1. +
AS Media Studies
MS1: Media Representations and Responses
Video Games Case Study

2. +

Learning objectives: to explore contexts of video gaming

3. +
Starter- Video Games statistics
What do you know about video games?

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
Average age of today’s gamer

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
Average number of years gamers have been playing

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
Percentage of gamers over 18

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
Percentage of female gamers

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Percentage of gamers playing with others on and off line

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
Percentage of gamers who play on smartphones

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1.
What percentage of US households play video games?

11. +
Answers

Average age of today’s gamer – 30
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Average number of years gamers have been playing – 13

Percentage of gamers over 18 – 68%
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Percentage of female gamers – 45%
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Percentage of gamers playing with others on and off line – 62%
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Percentage of gamers who play on smartphones – 36%

Are you surprised about any of these statistics? Why?

12. Some points to consider…
+

Conservative estimates of the worth of the industry are as high as $40 billion

Some of last years top grossing movies became video games
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Video console/game capacity, storage, speed, complexity increases every year
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Nearly 95% of games originate from America/Europe/Japan
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There are hundreds of millions of players

There are millions of different games
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There are thousands of game licensing/ design companies
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There are thousands of game shops and magazines
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There are 3 major game consoles
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There are 3 major/ multi-media companies supporting successful game consoles
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Mobile gaming on phones and tablets is growing year on year spawning lucrative franchises

13. +

There are a range of arguments and counter-arguments about
video games and their effect
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You must navigate this maze of detail and express your own
balanced opinions about how certain video games represent
key issues

You must do this by using evidence from your case studies

14. + Using the facts provided, answer the following questions

Why are video games so popular?
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Why do games often become movies?
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Why do games get faster, more detailed, more complex?
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Why are there so many different games?
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Why are there so few successful consoles?
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Who controls the gaming industry?
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To what extent do you think games reinforce hegemonic values?

15. + Look at the top 10, advert and review on your worksheet

What do these details tell you about ‘game’ culture?
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What kind of games dominate? Why?
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What kinds of themes dominate these games? Why?
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What kind of images and language dominate these details? Why?
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What kinds of games are rated highly? Why?

Can you make any points about how these games may use or represent
gender, race and nationality and violence? Why do they do this?

What do you think of the images and language used to promote this
game? Who is it being sold to? Comment on psychographic profiling.

16. + Watch the first 10 mins of ‘How Video Games
Changed the World’ (C4, 2013)
Play clip
Where did video games emerge from?
What form did they take in their formative years (late 1970’s and early 1980’s)?
What were some fo the landmark games of this period?

17. +

Learning objective: to explore game genres and categories

18. +
Genre in video games
Starter
How
many different genres of video games can you think of?
Provide examples for each.
What
are the conventions of video games? Try to suggest
common elements that can be applied to ANY game, regardless
of genre.

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Some examples…

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First-person shooter (FPS)

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Third Person Shooter (3PS)

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Simulator

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Survival horror (3ps sub-genre)

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
In six small groups, provide key points to each of these discussion points. Rotate
each category until you have addressed each one.
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Why are videogames so popular?
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Why do games often become movies?
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Why do games get faster, more detailed, more complex?

Why are there so many different games?
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Why are there so few successful consoles?

Who controls the gaming industry?

25. + Watch the extract of ‘How Video Games Changed the
World’ (C4, 2013)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzCINe0V9GE

What was changing in video gaming?

What did Britain contribute?
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Nintendo are obviously still a major producer of video games.
What did the Mario franchise do for the industry?

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
Learning objectives: to explore moral panic and video games

27. +
Some critics believe that:
because
of the success and market penetration of games
into our consumer society, their influence should be studied.
Because
of their attempt at realism and use of high
interactivity – we must question their messages and
influence.
Because
they are often aimed at children, we should
question how they work to socialise children into accepting
certain values and ideas.

28. +
Case Study: Manhunt 2, Rockstar
Games, 2007

29. +

Watch the trailer and gameplay for Manhunt 2

Manhunt 2 trailer
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Gameplay violence
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What genre is this game?

What cinematic genres are evident?
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What are your own thoughts on the images and themes in this
game?

30. +
Read the article from the BBC News
website and answer the questions

What were the main concerns of the BBFC over this game?
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How might we apply the hypodermic syringe model
(below) to video games such as Manhunt 2 and GTA 4?
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To what extent might this article be seen as a part of a
moral panic on video games?

31. +
Watch the documentary – The
Agony and the Ecstasy (30mins)
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What is a ‘Moral Panic’?
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Where did it originate?
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What are the fundamental components of Stan Cohen’s theory of
Moral Panic?
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How can we apply this theory to video games?

Moral Panic doc part 1

Moral Panic doc part 2
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Moral Panic doc part 3

32. +
Stan Cohen’s Moral Panic theory
Identify
problem
Authorities
respond
Media
campaign
for action
Simplify
Stigmatise

33. +

34. +

Learning objectives – to explore regulation of video games

35. +
Starter: use Cohen’s theory and apply to the
article on Manhunt 2 published on the BBC
News website in June 2007
Identify
problem
Authorities
respond
Media
campaign
for action
Simplify
Stigmatise

36. +

Read through this article. What argument does
Rockstar, the games developer, offer as a counterargument against the BBFC’s ruling?
Vs.

37. +
Government responses
The Byron Review (2008) (refer to your booklets for a full
explanation of this report – page 7)

Use of the Internet and videogames is extensive among children
of all ages, and the use of these can be beneficial since they offer
opportunities for learning and development.

There exists in both media material that is potentially inappropriate
for children, both in terms of content and safety online.

The report does not focus on whether the media itself causes
harm to children but instead looks at how the media can be used
to make children's lives better.
TASK 1: Watch the following extract from a debate in parliament
(2009) about violence in video games. Summarise the opposing
arguments. PLAY CLIP
TASK 2: Write a paragraph that argues that this is a more effective
response than that of censorship as a consequence of moral panic.
Use Manhunt 2 as an example.

38. +
As of 2012…
Replaces

39. +
‘How Video Games Changed the
World’ – part 3 (From 40min—
60min)

How were video games changing?

What were the concerns in the wider media?

40. +

Learning objectives: to identify examples of intertextuality in
video games

41. + INTERTEXTUALITY IN VIDEO GAMES

Watch extracts from Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar
Games, 2010).What can you identify here in terms of
genre? Consider film as well as video games.

Play clip (fast forward to 6 mins)

42. +

Watch the trailers for Red Dead Redemption and the film
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (Sergio
Leone, US/Italy, 1966). What similarities can you
identify?Consider themes as well as genre.
Red Dead Redemption trailer
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly trailer

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
Key Word: Intertextuality: When one media text
deliberately references another. This can be used as a
short cut to establish themes and ideas. It can also be
used to attract similar audiences or reflect similar
meanings. The Simpson’s and Family Guy are two TV
shows that do this a lot, often to comic effect.

Why do you think it has been used in this game? Why did
it not just choose to have a ‘western’ setting, rather than
invoking an iconic film such as this?

44. +

Watch the rest of the video games documentary
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What does this say about the state of video games today?

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
Learning outcomes – to have planned and started a response
to an exam question using the case study work covered in
class

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Writing a response (45 mins)
With reference to your own detailed examples, explore how audiences are categorised by the
producers of media texts.
Consider the following categories:

Those who consume mainstream titles
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Perceived ‘victims’ of video gaming (moral panic)

‘Non-gamers’ / those who may not traditionally have an interest in video games
1.
Match up each item on the hand out to one of the three categories.
2.
Begin writing a response to the set question. You should divide up your response using these
categories. Draw together a conclusion at the end.
Tips…

Be specific in your response – use the case studies from class / your booklets

Use quotes where possible

Include theory
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Make sure that you are answering the set question

47. +
Directed Study Task

Complete the response in you DST sessions. This will be
submitted on MONDAY.

48. +

Watch the remaining part of the video games documentary

Can Twitter be considered a video game? What arguments are
put forward in the documentary?