Apocalypse postponed: Discourses on video games from noxious objects to redemptive devices

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Standard

Apocalypse postponed: Discourses on video games from noxious objects to redemptive devices. / Carbone, Marco Benoit; Ruffino, Paolo .
In: GAME : the Italian journal of game studies, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2012.

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Harvard

APA

Vancouver

Bibtex

@article{30463b401b9e4a1ca46a7149f2b5d48c,
title = "Apocalypse postponed: Discourses on video games from noxious objects to redemptive devices",
abstract = "Over the last decade, a new narrative has emerged in favour of the medium of the video game. Games are now being described as a series of practices which improve our mental and physical skills (see Johnson, 2005, or the marketing and reception of Nintendo{\textquoteright}s 2007 game Wii Fit); they are targeted to a mature audience, and are no more associated with antisocial teenagers (see Prensky, 2006); they are capable of unprecedented aesthetic achievements (see the reception of games like Rockstar Games{\textquoteright} 2011 L.A. Noire); and their consumption allegedly reveals a seemingly never-ending user growth, making them a globalized, pivotal media for the solution of social and political issues on the scale of the whole planet (McGonigal, 2011).Such a narrative does not match the description we got used to. Video games used to be noxious objects, encouraging antisocial behaviour and constituting a danger for the health. They could even frame the minds of potential serial killers, as in the Columbine case. They used to be aesthetically poor experiences and confined, for their consumption, in the arcades or in the teenager{\textquoteright}s bedrooms.In this paper we will highlight some examples of how the descriptions of video games have changed in terms of alleged positive or negative effects for the individual and society, with reference to health, psychological and cognitive aspects, and cultural and aesthetic relevance.We argue that many of the new discourses on games as positive media are not more fair and lucid than those that ostracised video games in the past. It is however worth asking how these discourses emerge and are structured, despite their inconsistencies, as they reflect wider trends of spontaneous consensus between industries, audiences and institutions, and make us aware of the risks that the critical function of research may be distorted by such trends.",
keywords = "Media and communication studies, Science of art, Culture and Space, Digital media, Sociology",
author = "Carbone, {Marco Benoit} and Paolo Ruffino",
year = "2012",
language = "English",
volume = "1",
journal = "GAME : the Italian journal of game studies",
issn = "2280-7705",
publisher = "GAME",
number = "1",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Apocalypse postponed

T2 - Discourses on video games from noxious objects to redemptive devices

AU - Carbone, Marco Benoit

AU - Ruffino, Paolo

PY - 2012

Y1 - 2012

N2 - Over the last decade, a new narrative has emerged in favour of the medium of the video game. Games are now being described as a series of practices which improve our mental and physical skills (see Johnson, 2005, or the marketing and reception of Nintendo’s 2007 game Wii Fit); they are targeted to a mature audience, and are no more associated with antisocial teenagers (see Prensky, 2006); they are capable of unprecedented aesthetic achievements (see the reception of games like Rockstar Games’ 2011 L.A. Noire); and their consumption allegedly reveals a seemingly never-ending user growth, making them a globalized, pivotal media for the solution of social and political issues on the scale of the whole planet (McGonigal, 2011).Such a narrative does not match the description we got used to. Video games used to be noxious objects, encouraging antisocial behaviour and constituting a danger for the health. They could even frame the minds of potential serial killers, as in the Columbine case. They used to be aesthetically poor experiences and confined, for their consumption, in the arcades or in the teenager’s bedrooms.In this paper we will highlight some examples of how the descriptions of video games have changed in terms of alleged positive or negative effects for the individual and society, with reference to health, psychological and cognitive aspects, and cultural and aesthetic relevance.We argue that many of the new discourses on games as positive media are not more fair and lucid than those that ostracised video games in the past. It is however worth asking how these discourses emerge and are structured, despite their inconsistencies, as they reflect wider trends of spontaneous consensus between industries, audiences and institutions, and make us aware of the risks that the critical function of research may be distorted by such trends.

AB - Over the last decade, a new narrative has emerged in favour of the medium of the video game. Games are now being described as a series of practices which improve our mental and physical skills (see Johnson, 2005, or the marketing and reception of Nintendo’s 2007 game Wii Fit); they are targeted to a mature audience, and are no more associated with antisocial teenagers (see Prensky, 2006); they are capable of unprecedented aesthetic achievements (see the reception of games like Rockstar Games’ 2011 L.A. Noire); and their consumption allegedly reveals a seemingly never-ending user growth, making them a globalized, pivotal media for the solution of social and political issues on the scale of the whole planet (McGonigal, 2011).Such a narrative does not match the description we got used to. Video games used to be noxious objects, encouraging antisocial behaviour and constituting a danger for the health. They could even frame the minds of potential serial killers, as in the Columbine case. They used to be aesthetically poor experiences and confined, for their consumption, in the arcades or in the teenager’s bedrooms.In this paper we will highlight some examples of how the descriptions of video games have changed in terms of alleged positive or negative effects for the individual and society, with reference to health, psychological and cognitive aspects, and cultural and aesthetic relevance.We argue that many of the new discourses on games as positive media are not more fair and lucid than those that ostracised video games in the past. It is however worth asking how these discourses emerge and are structured, despite their inconsistencies, as they reflect wider trends of spontaneous consensus between industries, audiences and institutions, and make us aware of the risks that the critical function of research may be distorted by such trends.

KW - Media and communication studies

KW - Science of art

KW - Culture and Space

KW - Digital media

KW - Sociology

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 1

JO - GAME : the Italian journal of game studies

JF - GAME : the Italian journal of game studies

SN - 2280-7705

IS - 1

ER -

Recently viewed

Publications

  1. Arbeit
  2. Efficacy an online Recreation training for employees affected by symptoms of insomnia
  3. Handball in Stundenbildern
  4. Setting the agenda for climate assemblies. Trade-offs and guiding principles
  5. "Sie und Er" interdisziplinär, hrsg.von U. Krebs; J. Forster
  6. Praktizierte Wissenschaftsgeschichte als Einführung
  7. On the allozyme differentiation of Carabus punctatoauratus Germar (Coleoptera, Carabidae)
  8. Postkoloniale Perspektiven auf 'weltwärts'
  9. Das Paradigma vom Staatsaufbau ist gescheitert - wie nun weiter?
  10. Wie führen Schulleitungen?
  11. A journey worth taking
  12. Logistik-Leitstände in Industrieunternehmen
  13. Visitor studies in Germany
  14. Verlust, Abschied und Trost
  15. Verbesserung des deutschen Corporate-Governance-Systems durch eine Kompetenzerweiterung von Prüfungsausschüssen des Aufsichtsrats?
  16. Innovative Business Models for Offshore Wind Energy
  17. Komik
  18. Teacher Trainees' Well-Being - The Role of Personal Resources
  19. Professionalisierung in und für Evaluationen
  20. Das Prinzip des Integrativen Gendering und Diversity - Ausgangspunkt und Entwicklungspfade
  21. Maler und Modell - eine kultivierte Beziehung
  22. Fazit: Wie hacken?
  23. Variability in leaf traits reveals contrasting strategies between forest and grassland woody communities across southern Brazil
  24. Die Aktion "Darauf fahr' ich ab ..."
  25. Interculturally Wired, Locally Connected
  26. Fördert Umverteilung die Existenzgründung?
  27. Scattered Attacks
  28. Zehn Jahre European Data Watch
  29. BGH: Unzulässigkeit von Tonträger-Sampling bei Möglichkeit eigener Einspielung
  30. Kultur-Evolution: Partizipation und Nachhaltigkeit
  31. Mediale Teilhabe in Technologien relationaler Verschaltung
  32. Evaluation und Feedback der Lehrkräfte
  33. Fluchtpunkt Humanentwicklung