Unit 6: Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products

Violence in Video Games
Most of today's best selling games include violence, and for many years this has caused a lot of controversy. However, there are also positives to playing video games, however the positives are often hidden as the media shows video games in a negative light most of the time. 

Audience Theory

Hypodermic Needle Model
The hypodermic needle model is a method used by the media to send a direct message to the public, that is received and accepted. It is called the hypodermic needle model because it is a way of 'injecting' a message directly into the receiver/recipients. 


The hypodermic needle method is used in the gaming industry, and results in a game having an effect on the player without them thinking too much into the message behind it. An example could be games like DOOM, which centers around it's violence and gun play more than it's story and lore. When someone sees a trailer for DOOM of a gameplay video, they know exactly what is going on and what they're getting in the game; an extremely violent and gory, high octane action game, where to goal is so obliterate hordes of demons.

Uses and Gratification Theory
The Uses and Gratification Theory is a way of understanding why and how people seek out specific media to meet their specific needs. This is useful in the gaming industry and helps developers and publishers find out why people buy certain games, why they play them, and what their motivations are. They can then add things to the game that will help to make it more popular and appealing (achievement/reward system, co-op/online play etc.)

Passive or Active Consumption
Active consumption is when an audience discuss a media message that isn't made strictly clear. People may interpret the message in a different way and have different theories, and they won't be told what to think by that particular form of media. People engage with active consumption when talking about games that have detailed lore and things that aren't made clear in the game.

Passive consumption is when the audience don't question the message that they are being told, and they just accept it. This means that the message is clear and easy to understand. This could be related to games such as Super Mario, where the objective and story is very clear. The Princess has been kidnapped by Bowser and you have to rescue her.

Effects Debate

Exposure To Sexual or Violent Content
Are under 18's really affected by violent and sexual content? Should parents try their best to stop their children from viewing explicit material?

In some extreme cases, it has been argued that violent content, especially video games, can turn people into murderers. There have been tragedies related to video games, such as the murder of 14 year old Stephan Pakeerah. He was stabbed repeatedly and beaten by his older friend Warren. The media and Stephan's parents heavily blamed the Rockstar game 'Manhunt' for the tragic events, as it was apparently found in Warrens room. Along with Jack Thompson, an american attorney who was fighting against violent video games, they failed to sue Rockstar and Sony as they didn't see a connection between the murder and the game. It was also discovered later that the game was found in Stephan's room, not Warrens. This is a good example of the media twisting the truth to show video games in a negative light.

Personally, I disagree about video games being the sole reason for creating murders. They CAN influence people and play a small part, but they are usually deliberately shown in negative light. I think most gamers feel the same way. People like Jack Thompson that go against games and think they are the only thing behind teen violence don't actually know much about games or understand how gamers feel.

Violent and sexual media does change our behavior in some ways though. As we take in more of it, we become desensitized, and what we see doesn't shock us as much as it did when we first experienced it. This was proven in a 2015 episode of Horizon, where they talked about violent video games and if they are as bad as people make them out to be. The majority of people who played a violent game were less stressed when watching a clip or real life, graphic violence, than the people who played a non violent video game. I can agree with this since I am a gamer myself. I have played so many violent games that I don't feel any sort of emotion when gunning someone down in a game (unless it's an important character in a story driven game.) However, playing games hasn't completely desensitized me to real world violence. I don't like seeing real violence and I can still become disturbed or stressed from seeing it. This is because I know the difference between a game and reality. Lots of other people do too, but some people may fail to see it. 


The Effects of Playing Games

Negatives

http://www.contentedwriter.com/impact-of-computer-games-on-society/

Concerns such as excess playing time

When gamers play too much, people such as parents become concerned. This is because games can affect your health, performance in school and your social life. An example of this was when a 32 year old male was found dead in a Taiwanese internet café following a 3 day gaming session. This followed the death of another male gamer who died after a 5 day gaming binge.

Social Isolation

Social isolation links in with excessive playing time, and when people play games too much, they stop making contact with friends and family and end up spending a lot of time alone. This is known as social isolation. 

Cost

New games are released all the time, and occasionally new consoles are released. This puts pressure on parents because their children will want the newly released products. It also puts pressure on gamers in general because they may feel like they need to upgrade their consoles, games and peripherals frequently. As well as spending money on the games, people also have to pay for their internet and electricity etc.

Separation from reality

Some gamers become so immersed in their games that they think they are part of the virtual world. This can be enjoyable for some people, but in some cases normally passive individuals become violent. Some people have even committed murders in the form of actions seen in games that they had been playing. Games should be for enjoyment, and if they begin to take over someone’s life, it can be seen as a problem.

Performance decrease in education and the workplace
Video games have been known to distract people from important real world things, such as education and work. Playing games excessively can cause people to sleep less, resulting in them being more tired and performing worse in school or at work. Students have even ended up dropping out of education and have been left with lots of unpaid fees and debt. 

Positives
 Video games don't just have a negative impact on peoples lives. In fact, they can also benefit people in lots of ways.

Hand-eye Coordination
 Playing fast paced action games that require precision aim can improve hand-eye coordination. This is because you are relying on your fingers to hit the correct buttons while your vision is focused on the screen. Fast paced games can also improve your reflexes, and how you adapt to your surroundings. Simulation games have become fairly advanced and realistic, and are actually used to train people such as pilots and surgeons.

Thinking Skills 
Strategy games improve thinking skills, allowing the players to analyze their situation and react to it faster in game and in the real world. They can also help people to think outside the box more often and find different solutions to their problems.

Social Skills 
Most gamers play online games, and talk to strangers online. This can lead to peoples confidence improving and help them be more comfortable around people they don't know very well. Good relationships can also be made online, and while you won't get to talk face to face, I still think online relationships can be very important. Lots of people end up meeting their online friends somewhere down the line.

Brain Training
Games can be a more effective and fun way of learning things rather than the traditional classroom learning methods. Games give players direct feedback and can feel very rewarding, which gives learners motivation and a more open mind towards learning things.

Should Video Games Be Censored?
Maybe a good way of reducing the violence in games would be to censor them. Change dialogue to remove explicit language, remove certain scenes from the game, etc. Video game censorship is something that happens, and is something that can be both negative and positive. For the most part, me and most gamers believe that games are similar to other forms of media in that they are an art form. Violence and gore in games often plays a huge role in making the player feel certain emotions. If violence has a meaning behind it and is important to the game, developers should have every right to include it in their game. The people that agree with censoring are usually adults who are against violent games all together, and would prefer them to not be sold at all (Jack Thompson.)

However, it seems that when censoring does occur, it is usually for other reasons. A good example is the censoring in Japanese games that are also sold in America and other countries. Japanese culture is quite different to the culture of western countries, and it's RPG's usually involve female characters in revealing clothing. Things like that are usually changed in the western versions of these games. This is another topic that people are split on. There are lots of gamers in the western world that get irritated at this censoring. Why should it be allowed in Japan but not in their country? Similar to the violence and gore, if the developer wants a character to look that way, it is up to them, and changing it is infringing on their creative freedom. A character with revealing clothing may not necessarily mean that there is sexually explicit content in the game, for example.

Survey Results
 We conducted a survey about violence in video games and the effects it has on teens. We got 20 responses in total.


1. What is your gender?
1 person answered female and 19 answered male.

2. How old are you?
1 person answered 14 or under, 6 people answered 15 to 17, and 13 people answered 18+.

3. How old were you when your first played and 18+ game?
11 people answered 10-12, 5 people answered 13-15, 2 people answered 16-18 and 0 people answered 19+.

4. How many hours a week do you spend playing games?
The average amount of hours per week was 21 across all 20 responses. 

5. Do you play competitive games? If so, how competitive do you get?
The majority of people (about 11) said that they are fairly competitive when it comes to online games. 

6. What genres of violent video games do you play?
6 people answered fighting games, 18 people answered shoot em' ups, 9 answered horror games, 15 answered stealth, 15 answered survival, and 8 answered other.

7. Do you get frustrated at video games?
17 people answered yes, and 3 answered no.

8. Do you think that violent games affect your mentality when playing other types of games?
9 answered yes, 11 answered no.

9. Has a violent scene in a game every shocked you or caused distress?
7 answered yes, 13 answered no.

10. How do you feel about violence in video games?
The majority of people said that they don't have a problem with video game violence, and that they can tell the difference between virtual and real world violence. 

Conclusion
Video game violence if often blamed for tragic events and for making teens more aggressive. While this technically has been proven, it is not completely true. Whether a video game affects someone mentally varies from person to person, and their mental state before hand should be factored in. Most gamers know the difference between virtual and real world violence, and react differently/have different emotions when exposed to them. Most gamers love violent games, and will continue to play them because of this.

Object Oriented Design - Assignment 1

Concepts and Principles
Concepts and principles relates to useful things you can do while working on a project. Some of these things are...

Simplified Understanding - Trying to make things easier to understand. For example, if you were creating a blueprint in Unreal Engine for the function of a gun, you would try to make the blueprint easy to understand. This is important for the games we are creating, because it will make it easier for our tutors to understand it when they mark our work. This could also be useful if you're working professionally and need to share things with your colleagues. 

Unreal blueprint.

Reusability, Efficiency, Maintenance - When creating a game, you will have to create assets. Assets are essentially objects, sounds or 2D sprites that will go into your game. In some cases, you could reuse assets. Keep them the same or change them a bit. This links in with the next two categories which are efficiency and maintenance. If you reuse assets, you are being more efficient and making the process easier for yourself. Also, if you have perfected something (such as a blueprint) and you reuse it, you won't have to maintain it much or tweak it, which also saves time.

Real-World Modelling (RWM) - If you're making a game, you will typically want some things in the game to work the same way as they would in real life, an example of this is gravity and physics. This is basically what RWM is, making sure that things in your game are realistic, and match with the real world. Obviously some games deliberately go against real laws of physics and other things, so RWM isn't always necessary. 

Collaboration and Sharing, Communication - Assets and other things related to your project can be shared with people you're working with. For my Killer Klowns game I am working in a group with Josh and Kori, and we have each been working on different assets. Since we are working together we will be sharing assets and using them in our levels. I have been working on weapons, and Josh and Kori have been working on Klowns/character models. Working on different things helps with efficiency and is one of the perks of working in a group. This is also links in with communication, which is very important if you are working in a group. You need to share ideas and help each other out. 

Quality Assurance - Games need to be of high quality, especially if you are planning on selling them. 


Game Objects
Game objects relates to assets and other things that you put in your game. Some of these things are...

Sprites - Sprites are 2D images that are used in games. They can be characters, scenery, objects etc. 

A sprite from Terraria

Characters - Characters are the people within the game. Some games have a very detailed characters with lots of backstory, others have anonymous characters that the player doesn't know much about.

The boy from 'INSIDE.' An example of a character we don't know much about.

Weapons - Weapons are used for attacking enemies, or so that the enemies can attack you. Different games have different types of weapons. Call of Duty uses guns, but games like Skyrim use melee and magic spells.

Casting a spell in Skyrim.

Rooms - A room is the name used for a game level, which is like a giant room. The player enters from the previous level, completes the new level and then leaves to enter a new room. Rooms would most likely be separated by loading screens.

Walls - Walls are used to contain the player and other characters within the level. They won't always be shown as a normal wall, and could be shown as giant mountains around the level that the player can't get past. There are also things known as 'invisible walls' which are walls the player can't see. These can be very annoying if used incorrectly but they can also make a level look nicer.

Scenery - Scenery includes things like buildings, foliage, mountains etc. Some games such as Battlefield have destructible environments, which react to how the players act during the match. If a player shoots rapidly into a wall, it will be permanently damaged for the rest of the match. Buildings and vehicles can also be completely destroyed. 

A destroyed building in Battlefield 3.

Instances - A game instance is a separate, private area that you enter to complete a specific task. For example, in a game like World of Warcraft, you and your party may enter an instance to fight a boss as a group, with no other players. 

Rewards - Games can reward players by giving them achievements or in game unlocks for completing certain tasks. For example, the recently released game Resident Evil 7 has rewards for the player finishing the game within a certain time and by completing the game on the highest difficulty. The player can get things such as infinite ammo by completing these tasks.

Power-Ups - Power-Ups are items you can pick up in games that give you a brief buff (stat increase.) A well known example is the Star item from the Mario games. It gives Mario brief invincibility and increased speed, so you can run into enemies and instantly kill them.  

Mario invincibility star.

Object Properties

Colour - The colour of the object. This might change if it takes damage. Colour can be used to make things stand out, such as collectables. 

Size - The size of the object. This could also change during gameplay. E.g. Mario. If he takes damage after eating a mushroom he gets smaller.

Speed - How fast the object moves. Might get faster if it picks up a power-up/buff.

Movement - How the object moves in the game.

Sounds - The sounds the object makes.

Health - Health basically shows how many hits you can take before you die. It is typically shown as a red bar that depletes as you take damage. In some games such as Call of Duty, there isn't any health bar and instead blood appears on the screen when you take damage. The more blood on the screen, the lower your health is. In modern games health usually regenerates over time, but in games like Quake you have to pick up health packs.

Modern Warfare 2 low health indicator.

Lives - Lives show the amount of times you can die on a level before you have to restart it from the beginning. Mario is a good example of this. In the middle of a level you get a check point, if you die after that you respawn at the check point. However, if you die too many times and run out the lives, Mario will be sent back to the world map and will have to do the level again from the very beginning. 

Mario x 3 lives.

Actions and Events

Mouse and Keyboard Events - A mouse and keyboard event is something you add to a game that allows the player to play the game. For moving forward, you'd add and event and assign it to the W key. When the player enters the game and presses W, their character will move forward. 

Create - When an object/something is created in the game.

Destroy - When something is destroyed in the game, and example of this is Minecraft, where everything can be destroyed.

Collision - Collision stops objects from going through each other, and makes things solid. If you put a wall around a level you need to make sure that it has collision events with the characters, otherwise people will be able to walk out of the level. The same applies for most objects. Without collision levels wouldn't function properly at all.

Timers - Timers are used for timed events within the game (countdowns etc.)

Scoring - As the player kills enemies in a game, their score will increase. Score puts a player higher up on the leaderboards or could give them certain rewards/achievements.

Inheritance

Parent/Child - A parent object is a main object that you create. To be more efficient you can duplicate this object instead of creating another from scratch. The duplicated object is known as the 'child.'

Inherited Behaviours and Properties - Features that the parent and child object share.

Overriding Events - An overriding event is when and object has to react to a change in the game world. E.g. a bullet going into someone and creating a hole.