Development of the Video Game Industry

This week in my Professional Writing course we had a group of students presenting on the topic of video game development. In this presentation the group first discussed the different types of gaming systems from the arcade to the personal device and how they developed over time as technology improved. Then they discussed the overall development of the video game industry. After this class I read the following articles: “Why Are Video Games Good For Learning?” by James Paul Gee, “Play/Write: Digital Rhetoric, Writing, Games” by Douglas Eyman and Andrea Davis, and “The Game of Reading and Writing: How Video Games
Reframe Our Understanding of Literacy” by John Alberti. These readings take the group presentations ideas a step further. Not only have video games advanced to the point where they are realistic and film like, they can also be used for educational purposes, as argued by these authors.

“A starting point for nearly all arguments for the relevance of games is the economic and cultural impact of the video game industry… we need to pay attention to games in the same way that we teach students to become critical consumers of other media” (Eyman, 2016). This statement is agreed upon by the Slamdance Film Festival director Peter Baxter. He states that “Games really are potentially a far more powerful medium than film” (Alberti, 2008). Baxter goes on to argue that it is a superior medium because of the greater amount of engagement it has with its audience.

“In films you play a more passive role. You’re sitting back looking at something. Because of the role-playing aspect, games literally take the level of our participation to a whole other level. You are actively engaged in the outcome of your actions. Games are going to affect us in different ways, in ways we don’t fully understand yet. (Chaplin, 2007, n.p.)” (Alberti, 2008).

As someone who is currently taking a course where we study the video game industry I can confirm with these authors that there is a lot more to explore than what most people believe. When I first started taking this class I couldn’t think of anything that there was to learn. However, the industry is very interesting and it really is a developing media. From sexuality in the game, the development of identity and character and all of this can be manipulated and experience directly through the playing of the game.