Video Games And The Video Game Industry

The network effects in the video game industry are derived from the console system that is sold to consumers. If a company is able to increase penetration in this arena, though at-cost/ below-cost pricing or pull created through the development of desirable content, it can potentially lock in the added value of the video games sold for the system. Which is to say, the console locks-in the network effects in the industry and the games serve to reap the profits. The video games, however, may present something of a challenge in that they can be somewhat easily replicated by competitors. Nintendo used an encrypted chip system to reduce this possibility.

Sadly, the gaming industry has been criticized for lacking complex characterization, especially when it comes to female characters. While this complaint is valid, and it cannot be denied that there is a surplus of overly sexualized one dimensional female characters in gaming, the industry has begun moving away from

In the last 30 year the video game industry has vastly changed. From pixelated games to having 3D graphics. From going to the arcade and using a quarter for paying games to having a microphone to talk to friends from around the world. While there are many differences there are also many similarities.

This study researches the potential effects on children by the use of gender representations and violence within popular video games. Outlined by the study of symbolic interactionism, the research questions the line between the representation of males and females, as well as how prominent violent topics are in games. These themes combined are used in order to hypothesize possible implications on young boys and girls.

According to several sources around 42% of the American population plays video games, and around 1.2 billion people worldwide play video games today. Gaming has become an increasingly more popular hobby since its creation. As such the medium has obviously attracted a multitude of different people and groups, all consisting of diverse backgrounds, body types, sexes, races, nationalities and the like. However, contrary to the numerous demographics video games have come to attract, it is very evident the vast majority of them do not seem to be marketed toward many of them via game characters, and their importance, if any, in a game. Video games show an overwhelming amount of white male characters, despite the many demographics they reach. Of the characters that are not white, or male, that are represented, are often represented poorly. For example, many black characters represented in video games are often characterized as vulgar, and violent. Women represented in games are often characterized as support characters, or objects of sexual desire. Considering forms of sexism, racism, and other such types of prejudices are still prominent in modern society, and these representations obviously do not help how people see these marginalized groups. Ultimately, these representations, or lack thereof, affect people in society in a number of ways, by perpetuating prejudice and harmful stereotypes.

In most video games, you will see that most female characters, if there are any in the game, are animated to be big breasted voluptuous women. A content analysis of images of video game characters from top-selling American gaming magazines showed that female characters are more likely than male characters to be portrayed as sexualized at a ratio of 60:1 (Dill 2). Games such as Soul Caliber and Tomb Raider are known for their display of female characters. Their female characters are on the top 10 list of the most ridiculous female bodies in video games. Common stereotypes of women include that they are whiney, wimpy, and needy.

The video game industry thrives on its consumers, and creators are always trying to please their targeted audience. Because of this, audiences for many games are established and categorized by gender. Game creators then do whatever it takes to please their intended audience. This can lead to gender stereotyping, and often results in the sexual objectification of women. Many games portray female characters as highly sexualized objects, most likely to attract the attention of their intended male consumers. In order to decrease the ways women are objectified through such video games, the gaming industry needs to stop perpetuating gender stereotypes.

When you think of the average gamer who comes to mind? On television you probably see some over-weight and unemployed guy who is living in the basement of his parents’ house. The visual discourse in this is that only males are gaming “nerds” and that there is no place in the field for women. The group called The Fine Young Capitalists (TFYC) try to change that narrative with a contest of their own allowing women to create their own ideas for games. Some disturbing contradictions came out of their mission, and it was criticized by game developer Zoë Quinn.

Carrie Reinhard asserts that women do not feel comfortable playing as hypersexualized female protagonists in video games, because the video game industry provides "characters modeling a body they cannot achieve, more an object for the male gaze than female empowerment (Reinhard. 6)."Personally, seeing "the sunflower with the big breasts" did not encourage me to feel empowered. I felt weak and insecure because of the stereotypes of women that are illuminated within video games. Video games represent women as a typical damsel in distress, whereas men are viewed as the hero (Brenick et. al. 3). Although, providing female protagonists in video games were supposed to appeal to more women, it subsequently discouraged women from playing video games.

Gender disparity in video games is a topic that both scholars and major gaming icons have discussed before. However, the topic recently resurfaced with the upsurging population of female gamers. The integration of females was a spectacle that caused a massive culture shock. Many members of the gaming community were unsure how to handle the change and took to discriminating females. While discrimination may seem unimportant, many scholars and icons believe it is a prominent factor of gender disparity: an environment which typically favors males, a hostile or “toxic” atmosphere, and repeated stereotypes all manifest certain behaviors of both genders that can cause a disparity to grow. Although some sources claim gender disparity is evident in gaming as a whole, others insist the novelty of female discrimination in video games is less prominent due to a more leveled percentage of male-to-females in gaming. However, both agreed that the competitive gaming community is a different story. Time and time again the competitive gaming community was mentioned for its exclusion of women due to biased and misogynistic members who sexualize and degrade females. These members believe women are inferiors that encroach on their territory with unskilled and seductive natures. Therefore, for the females in the gaming community, their actions will shape the future of women in the competitive gaming community. The change in female treatment is detrimental to gender disparity. Not only because

The portrayal of men and women in video games, as in other media, is a subject of research in gender studies. This topics is discuss in terms of sexism in video gaming. Especially, women are underrepresented or use as objectification in mainstream games. Women in video games are generally, as a rule of thumb, killed, raped, abused or rescued by the male heroes. This is extremely sad to see because the role of women in society is changing compare to ten years ago. Women has been proven themselves to be stronger and tough in different fields such as sports, politics, education but the representation hasn’t change.

Sexual depictions of women in console advertisements have been circulating in the gaming industry for roughly 40 years since Computer Space, a coin operated arcade game, was released. It was the first commercially sold video game (Edwards, 2011, para 1), and its advertisement features a scantily clad woman standing passively beside a game cabinet (figure 3). Over the course of the 80’s and the 90’s, this style of advertisement became more common, until it was one of the most prevalent styles of console marketing (figure 4, 5, 6, 7). Though the ads feature different women posing with different games, they all share the same core concept of sexually posing a woman with the product.

"The task of learning to be properly gendered members of society only begins with the establishment of gender identity" (Aaron Devor). The uniqueness of an individual will help an individual stand out more in society. Do you play video games? Is the video game content appropriate for the everyday teenager? According to PewResearch Internet Project, "The gaming life is 97% of American youth, 12-17 years of age. Nearly every teenager plays on a computer, console, portable or cell phone game, and half of teens play on any given day, usually for about an hour or more. Three girls mentioned that gaming is not just the domain for boys. 94% of teen girls play games, as do 99% of boys" (Amanda Lenhart, Joseph Kahne, Ellen Middaugh, Alexandra Macgill, Chris Evans and Jessica Vitak). Having read this, I completely agree. I have a sixteen year old brother who plays video games for three to four hours a day. As soon as he gets home from school, he goes straight to playing his video games. Designing a video game takes lots of patience and time. The first step of designing a game is designing the content and rules. After this is completed, the game then goes to the pre-production step. The design of a video game needs imaginative and mechanical ability and good writing abilities. Designers, just like the director of a movie, will experiment with different genres. The game designer will produce the first game proposal, which contains gameplay, setting and story, budget estimates, etc.

Since the video game console industry had a narrow focus, the entire gaming industry was used for this scenario planning exercise. The environmental scan focused mainly on the competitive aspect and left out many external factors. In order to give adequate attention to the external environment, a PESTEL analysis was conducted. This helped determine external factors that the gaming industry faced that were not in control of a single company, or their competitors.

Companies that sell the products order in large amounts in order to keep the suppliers happy