Despite video games existing since the 1960’s it is only in recent years that they have achieved widespread popularity with the public and gained a popular place in society. For many years Video Games were looked upon as toys for children and teenagers and thus shunned in the same manner mediums such as comics have suffered.
The industry’s endurance to expand into the mainstream market has paid off making it quite clear that video games are here to stay. This is only further ramified by the industry now trying to bridge the gap between the casual and hardcore market to allow spill-over each way in turn making more sales.
Video games are already playing a huge role within society almost as much as music, film and television and this is rising at an exponential rate every month. As this is a new frontier for a relatively new medium making an impact on society I would like to research said impact and evaluate what video games mean to individuals, our culture / society and of course the industry itself.
Methods of research
o Interviews
· Friends
· Family Members
· Developers
· Online friends
o Websites
· Gamasutra
· Kotaku
· Developer blogs
o Journals and studies
· Industry magazines / websites
· Online
The main drive behind the success of Nintendo now is important to look at. The Nintendo 64 was trashed in sales by the original Playstation and the Gamecube took a pounding from Microsoft and Sony's last generation systems bringing Nintendo to there knees. The Wii (I joke about this) is white for a reason, Its clearly their white flag of surrender, After losing their majority share of the market for almost decade the Wii tapped into the untapped wider audience from day one. The best way to analyse at the Nintendo DS is to view it as a testbed for the Wii. Upon release Nintendo's only reason for placing a Game Boy slot at the bottom of the unit was their own fears about the DS not catching on (an insurance policy). If the system failed (in 2005 the PSP was being talked up to dominate the handheld market based on the success of Playstation as a brand, and Nintendo's then position in the market) Nintendo could if needed turn round to customers and say "We'll it still plays all your GBA games". I think you need to be crystal clear on your definition of the "mainstream market". Video games have been mainstream for a while now. Everyone knew who Mario and Lara where before Nintendo had its apple falling from the tree moment. What Nintendo have done is strip away the complex controllers (seen as a barrier for many) and gone back to the basics. While this plan has served them well I for one and keen to see what happens when their new audience gets bored of the tons of shovel-ware on both DS and Wii. One last thing the Nintendo core audience (fans) bitch about how Nintendo abandoned them which simply isn't true, people who grew up on Nintendo just moved on to complex HD era consoles like the xbox 360 that offer more immersive tech heavy experiences. Nintendo has continued to supply the core audience with Mario, Zelda, Metroid on both Wii and DS (just as much as during the previous console generations). Hmm and with that my rant is over, good luck!
ReplyDeleteHa, yes I've heard of Paragraphs! lol before anyone asks!
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ReplyDeleteHey dude. I like what you are proposing in your abstract, but you could include the growing popularity of video games on clothing and personal items such as Joystick Junkies T-Shirt or even the new Sony Ericson Gamer Phone.
ReplyDeleteAnd you could also include
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ReplyDeleteMight be worth a look for additional research
ReplyDeletehttp://func-auton.net/blog/?p=329
As your essay layout makes reference to it, i thought that you might be interested in this
ReplyDeletehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2009/apr/09/ea-spouse-controversy-working-conditions-games-game-rant-epic