Lecture Week 10 - Video Games

This weeks lecture was all about video games!!! Not that I am a gamer myself but a lecture about games? Decidedly more interesting than any other of my subjects at the moment, even if the lecture is at the ungodly hour of 8am....

So, up until 2005 it was widely believed that 80% of gamers were 18-25 year old males.


After 2005 someone thought it might be a good idea to actually do some more research on the subject and surprise surprise, they found that things had changed...


Current statistics show that the demographics of todays gamers are;
59% 18-40 year old males
41% females

What?! Females play videogames?!?!?!?!? Was the general reaction. But if you look at the wide variety of video games & consoles that are available at the moment including the Wii, Wii fit, Eye Toy, Singstar, Buzz, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, DS etc, you can see that many of these are specifically targeting a female audience.

Videogames are an interesting field to study as they encompass so many different forms of media. These include;

• PC Games (mostly played by men)
• Console Games
• Online Games (online communities are starting to become more popular with women)
• Arcade Games
• Mobile Gaming (mostly played by women)

There is also a large variety of different genres games can be

• First person shooter (mostly males)
• Strategy (mostly males)
• Puzzle (mostly females)
• Fitness (mostly females)

Some people (like our lecturor, don't like playing video games as they are too similar to real life. Similar to real life, many games require you to put in alot of time & effort to

• find out what the objectives are
• find out how to achieve them
• figure out how to use the controls
• then work, earn money & slowly learn how to win at the game

Another interesting fact was that studies show that gamers can have special skills. These include

• improvement in short term memory
• superior dexterity
• increaced periferal vision
• ability to make split second decisions

Another interesting point was that the importance to the gamer of finishing the game increases with age. For example, children just enjoy playing the game, they don't care so much about wining or completing the game. However as gamers get older, the importance of achievement in the game becomes more important.


There are three main ways you can study video games;

• Social Sciences Approach - looks at the effects games have on people eg increased levels of violence?
• Humanities Approach - studies the meaning & context of games and considers them to be artifacts or mediums of art. Its also interested in the narratives that feature heavily in many games.
• Industry & Engineering Approach - interested in the development of games and new technologies.