video games and pop culture

Video Games and Pop Culture

Dr. Ibrahim Yucel

History of Games

•Interactive mediums and games have always be part of human culture. Why is this?

Take Tic-Tac-Toe for Example

What does this game actually teach? Why to children play it?

Game Design and Learning meet up

• I agree with Ralph Koster and his theory of “Fun”- that Fun is a state of learning– Very similar to

“Flow” [Chen,]• Games are

designed to reach this state

Interests LearningFun

Games Required People

With the exception of solitaire.The rules of solitaire have enough variety of play to keep it interesting.

But what if we had enough rules?

• If we have enough ideas about “how” a game could be played, we could then make an AI for it, and have a computer play with us

AI Shortcomings

• Meaning• Complexity of

states• Personality• Learning

Games provide good testing frameworks

Games are “Magic circles” as Huizinga puts it, that is to say that exist disconnected from reality, constructed with their own rules and consequences.

Interactive Narration without a storyteller

Being able to create narratives based on input

First Video GamesMilitary and flight

simulators- Which then continued

on PCs

Consoles

The NES

• Marks the end of the Industry crash in the 80s.

• The latter arrival of the Sega Genesis marks the starts of “Console Wars”

Move to Disk media

• CDs provided more space– This space could then be used to create

better visuals and sound at the cost of load times

– Cheaper to reproduce

Casual Revolution

• Flash games• Social networks• Wii, Move, Kinnect

Influence in Pop Culture

Hardcore counter movement- Retro Style

• Difficultly seen as a better quality• Use of sprite art• Attempts to define “gamers”

Censorship and GamesCountries that have at lease

one banned game

AustraliaBrazilCanadaPeople's Republic of ChinaCubaFranceGermanyGreeceIrelandItalyJapan

MalaysiaMexicoNew ZealandNorwayRussiaSaudi ArabiaSingaporeSouth KoreaThailandUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomVenezuela

Final Thoughts

• Has games Achieved its “Citizen Cane?• Will we see Mature games? What does

mature mean in this context?• Gamification of other fields