Lecture Notes November 3 2015 Video Games Texts Identities Cultures I Games and Identity a Games are unique because they have avatars the person or thing that you are controlling representation of yourself i Games where you can create your own character let you choose how you want to be represented but even within that freedom we are still given limited choices b Avatars and gender i Even non human species have human male and female qualities such as size physical build hegemonic ideals of femininity and masculinity ii Character customization can either be limited or available ex sometimes female characters cannot have certain hair or clothes sometimes there is complete freedom iii Video games are for boys increases the likelihood of a male protagonists c Avatars and race i There are a lot of white brown haired 30 something male protagonists ii Marketers don t think minority games will sell iii It s hard to get their hair right it s about putting in the resources II Games as texts a Reading games i Watch see hear ii Formal elements of movies also exist in games iii Interact decisions you make affect what happens in the game everyone gets a different experience b Games vs other media i The meaning changes ii Can we make moral decisions iii We become more attached to the turnout of the game and the decisions you made c Exploring i Depending on the type of game you can experience it in the way that you choose explore spaces d Play Theory i We enter a magic circle when we play a game a combination of real life and the game ii When we play we re removed from our normal experience but they definitely still have meaning iii Characteristics of play 1 Freedom 2 Not real life 3 Distinct in time and place 4 Creates order civilizes builds culture 5 Connected with no material interests no profit to be gained not work III Games as culture a E Sports b Fans Crafts c Reflected in the media discourse d New music created from game noises