Caught in the war against gambling: A critical analysis of law history and policy making in video games in Greece

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elina Roinioti
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Royal Decree ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Policy History ◽  
Global Game ◽  
Gambling Regulation ◽  
Game Industry ◽  
Flexible Funding

The advent of the video game industry brought about new cultural policies in both the national and international levels. In particular, incentives and flexible funding programmes for the production of video games have become a key pillar of support for small, domestic, but also global game companies. In Greece, video game policy history has followed the developments and legal entanglements of gambling regulation, with serious national and international consequences. From the Royal Decree of 1971 to Law 3037/2002 that banned all games in public and private places until the most recent Law 4487/2017, which established a cash rebate scheme for audio-visual productions, this article aims to analyse Greece’s video game policy-making as captured through scattered laws, media articles and personal testimonies.

Patriarchy in play: Video games as gendered media ecologies

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-212
Author(s):  
Jennifer Jenson ◽  
Suzanne de Castell
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Media Ecology ◽  
First Century ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Feminist Perspectives ◽  
Game Industry ◽  
Hostile Environments

Videogames are a dominant cultural, economic and creative medium in the twenty-first century, whose varied ecologies are increasingly recognized as particularly hostile environments to those identifying or identified as women. These ecologies include those encoded and enacted within the virtual environments of digital games, across the spectrum of those ecologies materially inhabited in games education, game cultures and, paradigmatically, the video game industry. In June 2020, top videogame maker Ubisoft saw high ranking employees resign from the company as accounts went public on Twitter and in mainstream media of sexual harassment, abuse and other misconduct at the company being covered up and ignored. But this is by no means the first public revelation of sexual harassment and discriminatory injustices directed at women who develop and play games: many will recall the vitriolic online hate movement #gamergate. Despite the familiarity of these tropes, we seem to ‘rediscover’ every few years or so that making and playing video games can present toxic environments for women. Drawing on feminist perspectives that understand how videogames have been a gendered, primarily masculine, domain, this article proposes that a topographical view, one specifically attuned to examining gender through a media ecology lens, can demonstrate how these successive re-enactments of ‘shock and awe’ operate in the service of, and are functionally integral to, the preservation of media ecologies exclusionary by design, legitimizing the repetition of their gendered hostilities. The intent is to move beyond naïve expressions of surprise and righteous indignation, to a grounded recognition and elucidation of the extents to which misogyny and harassment are and have been deeply structured into the gendered ecologies of video games.

A study on game consumer behavior

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 2323-2330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phuong Nguyen ◽  
Luong Nguyen
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Behavior ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Customer Satisfaction ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Market Research ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Game Industry ◽  
Theoretical Foundations ◽  
Analyze Data

In the world, the video game industry has really exploded until about 2000, and since then has achieved great strides, becoming one of the leading forms of the entertainment industry, at least in terms of revenue. The main purpose of this paper is to examine the consumer behavior in the case of video games with three objectives: identify the factors affecting customer satisfaction for video games; analyze these factors to understand how they affect consumer behavior and propose some recommendations to improve the customer satisfaction for video games. Data was collected from 205 Vietnamese gamers addressing the variables of individual, psychological, cultural, and social factors. Regression analysis found that all four factors positively affect consumer behavior, in terms of customer satisfaction, especially cultural factors. The findings of this research analyzed the theoretical foundations of the theory of behavior, based on which investigated the study of consumer behavior of video game services of players in Vietnam by market research, analyze data, thereby helping businesses understand the psychological response, consumer behavior of customers, and can devise appropriate strategies.

The U.S. Video Game Industry

2009 ◽  
pp. 499-514
Author(s):  
Janet C. Dunlop
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Cultural Studies ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Video Gaming ◽  
Video Game Industry ◽  
Star Wars ◽  
Game Industry ◽  
Cover Art ◽  
Capitalist Ideology ◽  
The U.S

Today’s media are vast in both form and influence; however, few cultural studies scholars address the video gaming industry’s role in domestic maintenance and global imposition of U.S. hegemonic ideologies. In this study, video games are analyzed by cover art, content, and origin of production. Whether it is earning more “powers” in games such as Star Wars, or earning points to purchase more powerful artillery in Grand Theft Auto, capitalist ideology is reinforced in a subtle, entertaining fashion. This study shows that oppressive hegemonic representations of gender and race are not only present, but permeate the majority of top-selling video games. Finally, the study traces the origins of best-selling games, to reveal a virtual U.S. monopoly in the content of this formative medium.

The U.S. Video Game Industry

2011 ◽  
pp. 231-246
Author(s):  
Janet C. Dunlop
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Cultural Studies ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Video Gaming ◽  
Video Game Industry ◽  
Star Wars ◽  
Game Industry ◽  
Cover Art ◽  
Capitalist Ideology ◽  
The U.S

Today’s media are vast in both form and influence; however, few cultural studies scholars address the video gaming industry’s role in domestic maintenance and global imposition of U.S. hegemonic ideologies. In this study, video games are analyzed by cover art, content, and origin of production. Whether it is earning more “powers” in games such as Star Wars, or earning points to purchase more powerful artillery in Grand Theft Auto, capitalist ideology is reinforced in a subtle, entertaining fashion. This study shows that oppressive hegemonic representations of gender and race are not only present, but permeate the majority of top-selling video games. Finally, the study traces the origins of best-selling games, to reveal a virtual U.S. monopoly in the content of this formative medium.

Case Study in Game Design

2009 ◽  
pp. 316-330
Author(s):  
Patricia A. Young
Keyword(s):  
Video Game ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Online Games ◽  
Global Game ◽  
Multiplayer Online Games ◽  
Growth Area ◽  
Government Education ◽  
Game Industry

The global game industry expects substantial growth in the next decades. Massive multiplayer online games (MMOG) are expected to skyrocket from the $3.8 billion reported in 2006 to $11.8 billion by 2011 (Olausson, 2007). The video game industry is expected to grow at an annual rate of 9.1%, or from a $31.6 billion in 2006 to $48.9 by 2011. Serious games are the new growth area. These games are reportedly not for entertainment purposes and are being developed by and for industries such as government, education, health, and business (Scanlon, 2007). Given these figures, the role of game design will have global implications for groups of people around the world. Therefore, design and development must meet the challenges of this technological revolution.

scholarly journals ‘Cease and desist?’ The persistence of Marlboro brand imagery in racing video games

2020 ◽  
pp. tobaccocontrol-2019-055300
Author(s):  
Susan Forsyth ◽  
Patricia A McDaniel
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Smoking Prevention ◽  
International Policy ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Philip Morris ◽  
History Of ◽  
Negative Publicity ◽  
Game Industry

BackgroundSince 1972, Philip Morris (PM) has sponsored motorsports. Racing video games are a popular genre among youth and often emulate the branding of their real-life counterparts, potentially exposing youth to tobacco imagery. We examined racing video games for the presence of Marlboro imagery and explored the history of efforts to remove or regulate such imagery.MethodsWe searched the Truth Tobacco Industry documents for relevant documents and used information from video game-related websites and game play videos to identify racing video games that contained Marlboro trademarks and imagery. We also collected information on the Entertainment Software Ratings Board’s (ESRB) tobacco-specific and overall game ratings.FindingsIn 1989, negative publicity surrounding the presence of Marlboro logos in racing games led PM to threaten legal action against two game makers for copyright infringement. PM also launched a media campaign promoting this intervention as evidence of its commitment to youth smoking prevention. Nonetheless, we identified 219 video games from 1979 to 2018 that contained Marlboro trademarks and/or Marlboro-sponsored drivers and livery. Among the games in our sample with an ESRB game rating, all but one received an ‘E,’ indicating appropriateness for everyone, and all but three lacked tobacco content descriptors.ConclusionRacing video games have been and continue to be a vehicle for exposing adolescents to the Marlboro brand. Because voluntary efforts by PM and the video game industry to prevent youth exposure to tobacco brands in video games have been ineffective, USA and international policy-makers should prohibit tobacco content in video games.

scholarly journals Towards an Ethical Game Design Solution to Loot Boxes: a Commentary on King and Delfabbro

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leon Y. Xiao ◽  
Laura L. Henderson
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Design Solution ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
South Korean ◽  
Tax Relief ◽  
Game Industry

AbstractKing and Delfabbro (2019b) proposed the adoption of social responsibility measures to combat predatory monetisation in video games, such as loot boxes. This paper rectifies a game example mistakenly used by King and Delfabbro and provides further game examples to illustrate, critique and extend the proposed measures. This paper argues that the proposed measures are unlikely to be widely adopted by the video game industry, given the industry’s economic interests in the continued unhindered implementation of predatory monetisation, their preference for continued ‘self-regulation’ and their past resistance against potential regulation. With reference to South Korean law, this paper explores the possibility of codifying and enforcing the proposed measures as law and argues that overly paternalistic regulations are insensible and impractical. This paper recommends the use of regulatory nudging to encourage video game companies through incentives, such as discretionary grants and tax relief schemes, to adopt the proposed social responsibility measures and develop towards an ethical game design framework.

scholarly journals How Color Properties Can Be Used to Elicit Emotions in Video Games

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Geslin ◽  
Laurent Jégou ◽  
Danny Beaudoin
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Film Industry ◽  
Circumplex Model ◽  
Strong Correlations ◽  
Color Spaces ◽  
Game Industry ◽  
Game Environment ◽  
The Many ◽  
Development Methods

Classifying the many types of video games is difficult, as their genres and supports are different, but they all have in common that they seek the commitment of the player through exciting emotions and challenges. Since the income of the video game industry exceeds that of the film industry, the field of inducting emotions through video games and virtual environments is attracting more attention. Our theory, widely supported by substantial literature, is that the chromatic stimuli intensity, brightness, and saturation of a video game environment produce an emotional effect on players. We have observed a correlation between the RGB additives color spaces, HSV, HSL, and HSI components of video game images, presented ton=85participants, and the emotional statements expressed in terms of arousal and valence, recovered in a subjective semantic questionnaire. Our results show a significant correlation between luminance, saturation, lightness, and the emotions of joy, sadness, fear, and serenity experienced by participants viewing 24 video game images. We also show strong correlations between the colorimetric diversity, saliency volume, and stimuli conspicuity and the emotions expressed by the players. These results allow us to propose video game environment development methods in the form of a circumplex model. It is aimed at game designers for developing emotional color scripting.

Replaying Video Game History as a Mixtape of Black Feminist Thought

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-118
Author(s):  
TreaAndrea M. Russworm ◽  
Samantha Blackmon
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Black Feminism ◽  
Women Performers ◽  
Women's Labor ◽  
Black Feminist ◽  
Combahee River Collective ◽  
Game Industry

This article, a Black feminist mixtape, blends music, interviews, and critical analysis in order to demonstrate some of the ways in which Black women have impactfully engaged with the video game industry. Organized as musical “tracks,” it uses lyrics by Black women performers as a critical and cultural frame for understanding some of the work Black women have done with video games. In prioritizing the personal as not only political but also instructive for how we might think about digital media histories and feminism, each mixtape track focuses on Black women's lived experiences with games. As it argues throughout, Black feminism as defined and experienced by the Combahee River Collective of the 1970s has been an active and meaningful part of Black women's labor and play practices with video games.

Kidfluencer marketing in the video game industry

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-54
Author(s):  
Hanna Callens
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Young Stars ◽  
Video Game Industry ◽  
European Approach ◽  
Commercial Communication ◽  
Game Industry

Children spend a tremendous number of hours online these days watching kids their age play video games on YouTube. The videos of these young stars, also called ‘kidfluencers’, have become an essential avenue for marketers to advertise games and merchandise. However, the game promotions of these kidfluencers can easily deceive children, as the paid collaboration with companies is not always properly disclosed. Therefore, this article aims to investigate if the European advertising regulations sufficiently protect children against misleading promotions in the videos of kidfluencers. It starts by analysing the effectiveness of kidfluencer marketing and its applicable European advertising legislation. After this analysis, it shows that the current regulations of kidfluencer marketing require a European approach that harmonizes the use of advertising disclosures and YouTube's responsibility regarding commercial communication.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document