Unit 1 - video games.

Modern day video games are way more technically advanced than the games of the past. Video games have many different scenarios for the same scene in the game. We as the consumers like video games because it gives us a sense of control, we're in charge of what happens to the characters.

Playing games is a lot different now. Social media has made video games a massive industry, with there now being e-sports teams and the e-sport industry is a booming business.

Social interaction: the traditional old fashioned way of playing video games was where you play with your neighbor. Now, you can play games with people from all over the world, I could play a game of FIFA against someone in America for example. People who play video games seem to isolate themselves from the real world, they see no need to go out that often because they have everything at their fingertips. If you're interested in a certain game, you'll go and subscribe to a YouTube channel which plays that specific game and interact, posting comments, etcetera. You can discuss said game with other people on forums as well.

Augmented and virtual reality: VR 'blurs' reality, as VR allows us to enter into our favorite video game worlds and allows us to live in the world we've spent so many hours playing in.

Players as developers: Kickstarter is used by independent film/game makers where you can get funding for a certain project, it 'kickstarts' the project. With kickstarting projects you have more creative control, as you aren't under a studio who tell you what to do, you can make whatever you want too.

Stereotypical gamer: male, white, teenagers, anti social, nerds, glasses, virgin.

However, studies show that 50% of gamers are female and older people are playing more games, on mobile.

Who makes games: white heterosexual males. Creators make games based on their experiences.

Male character: Vito Scaletta (below) from the game trilogy Mafia is a character who is based on a popular stereotype. Scaletta is Italian and he immigrated to New York from Italy when he was a young child, and the stereotype with Italian-Americans is that every one of them are involved with the mafia.

And this game portrays that no different, Vito quickly ventures into a life of a crime and first gets involved with the mafia via his friend Joe Barbaro. Who gets Vito involved with the mafia and the two first do work for the Clemente crime family, this fuels the stereotype that all Italian men are gangsters. However, he gets involved with the mob because he is poor and has no other opportunities, which is the motivation for a lot of future mobsters (both real and fictional)

He is portrayed as young man who only ventures into crime because he has no choice, the legal system hasn't helped him so he feels that the only way to make it in the world, is to venture into the criminal underworld, the thing that attracts him to the mafia is the supposed respect that the mob commands, mobsters are men of honor and respect, and to a young man, really attracts you to that life.

In real life the character received criticism for the reasons I mentioned above. This game didn't help with the stereotype association of Italy and the mafia. This stereotype harms normal hard working Italians because as soon as someone hears the word 'Italy' they think of the mafia and that is a harmful reputation to have, despite the mafia being so culturally imbrued in our society.