the frustration-aggression hypothesis and then some.

Reference Citation: Frustration-aggression hypothesis: Examination and reformulation.  Berkowitz, Leonard. Psychological Bulletin, Vol 106(1), Jul 1989, 59-73

Journal Entry 5

I was brought into this world in 1989, and with all the earliest memories I have, the one that seems to stick out the most in my mind was the Christmas of 1994. This was when I was blessed with my first video game console, the Super Nintendo (SNES).  At that time, the fourth generation council was one year old and was the second home console released from Nintendo (just after the 3^rd generation Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES).  It was equipped with the power of a 16 bit processor that brought colorful graphics and beautiful sound effects to the game environments.  It also had an adapter that made it possible to play Nintendo Game Boy games through the console on home televisions. 

 I just so happened to own a Game Boy at this time.  The Game Boy was created by Gunpei Yokoi, who began his game making career by creating game watches for Nintendo.  Soon after, he created the first Nintendo handheld in 1989 called the Game Boy.  I still have, and play, many original Game Boy games to this day.  The most played being the Pokemon series (which is one of the greatest RPG’s and Nintendo exclusives ever created).  I know what you’re thinking “Pokemon is actually one of your favorite games?  What are you a 5 year old?” Look, if you say that you didn’t like Pokemon I’m calling you out.  It’s awesome, and you know you loved it.

After having a SNES for about eight years, I saved my money up to buy the 5^th generation Nintendo console, the Nintendo 64.  The Nintendo 64 was the first console to have a 64 bit arch and was the first time I personally played in a fully immersed 3D environment.  

To this day the Nintendo 64 is my favorite console of all time.  The games that were made for it were just incredible.   Games like The Legend of Zelda: Orcarina of Tim, Super Smash Brothers, and who doesn’t love Golden Eye 007? 

This is one of my favorite commercials of all time.  So funny. 

That is the main reason why I am a Nintendo fan boy at heart.  The games for these consoles were childhood memories.  The characters that were introduced and playable in these games are still staples in the gaming industry and were created by an absolute genius, Shigeru Miyamoto.  Miyamoto was responsible for the creation of all the Nintendo’s main characters.  These include Mario, Link, Donkey Kong, Kirby, and many more.  He is considered the Walt Disney of video games and is still involved with everything Nintendo today.   I have him to thank for me being a proud gamer today.

On Christmas Eve of 2002, my gaming life was changed forever.  The cartoon mascots and childhood memories were taken over by the pure strength and fun of the Play Station 2.  This 6^th gen console ran on a much higher processing level than the Nintendo 64 and had more adult titles that had deeper stories and more in depth game play than the 64 bit classics.  Once I receive that PS2 I knew that I would probably never buy another Nintendo console again in my life, and I haven’t since.  I am currently gaming on a Play Station 3, which I believe to be the best system on the market today, but I still find time to turn on my two old friends…the SNES and the Nintendo 64 to play a little Super Mario World, or to terrorize my roommates in some Mario Kart 64.  

Journal Entry 4

When I look back at some of the best games of the past twenty years, I can’t help but think of the Medal Gear Solid series.   The series is known for its incredible stealth action game play, but what really sets these games apart from all the rest is the intense, and some time ludicrous narrative. The Medal Gear games were created by one of the best game directors of all time, Hideo Kojima.  What made Kojima great was the way that he told each of the stories.  The plots were filled with more twists and turns than a Christopher Nolan movie, and each game had some of the most unique and difficult bosses in gaming history.  We’re talking about bosses that wore vests filled with explosives and moved around an oil rig on roller blades, as well as bosses that knew every move you made because the only way to beat him was to switch the controller to the second port.  But what really made these games memorable were the stories told in them.  They were constantly tying together plot lines from the other games to make it one giant story.  The cut scenes were on another level with quality and direction.  They were also known for having some the longest cut scenes in video game history.  I distinctly remember that in the second Medal Gear Solid game there was a cut scene that lasted twenty minutes.  That's insane!  With all that said these games trigger what Kincaid calls the Drama Theory. 

The idea behind the drama theory is that as the plot thickens, people’s emotional involvement increases.  As this emotional involvement with the plot increases, it facilitates identification with the key characters in the story (Kincaid 132-156).  This seems like a very obvious theory, but it rings true.  Throughout the Medal Gear series you are introduced to new characters at different eras in time, but they all are connected to one man, Naked (Solid) Snake.  I never really knew how much I loved the character of Snake more than in the last installment of the game, Medal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.  In this game, Snake is an old, grizzled secret agent that is running his last mission.  The game unfolds with some crazy plot twists but it all comes to a head when Snake beats his arch rival Revolver Ocelot.  Well the ship he is in is equipped with a microwave filled tunnel, and the only way for Snake to make it to the other side is to crawl his way through the deadly microwaves.  The whole time you have your sidekick yelling in your ear and you see images of your friends getting attacked.  It is an incredible scene to say the least.

It had me sitting at the edge of my seat as I had to control a crawling Solid Snake and navigate him through his pain and suffering.  It was intense to say the least and is one of the most memorable scenes in gaming to me.  It was incredible. 

Citations: Kincaid, D.L. (2002) Drama, Emtion, and Cultural Convergence.  Communication Theory, 12: 135-152

Journal Entry 3

During one of my usual video game study break I ended up finishing one of my favorite games from this generation of consoles, Red Dead Redemption.  Red Dead Redemption is an open world game made by Rock Star Games, the creators of the Grand Theft Auto series.  In this game you are placed in the shoes of John Marston, a family man recently released from prison who is seeking revenge on his bandit brother hood who left him for dead.  This game takes place in the late 1800’s, and the environment is incredible.  You will be crossing the border to chase down a murder, and fulfilling meaningless tasks for your friends around the south west united states. 

I share identification with John Marston. Identification is when us as game players share the perspectives of the characters.  No, we do not look alike in the slightest, or do I condone all of the actions he takes, but I do identify with him.  John Marston is a family man who always wants to do what is best for everyone.  I feel like I share those qualities with him as well, and this is why I have grown to like the character. 

The more of the game you play, the more you begin to grow closer to John.  You actually feel hurt when he’s hurt, and you feel bad when he feels bad.  I started having a parasocial interaction with John Marston.  A parasocial interaction refers to a media interaction between the game player and the avatar; it is a relationship of friendship between a gamer and their character.  Flash forward to the end of the game (SPOILER ALERT!!) and you see that John finally gets reunited with his wife and son, and everything is roses.  But that does not last long.  Soon, every person that John has crossed came to confront and kill him and his family.  Well, John dies in a hail of gunfire during his last stand.  When he died, I felt like I lost a friend.  He is one of the greatest characters in video game history and I felt terrible when he got shot.

References: Hergenhahn, B.R., & Olson, M. H. (2005). An introduction to theories of learning. Seventh Edition. Pearson: Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River: New Jersey.

Journal Entry 2

The NBA2K series is critically acclaimed as one of the best sports franchises of all time.  The game play and presentation is as realistic as actually watching an NBA game live at court side.  The best feature of the game, in my honest opinion, is the create-a-player mode.  In this mode, you can create and customize your player any way that you want to.  This player is your avatar.  An avatar is referred to by Farmer and Morningstar as a controllable, humanoid, animated character.  I created a slashing guard named Eddy “Easy Breezy” Booker.  Eddy went on to win Rookie of the Year, as well as MVP in the one year I played with him.  I created him exactly the way that I like players in the NBA to play…balls out and to the glass. 

I mean, what a baller, right? 

When playing with him I couldn’t stop to think about what we talked about in class that day, the Hagelian Dialectic. The Hagelian Dialectic can be used to find the relationship between the player and their avatars. 

The Hegelian Dialectic consists of three parts, the thesis, antithesis, and syntheses.  The thesis (sein in german) is a single idea or concept.  The antithesis is a conflicting idea, that which stands in opposition to the original proposition, or thesis.  The synthesis is the incorporation of both ideals into a new reinterpretation.  These three ideas can easily explain why I choose to make players that I create.  In this situation, the thesis would be the fact that I would love to be an all-star NBA player. I mean, how cool of a gig is that! The only problem is that there is no way in hell I could be anywhere close to an NBA player.  I wouldn't even make the UMD team!  The antithesis in this situation would be my create a player in the game.  He is an NBA all-star but he is in the virtual world.  The syntheses would be me actually controlling the avatar and essentially becoming an NBA all-star.  Playing the game helps connect the Thesis of me wanting to be an NBA player to actually being one by being able to control my player in the virtual world, who is the antithesis.

References: Downs, E (2010). Eighteenth century video games: Using the Hegelian Dialectic to explain the individual-avatar relationship in video game play. Presented at the Video Games Interest Group of the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, June, 20-24, Singapore, Malaysia.

Journal Entry 1

 After our discussion of Pavlov's theory of classical conditioning in class, I couldn't help but think of my favorite game of all time, Bioshock. Bioshock is an incredible game made by 2K Games and it is set in the greatest game environment ever created.  An underwater city called Rapture.  The game is set around the 1960’s, but the population of Rapture has been underwater since the 1920’s, and in typical video game fashion, they have caught a virus that turns them into psychopathic killers. So, as you can probably guess, there are creepy, crawly, scary as all hell enemies that would love to do nothing more than shoot or slice your head off your shoulders.  One of these baddies in particular scared the life out of me.  It was a heavily armored mini boss named Big Brother.  Big Brother’s main weapon is a giant drill that he has as a hand, and can kill you with two precise hits. Facing him is terrifying, but he is always accompanied by a creepy little girl that sucks a strand of a substance called “Eco” out of dead bodies around the map called little sister.  This reminded me of Classical Conditioning because when you are in the presence of the Big Brother, you would always hear little sister say “Come play Mr. Bubbles” or “Pretty Funny aren't they Mr. Bubbles”! Talk about creepy.  Every time I heard that little voice my heart would pump at max levels.  To this day, even if I hear one of my friends say “Mr. Bubbles” my senses get a little heightened.

I mean COME ON!! YOU DO NOT WANT TO PLAY AROUND WITH THIS DUDE.  AND THAT CREEPY GIRL! No thank you...

This is a trailer for Bioshock 2, but it is the same Little Sister, and she is still the same level of scary. 

With this conditioning there was also some generalization going on.  Generalization happens when a controlled stimulus is changed to something similar and the same conditioned response occurs.  In this particular case, the controlled stimulus was the sound of that creepy high pitched satanic voice of the little sister.  And the controlled response was me having to change pants, or being frightened if you will.  Throughout this game, the splicers that try to kill you always are mumbling to themselves before you engage them in combat.  Even when I hear the splicers mumbling it reminds me of the Little Sister, so I instantly get scared again.  These two stimuli are very similar because they both talk in a creepy voice, and this game will tell you that if you ever hear talking, something bad is about to happen.  The screams and the gun fire doesn't frighten me, but the talking does.  The absence of fright when I hear screams or gun shots can be classified as discrimination.  With discrimination, the tendency of me to respond to a very limited range of stimuli or only to the actual stimuli itself.  The different stimuli would be the screams and gun shots.  This doesn't affect me, but the controlled stimulus of the screaming will always scare me.  There will never be a spontaneous recovery either.  That is when after a period of extinction of the controlled stimuli, the controlled response temporarily reappears in response to the controlled stimuli.  There will never me an extinction of this conditioned response.

Reference: Hergenhahn, B.R., & Olson, M. H. (2005). An introduction to theories of learning. Seventh Edition. Pearson: Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River: New Jersey.