Referencing Images

I thought that I would write a post to help guide students in the use of images in their essays. I will show you through example but first I think that it is important to say that the use of images should be illustrative not decorative. Images, especially when writing about a visual media like games are very important to reinforce your points but they should be there to illustrate your points not to decorate your essays, this is the same for graphs and charts.

So... how do you use images?

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Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (2007) shows innovation in it's level design, creating spaces of play that are immersive and atmospheric. One of the most engaging level designs to evoke tension and an overwhelming sensory experience takes place in a night club. As you enter the club atmosphere the level teems with people dancing to the heavy thumbing of a bass beat. The level is dark and confusing, as a player you are informed that you must traverse this disorientating environment in order to achieve the levels goals. The level is simple in its layout and structure but becomes complex as you try to manoeuvre through the crowds in this dark and bewildering space (figure 01).

figure 01 Kane & Lynch: Dead Men nightclub level

You are required to move from one end of the level, achieve a goal and return to the club entrance again. On your return across the club it becomes necessary to shoot your gun which triggers mass panic and shifts the atmosphere of the space from one of disorientation to a explosion of unrest. The player is usually required to shoot their weapon while stood on a balcony overlooking the crowd, this event is deliberately triggered here so that the player can view the magnitude of the task ahead. The play now shifts to protecting your team mate within the crowd where it is hard to distinguish ravers in distress from opponents (figure 02).

figure 02 Kane & Lynch: Dead Men nightclub level in panic
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After by Bibliography which will state all of my referenced texts i will have a page with a list of images which would look something like this

figure 01 Kane & Lynch: Dead Men nightclub level - http://www.gamingsteve.com
figure 02 Kane & Lynch: Dead Men nightclub level in panic - www.msxbox-world.com

You don't need the full URL as these can sometimes be massive, if you have used google images then they usually have a short site URL under the image that you can cut and paste. If the image is a screen shot you have taken yourself or a graph that you have made from your findings then you just need to say where it has come from so you would write something along the lines of "screenshot of gameplay" or "graph composed of findings from ..."

You also need to reference tables in the same way, so if you have analysed data you need to but "table 01 collated research from questionnaire" and you can make reference to the table in the same way as you would an image.

The Evolution of Gamer and Gaming Culture

Gamer and Gaming culture has never been at the foreground of society but still plays a large part in todays’ world.

In this essay I will be looking at the evolution of Gamer and Gaming culture from its roots in the old school arcades to its modern day living room counter part in order to document and analyse the changes that have occurred to it over the last few decades.

In order to fully understand the evolution of a new culture I will look into several aspects of it which include the people involved, the taboos & commandments, the effect on popular culture and the rate of change.

Due to the industries growth and the application of high end technology and innovative interaction methods gaming culture has changed to span a broad spectrum of peoples some who take part intentionally and some who are a part of it just by starting to enjoy games.

Essay Structure:

Research and define key generations of gaming culture where the most impact was made

Find statistics describing the average amount of people in the UK who play games from 20 years ago and today and use them to accurately describe the rate of growth and give a personal opinion on why the changes occurred.

Compare each advancement in culture and technology for each generation and how these two areas affected by each other.

Research on advances in technology and gameplay.

Describe how gaming culture has merged into todays popular culture

Compare taboos within society from today and several years ago. Describe how the changes in general society occurred and give opinion on why it happened.

Conclusion

Conclude with overall findings and come up with a fact based opinion about the evolution of gamer and gaming culture.

Casual Gamer: True or False

History and Analysis by Ravelle Leacock

I am going to discuss the impact of the gaming industry today, and the innovations which have paved the way for easier accessibility for the unconventional gamer. I shall be asking the question: (Casual Gamer: True or False)

Within the essay I will be identifying the notion of fads that gaming may have had, and whether those fads still exist.

From the past ten years, the way that gaming has evolved has been extremely positive, a lot of that success was due to technology progressing, whether it be graphical and processing power or hardware interfaces.

Structure of the Essay

Main points to focus on

• Look at and research all consoles which have been released within the past 10 years.

Compare each console from old gen to next gen, and highlight each consoles’ demographic.

• Look and research major titles for each platform.

Compare major titles for each console and highlight each games’ demographic.

• Research Technology within the industry

Look at technology used for gaming and look at technology used for non-gaming i.e. films CGI.

• General thoughts of consumers

Take out a survey between hardcore gamers and causal gamers and identify a general consensus between each.

The Impact of Video games as virtual worlds for positive learning and development.

Here is a brief abstract of the topic I will be researching this semester.

Video games have for many years been researched as activities that promote the learning of an individual as they can allow for personal, meaningful experiences and developmental growth. Virtual worlds are increasingly having a more significant impact upon society as an effective method of aiding in human development and learning through the participation in an activity that many class as fun and entertaining. The real world value of video game play cannot be underestimated as further study into the theory and practice of creating a game allows for increasingly more accurate representations of important aspects intrinsic to positive human development. This does not even take into consideration the abundance of games intentionally designed to promote learning that are now being crafted for specific purposes, allowing individuals to have a truly interactive and experiential method from which to learn skills. While there are certainly stories of people allowing video games to impact their lives to their own detriment, in general and with regards to the vast majority, video game play promotes the development of the individual. It is through participation in video gaming as a voluntary activity, that a person becomes challenged to overcome obstacles and in many cases is not only developing personal skills but is also learning what can be classed as the virtual embodiment of cultural and social practices.

Alex Wallace - Product Placement and Marketing within Video Games

The topic that I am going to be studying is on product placement and marketing within video games. In recent years product placement has grown exponentially due to rising costs in the making of a video game. These can either be seen as just subtle advertisements in the game world or as something more integral to a game such as a gadget representative of a real product.

I am going to looking at how this aspect of games has come about and grown into something that is now considered commonplace amongst big budget video games. I am also going to be looking at how this affects the game and how the player is expected to react when exposed to such marketing techniques.

To do this I am going to be using the internet to research specific games that express product placement frequently throughout games. I will be looking at other articles that are on the topic and I will also be drawing a comparison between product placement in movies and in video games to see how they are becoming similar and the reasons why.

Reading (Week 5)

This weeks reading is supplied by Luke Bale of Gamespotting Blog fame and is...

Tosca, S.P. [2003] Reading Resident Evil-Code Veronica X, MelbourneDAC 2003 [Available at:http://hypertext.rmit.edu.au/dac/papers/Tosca.pdf]

(Link to wiki site)

Abstract: This paper proposes a close "reading" of the computer game Resident Evil-Code Veronica X, in a practical attempt to argue for the application of reader response criticism to digital media.

This is a text that Luke will be using for his essay and wishes to discuss its content with the groups. It will also give us an opertunity to discuss methods of close reading.

Reading (Week 5)

This weeks reading to support the in session work is...

Rohrer J. (2008) The Game Design of Art, The Escapist Magazine, 24 Jun 2008 [Available at: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_155/4987-The-Game-Design-of-Art]