Digital Gaming

 IMPACT OF DIGITAL GAMING AND CONVERGENCES 

Photo collage of the history of gaming from 1972-2014.

The evolution and convergence of digital gaming begins with the historic movement from children playing with toys, to now toys consisting of sitting in front of television set and controlling a virtual character.

Gaming new media displaces old media because of the backwards compatibility issue that many new consoles have left behind. Backwards compatibility allowed users to play older games on newer devices. But with limited space and newer features new devices no longer have backwards compatibility. 

The new media of gaming includes social aspects of gaming such as the ability to share achievements or post clips of games to friends. This promotes the participatory culture in the gaming industry because now more than ever gamers are sharing, commenting and recording clips to send out to the world for feedback and laughs.

The ethical complications with new gaming Media comes into play with the expense of gaming. No longer can gaming consoles simply be hooked up to televisions through red, white and black cables. Now consoles have to be plugged into a HDMI port on the television to even have the ability to play a game. This causes users to have to spend more money to buy more to upgrades like televisions with HD output. Not only is this an expense but the games themselves due to more intense graphics and technology are becoming extremely expensive.

This new industry of gaming is also starting to revolve around game journalism, channels on gaming news, competition between game industries. there is an increased interaction between industries, movies to games, games to toys etc., games into movies.

Other ethical implications are that games are violent and in turn make kids more violent and hostile. Grand theft auto allows people to kill one another and when kids play video games they will get used to this behavior. Screen time, kids spending a lot of time watching video games and slowing down attention and reaction time. -Research inconclusive but may have ethical implications.

Digital gaming has become an important part of 21st century culture. It has shaped industries and allowed for a new sector of gamers to emerge economically and participatively.

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/evolution-of-home-video-game-consoles-1967-2011/
http://content.time.com/time/interactive/0,31813,2029221,00.html

Podcast Links

http://www.buzzsprout.com/43323/265558-01-schulz-podcast-01-mp3

http://www.buzzsprout.com/43323.rss

Podcasting

1. Podcasting is available as an additional means of communication within business, non-profit and academic contexts. It allows these organizations to spread the message they are trying to get across multiple audiences in a different means than traditional radio or communication formats. Podcasting allows these organizations to use a different type of media to perform usual media tasks without the audience being used to the type. They begin to create content that anyone can relate to and everyone can being to create it. Academic context: they use podcasting to teach classes and stream content of class online, this is the biggest application to teach learning.

2. Podcasting extends the message because it is means of hitting the listener with additional information about whatever the company or organization would like to tell their followers. Podcasting allows the listener to obtain multiple messages and get more indepth information about a subject, product or company. Extends the message because it gives more than what tv could give and the listener can feel connected and interact back to the producers.

3. This encourages participatory culture because if the podcast entertains the audience it will obtain many followers and the numbers of people who listen to the podcast will immensely increase. This allows more people to start talking amongst themselves about the podcast. Podcasting entertains the audience while having them interact and follow the podcast itself. It will allow people to participate by commenting and following. Interactions between the production and consumer side. They want direct consumer feedback via social media and email. Text in or tweet in to connect with producers. The programming should be directed not toward the product but toward the consumers. Catering toward the audience’s wants and needs.

4. Podcasting has to be different than any other form of media to be successful. There are critical elements that make podcasting effective. With email there is written words, with blogging there is written word and visual, with online ads they start to pop up everywhere. Podcasting is purely audio with some visual and must be different than these other forms because users are very used to the other forms ad if they see any sense of similarity they wont find the podcasts different or entertaining. Three elements: easy to use with low learning curve download easy, entertaining and educating.
 5. Digital media convergence gets applied in podcasting so that they can obtain a bigger audience and be very easily accessible.

Analysis 2: Aggregation dishes out a new ebb and flow for journalists

Aggregation dishes out a new ebb and flow for journalists

In her office, Arianna Huffington illustrates how aggregation can be a powerful journalism tool.

AOL solidified that aggregation is big business with its purchase of the Huffington Post in 2011, an evolutionary step in some journalists’ eyes toward future news reporting.

Upon the $315 million deal, AOL bought one of the biggest aggregates in the business, which consolidates other journalists’ original news reporting into an article by slapping on a byline and calling it a Huffington Post article. But with such a major price tag, it’s obvious that aggregation is going places original reporting could not.

"The acquisition of The Huffington Post will create a next-generation American media company with global reach that combines content, community, and social experiences for consumers," said Tim Armstrong, Chairman and CEO of AOL. "Together, our companies will embrace the digital future and become a digital destination that delivers unmatched experiences for both consumers and advertisers."

As Armstrong suggested, The Huffington Post is a commonplace for news coverage to connect and be dished out to readers like never before. And in terms of media convergence, it’s about time aggregation takes a spot on center stage. Why should journalists report and collect information the same way journalists in 1920 did? Journalism is one medium that has not caught on the technological evolution, mainly because conservative journalism enthusiasts are headstrong for original reporting.

AOL CEO, Tim Armstrong, and Arianna Huffington sign a $315 million deal in 2011. 

The art of journalism is that a story is heard, a reporter goes to the scene and collects his or her own quotes and information to be written into a 500 word article with the prestige that it is entirely his or her own work. But in a world where time is money, and technological convergence happens in all other forms of media, aggregation is a journalist’s sidekick. What if the quote they obtained was bias, or the photo wasn’t showing the whole story? What if the reporter couldn’t obtain all the information he or she needed to write a full article? In turn the answer is that the readers would suffer.

What AOL is doing is simply allowing aggregation to take a seat at the top of the journalism ladder. A Huffington Post writer will research a topic on the Internet and choose which quotes best depict the story, the photo that shows the whole scene, quotes that match both sides and give the readers an unbiased look at a story.  Aggregation helps the writer give the public a better news experience.

            "By uniting AOL and The Huffington Post, we are creating one of the largest destinations for smart content and community on the Internet,” said Arianna Huffington. “And we intend to keep making it better and better."

For more information on this topic go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/magazine/mag-13lede-t.html