THE EYES OF EMPIRE. Communications & Media Coursework

Video Games
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Video games are the latest technological development in the entertainment industry. This form of entertainment is refreshing and engaging, owing to how they are developed. It is popular with youths who are enthusiastic about technology. These games often depict the typical lives that we go through daily. Wark (2009) in The Gamer equates life with a game that does not give us options because we face it as it is. This essay relates computer games with real-life and gives their relational significance.
Video games explore social and political dynamics in real life. Developers of video games collect ideas from the daily happenings in the world. Players often find a typical video game experience complete with all the social and political reflections ("Play – Mission US," 2020). For example, the game Animal Crossing presents a challenging scenario where a player needs money to survive (Bogost, 2008). In the game, the player needs to upgrade to the next level which needs money continuously. To get the money, the players have to work hard in the game's set up. This is typical of the real society where people have to work hard to earn daily survival. People who work harder get a little bit more money that makes them live a better life. A scenario the game Animal Crossing presents.
Political dynamics are apparent in the collaboration between Hollywood and the US military in the production of movies like the Act of Valour ("Listening Post - Feature: The Pentagon's grip on Hollywood," 2012). Pentagon has collaborated with Hollywood to produce war-oriented movies as a PR stunt. From the feature story published by Al Jazeera on their YouTube channel, the Movie received a perfect response upon its release attracting double the production cost within two weeks. The film described the secrets of how armed forces operate hence attracting people who want to know what goes on in the military. In most cases, such scenes as those of the military operations are represented in video games. People often relate to the games when they are playing, and the player personalizes the challenges they face while playing. Some people even become emotional when they lose in a video game because it feels like they have lost in real life. The narrator in the video file SWT: This War of Mine explains how players feel when they lose a game ("SWT: This War of Mine," 2014). It shows how people feel when they face a situation, and they fail.
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