Games Past Present and Future

Games present an excellent opportunity for activism, or social change, particularly within multi-user online virtual worlds. In fact, as we saw in class, this is already happening on a somewhat significant scale. Other things we have seen, like awareness rallies in Second Life, demonstrate the potential for things like this to occur on an even larger scale.

One constraint to this could be access to technology. Although technological literacy is constantly improving in places like Canada and the United States, we rarely hear about how widespread it, and internet access, is in the developing world. Unfortunately, the developing world is where many of the world's major conflicts are ongoing, in places such as Darfur, Sudan or even Myanmar/Burma. While it is great that the internet can help to raise awareness and interest in these issues in Western cultures, it is somewhat disconcerting that access to the internet in the conflict-torn regions can be seriously limited, or even cut off completely.

One of the main benefits of using the internet for activism is the potential to engage a very young, passionate base of concerned people that can use laregly newfound methods of spreading the word. With the rapid spread of things like viral videos, games can become just another pipeline for information to be dispersed throughout the developed world.

In speaking on this topic, I feel like so much of what I say is "potential"; somehow this seems fitting, as I also feel like we are only beginning to reach the potential of the worldwide connection that the internet offers. Whether or not online worlds become further integrated into our mainstream cultures remains to be seen. Therefore, their effectiveness as a tool for social activism is yet to be fully determined.

I was a pretty big fan of video games going into this course, but taking it opened my eyes to many elements of the industry that I simply wasn't aware of. My opinion of games as a whole has definitely changed.

Things I have learned over the past few months:

1) I'm a popular culture major and had no idea of the scope and popularity of the modern MMORPGs and virtual worlds. The interesting thing is that as I became more and more aware of them because of this class, I started to see more about them all around me in the media and news that I was watching and reading. The fact that people can make their living off of virtual real estate and trading virtual goods is a hard concept to even comprehend at this point. It certainly demonstrates that these worlds have the chance to lead all of society in a very new, exciting, and hopefully more inclusive future.

2) Working on my research paper opened my eyes to the overall attitude of the video game industry towards women. Calling it chauvinistic or mysogynistic would be a bit harsh I figure, but there definately needs to be new types of people--namely, a lot more women in influential postitions--injected if the industry wants to work its way out of this historical oversight. As long as the industry is a boy's game, it will continue to produce boy's games.

3) Video Games are no longer just games. They are certainly worthy of study, being just as valid as studying film, television, music or any other form of popular culture. Unfortunately, I don't think much of the general populace sees games as entertainment that can potentially be extremely enriching to one's personal and social lives. The study of gaming might be looked down upon, but video games and virtual worlds, as one of the most innovative, interactive and inclusive forms of media that exists, offer more than just a gaming experience. They relate to how way we see ourselves, the way we spend our time and money, and how we see the world.