History in the Game Industry (Blogpost #3)
The group for this week did a solid job going over the growth and development of games in the industry, particularly the expansion of console gaming. The resources for this section of the class were good introductory tools to the changes and expansion of game capabilities (notably mentioned, graphics. The Extra Credits video on how games use a broad swath of design tools to tell a story in a more intricate way that a typical writing-only piece can was particularly of interest when looking at the topics for this week. The video itself represents how standard information and language can be made more accessible and understandable by using all of the digital tools people have at their disposal in this age.
Games have come so far in their physical characteristics (game mechanics and play, graphics, sound design, controller types, intricacies), but have also grown so much in what designers and authors do to make meaning with their games. Video games in particular have a real way to speak to cultures, perspectives, and ideals and share new experiences in a way that can sometimes be lost with other modes of entertainment. Even a First Person Shooter (FPS) can have a story of military hardship, PTSD, and show other examples of the traumas and trials people go through, like in Spec Ops: The Line.
The community-building power of games across time is probably one of my biggest passions. It’s been a revelation for me to realize that what I care about most and what I’d really like to do is work in the gaming industry in a writing, designing, proof-reading/playtesting capacity. Games have this ability to bring all sorts of people from broad swaths of life together in a single place with a common goal. Whether competitive or cooperative, groups that play games like HU Gamer’s Group see people from high and low socioeconomic statuses, different ethnic backgrounds, social-skill levels, and genders come together to enjoy tons of different kinds of games.
Communities like these are only growing as game stores become more popular, card games like Yu Gi Oh and Magic: The Gathering keep up a sizable fanbase, and multiplayer gaming platforms are easier to connect to and generally more monetarily accessible to people. And even more people from diverse backgrounds are discovering digital gaming in an era where mobile phone games are becoming the go-to time killers in waiting rooms and in between obligations.
With all of the community building and history of game development, there is the aspect of how video games integrate with existing laws and how copyright laws in particular shifted around this new genre of media. In Play/Write Digital Rhetoric, Writing, Games edited by Douglas Eyman and Andrea D. Davis in 2016, Scott Nelson discusses the nuances and challenges of the changes copyright for games posed in his article Intellectual Property Pong: Three Classic Matches that Affect Your Play Today. He generally outlines history on the ‘matches’ between stationary or predictable forms of media and art (choreography, books, movies) and the new individual nature of unique gaming experiences.
This is a particularly interesting turn of events because there is battles being waged on YouTube Gaming to this day dealing with commentators and Let’s Player’s trying to upload their spin on a digital work — their unique play experience and comments on a pre-rendered work. Some view these Let’s Plays as free advertisement, while others demand the money being paid by YouTube to the people playing it (talking about you, Nintendo).
Overall the growth of the industry, the laws around it, and the evolution of gamer communities has boomed with the turn of the century and will hopefully only increase — we can only hope that the communities created generate far more positive gamers than trolls.
References
Extra Credits (26 July 2017) How Games Speak — Learn the Language of Design. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=c06uoVVFZd4&app=desktop
Nelson Scott (2016), Chpt. 8: Intellectual Property Pong: Three Classic Matches that Affect Your Play Today. (Play/Write)
