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
Interests
Fun
Learning
• 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
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 Games
Military 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 Games
Countries that have at lease
one banned game
Australia
Brazil
Canada
People's Republic of China
Cuba
France
Germany
Greece
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Malaysia
Mexico
New Zealand
Norway
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
South Korea
Thailand
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
Venezuela
Final Thoughts
• Has games Achieved its “Citizen Cane?
• Will we see Mature games? What does
mature mean in this context?
• Gamification of other fields