Videogames: The New Culture? The Modern World

VIDEOGAMES: THE NEW CULTURE?

The modern world is a complex world, despite its many luxuries and ease that have been created by the introduction of the Internet. We are more and more becoming a Global village, with endless possibilities of communication, literary, at our fingertips; new possibilities regarding how we learn and communicate with each other are opening up every day. Not only this, even things like shopping, leisure activities, hobbies, learning, all is being impacted by the wonders of the new world. Video Games and Gaming in general has also been termed as a very modern idea, and has impacted severely in the way we spend time and interact with other people.

Videogames have come a long way from their inception, from the sheer size and the complexity of the first hardware and software to the pocket sized devices that have become so popular today. Being one of the most fastest growing and the most profitable of the children's cultural industry (Media Analysis Laboratory), the Video gaming today is estimated to be worth $105 billion worldwide, a figure that has been estimated against the share values of Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Mobile Gaming, retail sales, online gaming and other similar sectors (Goldman, 2010).

From a Cultural point-of-view, Video games have had an impact on almost all of those elements that comprise what a Culture is. It has had an impact on the way Education is gained, transferred or imparted; it has impacted the way people interact with each other, the way people tend to spend time in their leisure hours and even the way the concept of Art is practiced in a society.

The research would focus on this impact by first outlining for and developing an understanding for itself regarding what is Culture. This understanding would then be transferred to how people and society in large has been impacted by the use of Video Games and whether this impact is heading in a positive or a negative direction.

What is Culture?

Any society is built and recognized by a set of beliefs and values which are the main instruments that governs the functioning of that society. These set of beliefs can be termed as Culture and it is this culture and its value which is the defining element of any society. However, there is not one agreed upon definition of culture, but more or less, culture is defined as "the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief and behavior that depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations" (Merriam Websert, n.d.).

However culture in itself is a very complex entity with many components that help in giving it its true form, and thus giving it the pattern that is talked about in the definition. These components mean anything from how we greet one another, to how we socialize with them, how we interact with them in times of happiness and sadness; how traditions and customs are celebrated, how knowledge is imparted to the next generation, etc.

Characteristics of Culture

Some of the most basic characteristic of any culture include that is an entity that is leaned from the first generation by the preceding generation. This learning can be in the form of formal or informal learning or technical learning (Leon G. Schiffman, 1997).

However, Culture is not always known to everyone! Since the behavior is inherent, a lot of time, many of its elements and patterns can be missed out upon, and therefore will not necessarily be interpreted as something that is in a fact part of a Culture. Likewise, in case of other Cultures and how they behave as per their values, will not always be understood by the other group (O'Neil., 2007).

The most important Characteristic of culture that is much important to this research is the way Culture evolves from one state to another, and how strongly the concept of Globalization is behind it.

Cultural Evolution and Globalization:

Culture is constantly in evolution and thus changing, however the rate of that change can be determined by the agents that have the ability to impact it; one of these elements is the concept of Globalization. Globalization has been defined by the New Encyclopedia (New World Encyclopedia, n.d.) as a concept which,

"refers both to the "shrinking" of the world and the increased consciousness of the world as a whole. It is a term used to describe the changes in societies and the world economy that are the result of dramatically increased cross-border trade, investment, and cultural exchange."

This Cultural Exchange means that there is a constant change in any culture at a given time, and this has the capacity of influencing that culture beyond its geographical sphere and go beyond. This agent, in the time and era of the Internet has grasped the world and impacted the world Cultures at a speed that is astounding. The result of it has been that the world has been reduced to a Global Village.

Video Games and Culture:

The main question then comes to is what is the relation of Culture and Video Games? And if there is a relation, then is it of any prime importance to be explored in detail even?

This question is of primal importance, because a cultural concept has been taken and today has been developed and then repackaged to be presented before the world as a consumer good. It has developed into an industry that since the 1970s has been constantly making profits and getting bigger and larger with each passing year.

The many facets that compose a traditional Culture also include, besides behavior patterns, entities like Folk tales, Art, Music, Child Games, etc. This categorization can be justified by the fact that they vary as per their geographical location and as such carry the regional touch with them. This regional touch is of prime importance to ascertain the concept of diversity which is the most celebrated part of any culture and thus making it unique.

The Cultural Notion of Child Games, however, has been greatly exploited and changed completely by the Video Gaming Industry. Research shows that today an astounding 65% of all American Households play video games and the numbers are constantly increasing since the introduction of the first videogames (IT Facts, 2008). This means that from the baby boomers who were the first to be introduced to this technology till today a massive change has come to an industry which initially remained labeled as the "game" industry targeting the kids (Wong, 2010). However, today things have changed completely and the industry has a dedicated following, ranging anywhere from the very young to almost 40 + now.

This change can be seen in the difference that has come about in the traditional notion of what gaming and child games were all about. The socialization and the teamwork effort, although not completely eliminated has taken a new form in the shape of social interaction. This entire topic has been studied in great detail in this research and has been categorized in the various ways that culture has been impacted due to videogames.

History of Videogames:

It is in 1958 that for the first time that a videogame is incepted by William Higinbotham, by the name of Tennis for Two. However, the real turning stone of this was in the 1960s when in MIT the first vector graphics typology of computer game was developed for the game Space War which took an entire basement room in MIT and was developed at the cost of multi-million dollars (Laird, 2005) (Shaw, 2010).

However, it is not until 1975, that when the emergence of Atari's Pong, videogames truly become a household entity (Tchong, 2004). And it was from this point forth that they were identified as a worthwhile market.

1985 show the emergence of Nintendo in the market under the banner of Nintendo Entertainment System, and it was their Super Mario that was really able to capture the market. Super Mario 3 even became the all time best seller with sells worth 11 million dollars (Laird, 2005).

The emergence of the World Wide Web and the Internet made the Video Gaming a Global phenomenon. In 1995, it was with Playstation that Video Gaming was completely transformed. It was a new technology and much advanced than many of its predecessor and due to that it soared in its popularity making it penetrate into 20% of all American households (Laird, 2005).

From 2000 onwards, names like Microsoft Xbox, SIMS, World of Warcraft, Xbox 360, Playstation 3, all have gone on to capture and influence the world of gaming immensely. The result has been that today in almost 60% of all households video gaming is one of the most major leisure activity. Besides this, the demographics today show that the second largest chunk of video gamers comprises of people who belong to the age bracket of 30-49, which is basically the first generation that was introduced to videogames (IT Facts, 2009). The very fact that they are still playing means that the companies have been providing for all age groups.

The credit for the success of this industry has been given to the many manufacturers, who realizing the demands of the market, have adapted to the technology and innovations, keeping the industry ever so fresh and relevant (Media Analysis Laboratory).

Traditional Games vs. Video Games:

The traditional notions or games that were played formed an important part of any culture, as it helped in the development of the child. The games, differing from region to region, were considered as essential in understanding how to deal with conflict, problem solving, teams work and working outdoors.

However, Video Games have changed this to such an extent that today traditional games are fast becoming extinct. More and more kids today are opting for Video Games from very early ages, and this trend has even caused a concern among parents. According to research, 19% boys climb trees, 24% girls often skip, as compared to a generation ago when 44% boys climbed trees and 94% girls skipped (Traditional games such as conkers and hopscotch 'dying out', study claims, 2009).

This has led concerns regarding the imagination building skills of many children and how they would develop to understand many of the characteristics that are nurtured by dealing with human to human contacts.

However, as has been established Culture is based on the concept of Evolution and change, and therefore can Video Games not be considered as the next Evolutionary stage in gaming? There is an equivalent chance that the games that the previous generations played differed from the generation before at some point and led them to have the same concerns that exist today with regards to Video Gaming.

Isolating People or Connecting People:

Traditional Cultures have a strong concept of socialization and the idea of people exchanging ideas among each other through a person to person interaction. These interactions were fundamental to the exchange of ideas. With the emergence of a Global village, these interactions have been greatly altered; however whether they have lessened in their intensity or frequency of their occurrences is a topic of another debate.

The most basic anti-argument against the emergence of Internet, Videogames and it's like have always been that they isolate people and is fast replacing human to human contact with virtual contacts. However research shows that there is enough evidence to suggest that people who play videogames form offline contacts as well (Tchong, 2004).

It has been defined as the new social frontier, where more and more people are finding each other based on what interests them, and that too without any previous cultural boundaries, and thus creating their own spaces in which to interact and learn even (Liz Merkel, 2009); these boundaries usually meant a constraint put on due to geography, belief, race and ethnicity. However in a true virtual environment, these cultural boundaries are fast becoming obsolete.

Multi-Player Online Games (MMOG) is the very backbone of this entire concept and has been regarded as the new interface in which more and more children are finding ways to interact and learn. The MMOG with their avatars and character choosing and communicating capabilities are constantly providing people with more and more virtual spaces to get connected with each other.

This has had a huge impact on the very interactions that used to take place in the traditional societies. In the Game zone, it is the interest based interactions that are taking place and these interactions tend to take a preference over the more traditional and in some cases even obsolete set of constraints and values that were practiced in the society. These go on to include race, ethnicity, class differences, geographical, sexual, etc.

Imagination Building Tool:

Central to the base of any culture are the stories and the literary characters that are transformed through the medium of oral storytelling, or in the more modern age, through Radio or TV. This was an essential element in how the next generation was transferred these important elements of that culture. With the emergence of the new mediums, the transfer of these stories has been greatly altered. Folk Stories have been translated into cartoons, or movies are being based on regional stories and then transferred to the next generation. However, all these methods remain completely different as compared to Video Gaming.

The major reason for this difference is that all these mediums, Oral, Written, Radio, TV are passive in nature. While the user may be listening and using his/her senses to obtain that knowledge, but they still remain considerable passive throughout the entire experience. The interaction, in this regard is highly limited.

Video Games have changed this passivity in the most dramatic nature, providing users with a new platform in which they can interact with these stories in a more active manner. As more and more Video Games, started to make themselves based on Literary works or stories, including the likes of Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbitt, etc., the more the stories become active or real for the Gamer.

Video Gaming have today made it possible for these characters to come alive on the virtual reality level, by providing means to make the characters more real and more interactive. In a video game, you have the liberty to be the character and experience the entire feel of that character and that environment about which you have only read or seen. This is basically made possible due to the avatar nature of many Video Games in which you are the character, instead of just experiencing it on the screen from a distance (Douglas Thomas, 2007).

Videogames as the New Art Frontier:

Art has been one of the most primitive medium used to express not only feelings but also to communicate. It is not surprising therefore that some of the primitive languages are more symbolic in nature than being phonetic based. Egyptian Hieroglyphs are one example of such a writing system in which the characters were mostly figurative rather than phonetic or what we have come to identify as alphabets (Lo, n.d.).

The initial videogames took little consideration of the environment and the surrounding in which they were based, and thus the integration of Art work into them was limited. However, as the industry has expanded, and the demand for more real experiences and 3D world is being made, much detail is being given to this aspect of Video Gaming as well. The result has been that today one would find many dedicated artists and studios working to create a realistic experience for the Gamer.

The realization of Videogames as high end art forms as an idea is no doubt very hard to grasp, but the popularity of these games have meant a high quality deliverance from the other side. This has meant that more and more attention is being paid to the Artworks that are employed in videogames, and today the popularity of many artists in this field is a true symbol of this fact (Suellentrop, 2011).

Tom Bissell, an author and journalist who has been reviewing video Games since the early 1990s has seen a gradual change in the Video Gaming Industry in this regard. He in his interview explicitly mentions that "Anything which is created by human beings for the express purpose of another human being to enjoy" is enough to create an artistic experience and more and more Video Games today are doing just that.

More so, the inception of a Video Game goes through many artistic experiences during its inception, which are similar to mediums like movies and cartoons (Video Games and Art, 2007). The sketches, Character building and detailing, set designing, all of them are considered highly artistic levels when talked about in terms of Cartoon movies and therefore are wroth appreciation when talked about in terms of Video Games as well.

Video Games Influence on Other Mediums:

What is most interesting to note is the fact that Video Games are influencing many other mediums. This Influence can be seen in the Cinema today as well as in the way Art is being portrayed and then put on display.

The Story lines of some of the recent movies and art forms to have come out have based themselves and have taken immensely from the Video Gaming interfaces. Matrix, Run Lola Run, Titus, all are cinematic works that have based themselves on a concept that has been inspired from this ever popular medium of Video Gaming (Jenkins, n.d.).

The Impact on Culture -- An Analysis:

It is highly unlikely that society or culture does not evolve, since the resistance against such a change would mean the destruction of that entire culture or society. Culture is inherently meant to change and give way for the new to take over.

Video Gaming has had an impact, but has it been positive or negative, that is still a question that needs to be answered. There is no denying that it has impacted the overall society and in doing so has become an essential part of more or less every household and the trend shows clear indication that this figure is bound to increase in the coming years.

The research paper so far has based itself on discussing Video Games in the context of Traditional Games vs. Video Games

Isolating People or Connecting People

Imagination Building Tool

Video Games as the New Art Frontier

Video Games Influence on Other Mediums

From the point-of-view of Traditional Games vs. Video Games, it has already been discussed that as part of a Cultural Evolution, this step is bound to happen. However, the shape of this agent of change might have been predicted as something else, but the change itself is unpredictable. There can be no argument that this change also brings with itself some loss -- that loss being of the old. Already efforts are under way to document and preserve these Traditional games which are the pride and an important aspect of any Culture (Bernama, 2011).

But maybe there is a possibility that these games can be saved and preserved via the very medium of Video Gaming. It would only make sense that the traditional games adapt to this new form and thus survive in a new form and shape. This idea fits more perfectly to the concept of Evolution and would mean the preservation of these games for eternity.

Regarding the Concern for Isolating People, enough evidence has been provided to ensure that isolation and interactions too have involved due to the emergence of Video Games. Again, from an evolutionary point-of-view, it only is reasonable to demand of these things to evolve into a new medium and form so that they can survive for the next generation. And thus interactions and communications too would evolve into a completely new form. This form however has meant that people have removed from between them the traditional constraints and have moved in a more positive direction in which judgments based on skin and color are limited. The new communities that are being formed have taken a new order for their categorization, and taken a truly global Form.