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Rise of the Video Game
Posted by Ernest Miller on Tuesday, April 09 @ 08:51:18 EDT News
The New York Times (reg. req.) had a number of interesting articles this weekend about video games. It may be a phenomena little noticed outside of the 14-24 yr-old demographic, but video games are becoming an increasingly important element of our culture. Even today, sales of video games equal Hollywood's box office. More importantly, the social aspects of video games are creating a truly new art form. Persistent worlds and network connectivity are changing the way we interact with copyrighted works in truly unique ways. How the law will handle the new cases that will inevitably result remains to be seen. An op-ed focuses on the creative, world-building/simulation games (such as The Sims) that sell far more copies than the much more hyped violence-oriented games (Games People Play on Computers). The Times also runs an article that makes the case for the op-ed by focusing on an amusing, if violent, riot simulation called State of Emergency (Rage Against the Machine (When Any Rage Will Do)). There is also an article on the ongoing tension in gaming between better graphical and physical realism vs. the fundamentals of game play, i.e. why the simplicity of a game like Tetris is often more compelling than the latest 3D rendered adventure (Realism May Be Taking the Fun Out of Games). The article is a simplistic, but a decent introduction to the long-running debate, which periodically resurfaces as more advanced hardware increases graphic possibilities. Slashdot readers debate the issue (Is Realism Destroying Video Games?). If you are interested in some of the impact these games are already having, Prof. Edward Castronova of the economics department at Cal State Fullerton has written an analysis of the real world economics involved in the online game Everquest, determing that the gross national product per capita is $2,266, bigger than China's and just below Russia's (Virtual Worlds: A First-Hand Account of Market and Society on the Cyberian Frontier). Read the BBC News summation (Virtual kingdom richer than Bulgaria).
 
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Related Links
· New York Times
· The Sims
· Games People Play on Computers
· State of Emergency
· Rage Against the Machine (When Any Rage Will Do)
· Realism May Be Taking the Fun Out of Games
· Slashdot
· Is Realism Destroying Video Games?
· Edward Castronova
· economics department
· Cal State Fullerton
· Everquest
· Virtual Worlds: A First-Hand Account of Market and Society on the Cyberian Frontier
· BBC News
· Virtual kingdom richer than Bulgaria
· More about News
· News by Ernest Miller


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