Video games and culture

Old school games from the 1980’s had an innocence. Dig Dug. Centipede. Joust. The Mario Games. They all had a simplicity to them that seems novel and maybe even boring compared to today’s games. Current video game culture still retains a place for ‘cutesy’ games, but as video games become more mainstream, the best selling games seem to be more violent, more over the top and more aggressive.

1.) Does this change indicate a change in popular culture that is reflected in video games? If video games are more violent, does that mean Americans feel more violent?

2.) Does this change reflect the increased developing capacity brought on by cheaper and cheaper computing power? Were these violent tendencies always there and just remained unexpressed in video games because we did not have the capacity to realistically render it?

3.) Is there a link between economic well being and the kind of video games we enjoy? The 80’s were a time of recession and uncertainty (relative to the 90’s) In those times, games were more innocent and ‘family oriented.’ The 90’s saw economic boom times – our games became more violent and aggressive and stayed that way through the early part of the 21st century. Now, however, as times again become rough, there seems to be a return to family oriented, ‘fun’ games. Do we crave ‘fun’ games more during hard times? Is their a psychological need these games fulfill that are linked to our feeling of existential well being?

Tags: culture, economy, video games, violence