Game Theory: Ludology Versus Narratology - Coursework Example

Besides, newer sections of populations in the developed countries are coming into the hold of video games. Pratchett (2005) has shown that, in the age group of 6-65, fifty-nine percent of the population are gamers. The cultural importance of video games and computer games is increasing day by day. Video games as products of cultural and creative industries are too dispensable if one is to take account of their importance as a prominent cultural determinant.

Still, there might be traditional games that are more popular than video games. However, when thinking along those lines will not help to see the ‘differences’ with video games. Certainly, the influence of video games at present is more far-reaching and deeper than traditional forms of art such as movies. Even the ‘real sports’ are not able to withstand the competition from video games in terms of popularity. Moreover, the important fact is that the influence or popularity of video games is of a different type. Video games have a more or less determining role in the current state of affairs of the culture of the land. Video games have become one of the important means of socialization in the present world where the information and entertainment industries have unprecedented growth and market share. Newer forms of communication have emerged along with the spread of video games. The way millions perceive the world too is shaped by the contents of video games to which they happened to be attached to. Since video games differently affect the cultural life of millions, discussing video games must be a different sort of exercise to capture the distinctive content of video games.

Neither video games nor the video game revolution is easy to be concretely defined. Simply speaking, video games are electronic games, which enable specific interactions between users and a video device. Video games are usually played on electronic systems which are known as platforms. Personal computers and video game consoles are the common types of platforms. Video games could be manipulated through an input device, normally known as a game controller, which would be different on each platform. The common element of all video games is visual feedback. Through video games, players get information and interactions.

The history of the making of the video game revolution is not a linear one. Video games have a composite history and their development did not follow a straight line. It emerged from a delicate synthesis of components from multiple and diverse sources. Basic games based on interactive electronic devices were the preliminary forms of video games. Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr., and Estle Ray Mann, 1947, conceived the idea of “Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device, which was subsequently issued with a U.S Patent in 1948. Initially, the means of the display were different from one video game to another. While PC games are played on a personal computer with a video monitor of high resolution, a console game is played on an electronic device that is coupled with a composite video monitor or a television set. The arcade game is specifically designed for a particular set of games. Based on methods of playing, game setup, and so on, genres of video games are categorized. New genres of video games emerge as new styles of video games develop. Certainly, the category of video games is a broad one that encompasses a variety of entertainment products.

At present, the video game industry is much more advanced and complex than in its constitutive days. The contemporary video game industry is characterized by sophisticated visual appearance, complex and multilayered story structure, in-depth storytelling, and real-life environment and enhanced interactions. Collective playing is the emerging feature of new genres of video games such as ‘massively multiplayer online role-playing video games. Horror or Action thematic video games, First Person Shooter (FPS) and Role-playing games (RPG) are the major genres of modern video games. All video games are not meant for entertainment. Videogames are extensively used for advertisement, mass propaganda, educational purposes, and virtual training, especially for military and strategic purposes, which are collectively but broadly known as serious games. In brief, the production, distribution, and consumption of video games are increasingly being diversified.

Studying video games involve as many difficulties as the production and usage of video games. Although video games have gained wide popularity, the medium of video games has not been studied or analyzed with the necessary rigor. The academic branch of games studies is yet to be fully established. There is no agreement on the paradigm of game studies. Either the terminology of game studies as a discipline or the meanings of the terms which are commonly in use are not fixed by the game scholars’ community. The very identity of game studies has not yet become distinct. Different scholars describe games in different ways with different vocabulary. Therefore, video game studies have to turn out to be more rhetorical than analytical.