CCT300+LAB+1

Lab #1 Game Studies Espen Aarseth creates an array of points, that compared to today’s strong economical, emotional, sociological and psychological drive from the video game industry, makes you wonder, why academics placed video games aside for over 40 years as a serious area of study. Video games as Aarseth mentions, "combine the aesthetic and the social", multiplayer game arenas are designed beautifully to create a sub-partial reality of and ideal or surreal social interaction with other virtual users. What I mean by this is that Aarseth is correct in saying that multiplayer games cannot compare to television or text. The virtual world allows for players to emotional involve and evolve with characters, maps/worlds, and other players. Some would say that video games have a decrease in social building skill, but think of the hundreds possible thousands of video game players one person can interact with in a single day. The communication is vast between participants and extremely psychological. Aarseth believes aesthetics and the social are integrations of the multiplayer games such as //Quake Arena//. Placing a whole new meaning in audience interaction, the experience is not like a movie where you watch, or a book that you simply read and recreate the book in your head. The enviroment of these games drive people to believe the interactions in the virtual mega world are somewhat real, because one is able to change the outcomes in each gaming session/interaction. It has been a long trek for academics to acknowledge Games in general as a separate form of study as Aarseth point out. However the industry is only growing bigger and bigger every year and the effects are huge. Take for example the recession in the United States (2008,2009), where all markets crashed, yet one industry continued to create profits, yes, the video game industry. This impact should not go un-noted an its prove of the economical, psychological, social interactions that video games have on people. Video games have now become the biggest entertainment industry in North America, therefore Aarseth is right, and the need to study Games separately and in other fields of study is crucial to fully understand its real impact.

Workd Cited Aarseth, Espen. "Editorial, Game Studies 0101." //Game Studies - Issue 1001, 2010//. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Sept. 2010. .