Post by Kramer on Dec 19, 2012 7:37:40 GMT -6
Why Doesn't the Media Take Video Games Seriously?
Movies and TV make headlines, but video games are far more popular.
A recent study of tablet-users conducted by Google determined that people spend more time playing games on these devices than they do watching videos or browsing social networks.T
he box office results for the new Twilight movie, Breaking Dawn Part 2, made headlines this weekend. For some reason, the news media thinks it's important for us to know that this film took in $141.3 million on its opening weekend, as if this somehow relates to the movie's quality. But, you might counter, movies are America's popular entertainment, so it makes sense that we'd be curious about their success or failure. But if that is the case, why doesn't the media pay as much attention to video games, which, according to numerous studies (such as one from the NPD Group which found that 63% of people polled had played video games in the previous six months, while only 53% went to movies) are the primary form of entertainment for people under age 35?
The same weekend that Breaking Dawn Part 2 took in $141.3 million, the latest version of the popular first-person-shooter video game Call of Duty took in a record $612 million in a single day. A recent study of tablet-users conducted by Google determined that people spend more time playing games on these devices than they do watching videos or browsing social networks.
Call of Duty: Black Ops set records during its first day on sale.
Meanwhile, box office receipts and TV ratings are slipping. And while the failure of the traditional entertainment industry continues to be blamed on online piracy, the fact is people aren't spending their computer time stealing movies and music, they're playing video games.
But still, to learn anything about video games you have to visit websites and publications specifically dedicated to gaming. The "mainstream" media does occasionally cover gaming. The New York Times recently ran an article about Call of Duty, but they had to call upon Kotaku.com editor-in-chief Stephen Totilo to write it, and the piece was more a defense of first-person shooters than a story about the game itself.
That piece gives a clue as to why the media as a whole gives gaming short shrift. Video games are still considered a crude form of entertainment—simple-minded at best, violent and destructive at worst—and primarily a childish amusement.
This is bound to change eventually, as the older non-gaming population gives way to generations to whom Wii, PSP, and XBox mean more than MGM, RCA, or Warner Brothers.
Until then, expect the increasing popularity of video games to be met with little more than a shrug from the people who write the articles in newspapers and deliver the news on TV.
www.web2carz.com/trends/offline/1596/why-doesnt-the-media-take-video-games-seriously?w2caf=21d0495d9c89ae19
Movies and TV make headlines, but video games are far more popular.
A recent study of tablet-users conducted by Google determined that people spend more time playing games on these devices than they do watching videos or browsing social networks.T
he box office results for the new Twilight movie, Breaking Dawn Part 2, made headlines this weekend. For some reason, the news media thinks it's important for us to know that this film took in $141.3 million on its opening weekend, as if this somehow relates to the movie's quality. But, you might counter, movies are America's popular entertainment, so it makes sense that we'd be curious about their success or failure. But if that is the case, why doesn't the media pay as much attention to video games, which, according to numerous studies (such as one from the NPD Group which found that 63% of people polled had played video games in the previous six months, while only 53% went to movies) are the primary form of entertainment for people under age 35?
The same weekend that Breaking Dawn Part 2 took in $141.3 million, the latest version of the popular first-person-shooter video game Call of Duty took in a record $612 million in a single day. A recent study of tablet-users conducted by Google determined that people spend more time playing games on these devices than they do watching videos or browsing social networks.
Call of Duty: Black Ops set records during its first day on sale.
Meanwhile, box office receipts and TV ratings are slipping. And while the failure of the traditional entertainment industry continues to be blamed on online piracy, the fact is people aren't spending their computer time stealing movies and music, they're playing video games.
But still, to learn anything about video games you have to visit websites and publications specifically dedicated to gaming. The "mainstream" media does occasionally cover gaming. The New York Times recently ran an article about Call of Duty, but they had to call upon Kotaku.com editor-in-chief Stephen Totilo to write it, and the piece was more a defense of first-person shooters than a story about the game itself.
That piece gives a clue as to why the media as a whole gives gaming short shrift. Video games are still considered a crude form of entertainment—simple-minded at best, violent and destructive at worst—and primarily a childish amusement.
This is bound to change eventually, as the older non-gaming population gives way to generations to whom Wii, PSP, and XBox mean more than MGM, RCA, or Warner Brothers.
Until then, expect the increasing popularity of video games to be met with little more than a shrug from the people who write the articles in newspapers and deliver the news on TV.
www.web2carz.com/trends/offline/1596/why-doesnt-the-media-take-video-games-seriously?w2caf=21d0495d9c89ae19