Task 6
How are the narrative roles of hero/villain constructed in popular video games such as the 'Call of Duty' and why are they more complicated than in earlier texts in the war genre?
Given the power of globalisation in gaming, war on terror has become a factor that fits into the narrative roles of games allowing them to be so successful. Neither the historical nor the technical side of the narrative roles in games such as Call Of Duty have changed over years and has continued to cause new debates and controversies as institutions such as the Call Of Duty franchise continues to challenge the way in which Terrorism and the non social norm or ‘other’ can be portrayed, resulting in a dominant white British/American ‘hero’.
The way the media represents "terrorists" has a direct impact on society itself. Gaming in media has just as much to do with this than TV and films does. Audiences supporting institutions such as the Call Of Duty franchise show "terrorists" and like to link Islam directly with terrorism to get their views across to the public.
Wednesday 5 January 2011
Task 5
(Introduction- a brief description to my independent study)
How are the narrative roles of hero/villain constructed in popular video games such as the 'Call of Duty' and why are they more complicated than in earlier texts in the war genre?
Given the power of globalisation in gaming, war on terror has become a factor that fits into the narrative roles of games allowing them to be so successful. Neither the historical nor the technical side of the narrative roles in games such as Call Of Duty have changed over years and has continued to cause new debates and controversies as institutions such as the Call Of Duty franchise continues to challenge the way in which Terrorism and the non social norm or ‘other’ can be portrayed, resulting in a dominant white British/American ‘hero’.
1.Do the Media representations of cultural roles have an effect on the narrative role controversy and how? Including Call Of Duty narrative construction and previous games such as Doom2 terrorist attack challenging it.
2.The media effects of the controversy on the audience ( will audiences believe what they see in games such as Call of Duty based on their narrative roles)
3.The influence of media technology and the digital revolution
4.The impact of news values on the audience
5. Moral panics in gaming and what they suggest to its audience
6. Hypodermic Model
The effects of the audience from which the media injects messages directly into the minds of the viewers. Making the audience believe what they expect to see or can relate to from previous games.
10. Hegamony
The beliefs and values, established by the dominant culture in society. Informing the audience about roles both dominant and passive in gaming and how they use this in narrative roles.
Moral effects
Violence in gaming was the other factor in which had been researched and through this I was able to find that younger people use the violence they learn from gaming and apply them to society through ethnic/cultural differences.
11. Conclusion –Can the narrative roles of games such as call of duty be challenged, have they changed a lot from earlier war games from the same franchise and more.
(Introduction- a brief description to my independent study)
How are the narrative roles of hero/villain constructed in popular video games such as the 'Call of Duty' and why are they more complicated than in earlier texts in the war genre?
Given the power of globalisation in gaming, war on terror has become a factor that fits into the narrative roles of games allowing them to be so successful. Neither the historical nor the technical side of the narrative roles in games such as Call Of Duty have changed over years and has continued to cause new debates and controversies as institutions such as the Call Of Duty franchise continues to challenge the way in which Terrorism and the non social norm or ‘other’ can be portrayed, resulting in a dominant white British/American ‘hero’.
1.Do the Media representations of cultural roles have an effect on the narrative role controversy and how? Including Call Of Duty narrative construction and previous games such as Doom2 terrorist attack challenging it.
2.The media effects of the controversy on the audience ( will audiences believe what they see in games such as Call of Duty based on their narrative roles)
3.The influence of media technology and the digital revolution
4.The impact of news values on the audience
5. Moral panics in gaming and what they suggest to its audience
6. Hypodermic Model
The effects of the audience from which the media injects messages directly into the minds of the viewers. Making the audience believe what they expect to see or can relate to from previous games.
10. Hegamony
The beliefs and values, established by the dominant culture in society. Informing the audience about roles both dominant and passive in gaming and how they use this in narrative roles.
Moral effects
Violence in gaming was the other factor in which had been researched and through this I was able to find that younger people use the violence they learn from gaming and apply them to society through ethnic/cultural differences.
11. Conclusion –Can the narrative roles of games such as call of duty be challenged, have they changed a lot from earlier war games from the same franchise and more.
Task 4
when finding further links to help my investigation i was able to note some of the best theories in which will be included when writing my work.
Violence
This is not only done through influences of media but also how gaming violence and narrative roles influence how the audience portray things.
here are many things society as a whole and individuals can do to appease or inflame the issue, however each argument has a counter argument and a counter argument will exist for that and so on.
Because it is an issue of such heated debate with no answer or possibility of an answer should we just leave the issue be and choose not to address it further? Or should we make the issue widely known so society is more aware of the role the media can play. Or perhaps we should leave it to the media to publicise that. After all the media does have a strong influence.
Hyperdermic Needle
This is a theory in which suggests that the Media somehow 'injects' the audience on what they should belive, how they should act and what their veiws should be portrayed. ( as a syringe injects drugs into the body )
- draws attention to the power of the media producers over its audiences and how they are able to forcefeed infomation/views in which the audience should believe/trust
- It makes audiences seem 'passive' and 'powerless'
Does it influence us ?
Many theorists believed that the increase in violence was a direct result of violet images being shown in cinema through the Hyperdermic Needle theory. One such theorist stated that the new found media was manipulating the mainstream masses and deliberately causing crime and violence for financial gain. Although this argument has been cast aside man times it always returns in modern society when there is a severe outbreak of violence on TV.
These are links in which help both back up the ways in which narrative roles are contructed and also how they can be challenged giving me both sides to a arguement.
( How are the narrative roles of hero/villain constructed in popular video games such as the 'Call of Duty' and why are they more complicated than in earlier texts in the war genre? )
http://lass.calumet.purdue.edu/cca/gmj/fa08/gmj-fa08-kavoori.htm
Gaming as Narrative
Galloway suggests that a key element in discussing gaming narratives is to see the relationship between the gaming world and the real world. He explains that historically the theories of visual culture refer to such relationship as the problematics of representation.
http://www.karsten-wenzlaff.de/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/wenzlaff-game-theory-and-terrorism.pdf
Difficulties of modelling terrorism in game theory
If we assume rationality of the terrorists, we can use game theory to identify the strategic interactions, such as dominant strategies and the issue of threats. Most ‘irrational’ notions of terrorism can be incorporated in the framework of game theory by adjusting strategies and pay-offs in the game. Game theory also allows uncertainty and behaviour under risk. And finally, it explains changes of behaviour when the rules of the game are changed.23 Modelling terrorism in game theory is complicated.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/ll3rvgmn5u7301d8/
Storytelling, people, computers, and digital communications are becoming increasingly interwoven. The idea of using procedural techniques to involve people in stories is enormously attractive, yet actually finding a way to create interactive fiction that achieves both artistic and commercial success remains elusive.
Views on muslims in Call Of Duty
http://gamebattles.com/forums/t/3550110.html
Well the serial killer that was attacking in my hometown was a muslim. If I understand right, they hate all infidels and wish to kill all infidels. The United States and the people of it are infidels to them making us enemies naturally. So the hatred is mutual if this is the case
Anti Call of Duty, Social Networking
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9917199564
Has Call of Duty violence Toned down ?
http://spawnkill.com/2010/10/25/call-of-duty-black-ops-violence-toned-down/
“It was a contextual kill where you were twisting the neck. It was too much. The throat cutting nasty, but that was worse.” Because of this, Treyarch had to scale back and tailor the game to a more acceptable range.
Has this game toped the Cal Of Duty war Franchise ?
http://www.su-spectator.com/entertainment/raising-the-b-a-r-with-cod-black-ops-1.1782855
.
Overall, Call of Duty: Black Ops is the next true step in the series, not just another nameless entry. Any of the three main game modes could be packaged as separate games, but you get them all for one price of entry
Too much violence ( treyarch)
http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2010/10/22/black-ops-violence-too-much-treyarch/
There were situations going too far. It was a a contextual kill where you were twisting the neck. It was too much. The throat cutting is nasty, but that was worse.”
Is this Depicting War ?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2010/sep/19/war-video-games-hennessey-sicart
‘The tension the audience feels brings them as close as they’re going to get to the real thing’
Violence, War, and Call of Duty 4
"Is it a coincidence that the game came out in 2007, when in January that year an extensive BBC poll found that 73% of the global population disapproves of the war in Iraq?"
"The game even periodically presents quotes on the subject of war and violence (usually when you fail in the single player). Among them are Yassar Arafat: “Whoever stands by a just cause cannot possibly be called a terrorist.” Bertrand Russel: “War does not determine who is right - only who is left.” Erasmus: “War is delightful to those who have not yet experienced it.” And what is Call of Duty 4 but an experience - and therefore, a potential deterrence - of war? Whatever Call of Duty 4 may be, it is certainly not an advertisement for actually being in the situations it places the player. The atmosphere is tense at the best of times. Nowhere is safe on the battlefield as bullets sing through even the densest wall. Even the best player must die multiple times - what of the real life soldier? "
"Is it a coincidence that the game came out in 2007, when in January that year an extensive BBC poll found that 73% of the global population disapproves of the war in Iraq?"
"that games do incorporate powerful psychological techniques to create a compulsion loop, but without these there would be no substance to a game."
Gaming addiction: myth, medical condition or moral panic?
http://www.infowars.com/violence-in-video-games-and-the-baghdad-massacre/
"Shooting dogs, beating children and murdering innocent civilians are dwarfed by the amount of unmitigated evil game developers are having their heroes portray."
Does game violence make teens aggressive?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16099971/ns/technology_and_science-games/
“Based on our results, I think parents should be aware of the relationship between violent video-game playing and brain function.”
Is Media Violence a Problem?
http://www.enotes.com/media-violence-problem-article
“Fear of being victimized by violence.” Constant exposure to violence in the media may lead people to believe that violence is everywhere and that they should be afraid. Researcher George Gerbner has described this as “Mean World Syndrome.”
"Children’s exposure to violence in the mass media, particularly at young ages, can have harmful lifelong consequences."
The Influence of Media Violence on Youth
http://psi.sagepub.com/content/4/3/81.abstract
"media violence increases the likelihood of aggressive and violent behavior in both immediate and long-term contexts."
"Media violence produces short-term increases by priming existing aggressive scripts and cognitions, increasing physiological arousal, and triggering an automatic tendency to imitate observed behaviors."
Finally these are the links in which have helped me find some issues and debates that will back up the narrative roles and how they have not yet been challenged in the war genre games such as the Call of Duty franchise.
Moral Panic
Modern moral panic
The controversy just won’t stop. As has been explained a thousand times before, the airport massacre level in Modern Warfare 2 is skippable and doesn’t involve you having to shoot anyone at all; you can just hang back with the rest of the rabble and follow them through the mayhem. Not that it matters of course, because it’s just a game and no-one actually dies.
Moral Effects
http://www.york.ac.uk/education/research/cresj/violence/
Violence in gaming was the other factor in which had been researched and through this I was able to find that younger people use the violence they learn from gaming and apply them to society through ethnic/cultural differences.
“Knowledge about young people’s views on violence and acceptance of violence in different contexts has important implications for violence prevention initiatives, particularly those in schools. If young people’s acceptance of violence is linked to their understandings of appropriate gender behaviour then an inherent aspect of effective violence prevention will also be to destabilise existing gender norms and expectations.”
Effects on violent media on children
Recent research has shown that connections between children playing violent video games can cause later aggressive behavioral problems. In retrospect studies have also shown a twelve percent increase in aggressive behavior after watching violent television as well
Post 9/11
Concerns on violent behaviour due to games
Young children have difficulty distinguishing reality from fantasy, which makes them more vulnerable to the effects of media violence. They may become more aggressive and fearful if they are exposed to high levels of violence in video games.
Censorship
Russia Bans
The Russian government pulled Modern Warfare 2 as a response to the Russian airport terror level, which we first revealed a few weeks back. But Russian gamers are also taking to gaming sites to attack developer Infinity Ward for its portrayal of their nation.
Ownership Control
Infinity Ward
Treyarch
Activision
One of the reasons why the owenership vary is because they compete with eachother through the Call Of Duty franchise. This allows them to make one game each year one after another making the next one better through competing. This evidently causes the game to become better which appeals to the Audience.
when finding further links to help my investigation i was able to note some of the best theories in which will be included when writing my work.
Violence
This is not only done through influences of media but also how gaming violence and narrative roles influence how the audience portray things.
here are many things society as a whole and individuals can do to appease or inflame the issue, however each argument has a counter argument and a counter argument will exist for that and so on.
Because it is an issue of such heated debate with no answer or possibility of an answer should we just leave the issue be and choose not to address it further? Or should we make the issue widely known so society is more aware of the role the media can play. Or perhaps we should leave it to the media to publicise that. After all the media does have a strong influence.
Hyperdermic Needle
This is a theory in which suggests that the Media somehow 'injects' the audience on what they should belive, how they should act and what their veiws should be portrayed. ( as a syringe injects drugs into the body )
- draws attention to the power of the media producers over its audiences and how they are able to forcefeed infomation/views in which the audience should believe/trust
- It makes audiences seem 'passive' and 'powerless'
Does it influence us ?
Many theorists believed that the increase in violence was a direct result of violet images being shown in cinema through the Hyperdermic Needle theory. One such theorist stated that the new found media was manipulating the mainstream masses and deliberately causing crime and violence for financial gain. Although this argument has been cast aside man times it always returns in modern society when there is a severe outbreak of violence on TV.
These are links in which help both back up the ways in which narrative roles are contructed and also how they can be challenged giving me both sides to a arguement.
( How are the narrative roles of hero/villain constructed in popular video games such as the 'Call of Duty' and why are they more complicated than in earlier texts in the war genre? )
http://lass.calumet.purdue.edu/cca/gmj/fa08/gmj-fa08-kavoori.htm
Gaming as Narrative
Galloway suggests that a key element in discussing gaming narratives is to see the relationship between the gaming world and the real world. He explains that historically the theories of visual culture refer to such relationship as the problematics of representation.
http://www.karsten-wenzlaff.de/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/wenzlaff-game-theory-and-terrorism.pdf
Difficulties of modelling terrorism in game theory
If we assume rationality of the terrorists, we can use game theory to identify the strategic interactions, such as dominant strategies and the issue of threats. Most ‘irrational’ notions of terrorism can be incorporated in the framework of game theory by adjusting strategies and pay-offs in the game. Game theory also allows uncertainty and behaviour under risk. And finally, it explains changes of behaviour when the rules of the game are changed.23 Modelling terrorism in game theory is complicated.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/ll3rvgmn5u7301d8/
Storytelling, people, computers, and digital communications are becoming increasingly interwoven. The idea of using procedural techniques to involve people in stories is enormously attractive, yet actually finding a way to create interactive fiction that achieves both artistic and commercial success remains elusive.
Views on muslims in Call Of Duty
http://gamebattles.com/forums/t/3550110.html
Well the serial killer that was attacking in my hometown was a muslim. If I understand right, they hate all infidels and wish to kill all infidels. The United States and the people of it are infidels to them making us enemies naturally. So the hatred is mutual if this is the case
Anti Call of Duty, Social Networking
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9917199564
Has Call of Duty violence Toned down ?
http://spawnkill.com/2010/10/25/call-of-duty-black-ops-violence-toned-down/
“It was a contextual kill where you were twisting the neck. It was too much. The throat cutting nasty, but that was worse.” Because of this, Treyarch had to scale back and tailor the game to a more acceptable range.
Has this game toped the Cal Of Duty war Franchise ?
http://www.su-spectator.com/entertainment/raising-the-b-a-r-with-cod-black-ops-1.1782855
.
Overall, Call of Duty: Black Ops is the next true step in the series, not just another nameless entry. Any of the three main game modes could be packaged as separate games, but you get them all for one price of entry
Too much violence ( treyarch)
http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2010/10/22/black-ops-violence-too-much-treyarch/
There were situations going too far. It was a a contextual kill where you were twisting the neck. It was too much. The throat cutting is nasty, but that was worse.”
Is this Depicting War ?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2010/sep/19/war-video-games-hennessey-sicart
‘The tension the audience feels brings them as close as they’re going to get to the real thing’
Violence, War, and Call of Duty 4
"Is it a coincidence that the game came out in 2007, when in January that year an extensive BBC poll found that 73% of the global population disapproves of the war in Iraq?"
"The game even periodically presents quotes on the subject of war and violence (usually when you fail in the single player). Among them are Yassar Arafat: “Whoever stands by a just cause cannot possibly be called a terrorist.” Bertrand Russel: “War does not determine who is right - only who is left.” Erasmus: “War is delightful to those who have not yet experienced it.” And what is Call of Duty 4 but an experience - and therefore, a potential deterrence - of war? Whatever Call of Duty 4 may be, it is certainly not an advertisement for actually being in the situations it places the player. The atmosphere is tense at the best of times. Nowhere is safe on the battlefield as bullets sing through even the densest wall. Even the best player must die multiple times - what of the real life soldier? "
"Is it a coincidence that the game came out in 2007, when in January that year an extensive BBC poll found that 73% of the global population disapproves of the war in Iraq?"
"that games do incorporate powerful psychological techniques to create a compulsion loop, but without these there would be no substance to a game."
Gaming addiction: myth, medical condition or moral panic?
http://www.infowars.com/violence-in-video-games-and-the-baghdad-massacre/
"Shooting dogs, beating children and murdering innocent civilians are dwarfed by the amount of unmitigated evil game developers are having their heroes portray."
Does game violence make teens aggressive?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16099971/ns/technology_and_science-games/
“Based on our results, I think parents should be aware of the relationship between violent video-game playing and brain function.”
Is Media Violence a Problem?
http://www.enotes.com/media-violence-problem-article
“Fear of being victimized by violence.” Constant exposure to violence in the media may lead people to believe that violence is everywhere and that they should be afraid. Researcher George Gerbner has described this as “Mean World Syndrome.”
"Children’s exposure to violence in the mass media, particularly at young ages, can have harmful lifelong consequences."
The Influence of Media Violence on Youth
http://psi.sagepub.com/content/4/3/81.abstract
"media violence increases the likelihood of aggressive and violent behavior in both immediate and long-term contexts."
"Media violence produces short-term increases by priming existing aggressive scripts and cognitions, increasing physiological arousal, and triggering an automatic tendency to imitate observed behaviors."
Finally these are the links in which have helped me find some issues and debates that will back up the narrative roles and how they have not yet been challenged in the war genre games such as the Call of Duty franchise.
Moral Panic
Modern moral panic
The controversy just won’t stop. As has been explained a thousand times before, the airport massacre level in Modern Warfare 2 is skippable and doesn’t involve you having to shoot anyone at all; you can just hang back with the rest of the rabble and follow them through the mayhem. Not that it matters of course, because it’s just a game and no-one actually dies.
Moral Effects
http://www.york.ac.uk/education/research/cresj/violence/
Violence in gaming was the other factor in which had been researched and through this I was able to find that younger people use the violence they learn from gaming and apply them to society through ethnic/cultural differences.
“Knowledge about young people’s views on violence and acceptance of violence in different contexts has important implications for violence prevention initiatives, particularly those in schools. If young people’s acceptance of violence is linked to their understandings of appropriate gender behaviour then an inherent aspect of effective violence prevention will also be to destabilise existing gender norms and expectations.”
Effects on violent media on children
Recent research has shown that connections between children playing violent video games can cause later aggressive behavioral problems. In retrospect studies have also shown a twelve percent increase in aggressive behavior after watching violent television as well
Post 9/11
Concerns on violent behaviour due to games
Young children have difficulty distinguishing reality from fantasy, which makes them more vulnerable to the effects of media violence. They may become more aggressive and fearful if they are exposed to high levels of violence in video games.
Censorship
Russia Bans
The Russian government pulled Modern Warfare 2 as a response to the Russian airport terror level, which we first revealed a few weeks back. But Russian gamers are also taking to gaming sites to attack developer Infinity Ward for its portrayal of their nation.
Ownership Control
Infinity Ward
Treyarch
Activision
One of the reasons why the owenership vary is because they compete with eachother through the Call Of Duty franchise. This allows them to make one game each year one after another making the next one better through competing. This evidently causes the game to become better which appeals to the Audience.
Task 3
In this video you are able to see that the arcade game was based on an American game called doom which was originally owned by an American institution and was later brought by a British company and had created a sequel of Doom 2. This game had been based on a American ex soldier who had been let off due to his violent behaviour but is called back as the enemy being Russians who try to create zombies in tubes. The aim of this game is to complete a story that consists of the main character killing any Russian in which he sees and trying to find the laboratory in which they are trying to create these monsters.
This type of narrative role has increasingly occurred in games such as the gaming franchise in which I am currently studying which is the Call of duty franchise as they have continued to make Russians and Muslims as terrorist acting with high levels of violence for no apparent reason. This is a factor in which I have been looking at when doing my own study as it suggests that these cultures are seen as villains or the ‘other’ whereas American soldier have ALWAYS been seen as the hero and would be the character in the game who does nothing but the right thing. This game and franchise continues to carry the same trend of narrative role throughout its game play allowing its audience to believe that the villains in war games will never be American soldier/ loyal soldiers and any other culture against them would be automatically seen as villains. This can be because the call of duty franchise had been successful showing its audience exactly what they want to see meaning that if they have been successful with this type of representation of Russian/Muslim terrorist in their narrative role, they will continue to show it as it will deem to show an easy success rate.
This would have created more of a moral panic post 9/11 as it is now more effective and influential in how audiences represent violence from other cultures now than how they were portrayed back in the 1990s.
This Is genuinely because at this time the terrorist scare had not been as largely populated and the media had not hyped the negative representation of the ‘villain’ at this time. Terrorist in games had not been more than someone or something to kill before recent terrorist attacks. This is why it is so easy for games such as Call of duty to feed of the scares of terrorism, they are able to act accourdingly and make sure that narrative roles continue to show terrorism as it could be a realistic factor which bring audiences to believe that not only Is this possible but the ‘hero’ will always be the dominant white male (American) and the ‘other’ (terrorist) would be someone of another culture.
Task 2
Narrative as social practice
By Daniele M. Klapproth, Danièle M. Klapproth
The roles played by narrative discourse in alngelo western culture and within which social institution are these roles practived
Time and narrative, Volume 2
By Paul Ricoeur, Kathleen McLaughlin, David Pellauer
So the mediation that the narrative brings about as a quest cannot be simply a locial one, the transformation of the terms and their relations is really a historical one.
The Link Between Video Games and Violence
By Rahul Massey
The media whole heartedly are supporting the caused effects links between violent games and real life brutality, inspired by shooting games such as Doom, call of duty create levels of familiar violence.will portray power. Also how some institutions will act on moral panics and use scares such as 9/11 as a selling
‘To say we may judge what is or is not real based on what is shown to us’
This quote fits into my title as it would suggest how the audience portray narrative roles. How if games and television shows muslims for example to be terrorists and evil all the time or the 'other' than the audience will begin to believe this.
'If something is repeated often enough it will tent to be believed and remembered’
This also fits into my title production as it helps proove the relation to narrative roles and how they can be seen in the audiences eyes. This is because by games such Call Of Duty, narrative roles tend not to vary with the dominant white hero and minority passive muslim/russian villian. By continually showing this role
Academic study- violent gaming reduces stress
http://www.gamepro.com/article/news/215790/academic-study-says-violent-games-reduce-stress/
Christopher Ferguson concluded that violent video games could actually combat anger and depression, two groups were given a violent game to play (Hitman: Blood Money or Call of Duty 2), one was given a non-violent game (Madden 2007) and a final group was told they wouldn't be able to play any games due to a malfunction.udience repeatedly the audience tends to believe this is true.
Film / Genre
Rick Altman
1990
British film institution
‘ Hollywood consistant use of cultural norms as narrative devices’
This suggests that it is normal to see the same narrative role through media having a dominant white male character as the hero and a villain being a other non norm which is usually according to contemporary games Russians and muslims
Stuart hall 78
‘Ethinic minorities are continually misrepresented by racial stereotypes’
This suggest that if a ethinic minority is seen in a negative way through generations it will continue to be seen this way and mean that stereotypes will continue to carry on.
Valdimir Propp
‘ characters and actors have the narrative fuctions of villiens hero doner father and false hero. ‘
This quote suggests that there is always a narrative role in any action and would be based on these forms of roles. This is relative in gaming as each role has a link to a character in the Call of Duty franchise.
Howard becker – moral panics
Some individuals and institutions within society have greater power than others to react to situations and allow others to voice opinion
This suggests that by having a game or institution that challenges the normal narrative role it is possible to see a voices opinion on change and misrepresentation will decrease.
In this video you are able to see that the arcade game was based on an American game called doom which was originally owned by an American institution and was later brought by a British company and had created a sequel of Doom 2. This game had been based on a American ex soldier who had been let off due to his violent behaviour but is called back as the enemy being Russians who try to create zombies in tubes. The aim of this game is to complete a story that consists of the main character killing any Russian in which he sees and trying to find the laboratory in which they are trying to create these monsters.
This type of narrative role has increasingly occurred in games such as the gaming franchise in which I am currently studying which is the Call of duty franchise as they have continued to make Russians and Muslims as terrorist acting with high levels of violence for no apparent reason. This is a factor in which I have been looking at when doing my own study as it suggests that these cultures are seen as villains or the ‘other’ whereas American soldier have ALWAYS been seen as the hero and would be the character in the game who does nothing but the right thing. This game and franchise continues to carry the same trend of narrative role throughout its game play allowing its audience to believe that the villains in war games will never be American soldier/ loyal soldiers and any other culture against them would be automatically seen as villains. This can be because the call of duty franchise had been successful showing its audience exactly what they want to see meaning that if they have been successful with this type of representation of Russian/Muslim terrorist in their narrative role, they will continue to show it as it will deem to show an easy success rate.
This would have created more of a moral panic post 9/11 as it is now more effective and influential in how audiences represent violence from other cultures now than how they were portrayed back in the 1990s.
This Is genuinely because at this time the terrorist scare had not been as largely populated and the media had not hyped the negative representation of the ‘villain’ at this time. Terrorist in games had not been more than someone or something to kill before recent terrorist attacks. This is why it is so easy for games such as Call of duty to feed of the scares of terrorism, they are able to act accourdingly and make sure that narrative roles continue to show terrorism as it could be a realistic factor which bring audiences to believe that not only Is this possible but the ‘hero’ will always be the dominant white male (American) and the ‘other’ (terrorist) would be someone of another culture.
Task 2
Graeme Burton
Arnold publications
'More Than Meets The Eye'
'Hollywood consistent use of cultural norms as narrative devices'
suggesting that its normal to see the same narrative roles throughout media texts likes gaming. The dominant white male as the hero and narrative roles in gaming.
'Ethinic minorities are continually misrepresented by racial stereotypes'
Suggesting that minorities will continually be presented as the 'Other' and can be seen as the 'villian' in gaming
‘Some Individuals/institutions will always have greater power to portray how to react on situation’
( Howard Becker )
This suggests that issues and debates such as 'moral panics' will continue to shape the way in which the audience will portray power. Also how some institutions will act on moral panics and use scares such as 9/11 as a selling point.
‘To say we may judge what is or is not real based on what is shown to us’
This quote fits into my title as it would suggest how the audience portray narrative roles. How if games and television shows muslims for example to be terrorists and evil all the time or the 'other' than the audience will begin to believe this.
'If something is repeated often enough it will tent to be believed and remembered’
This also fits into my title production as it helps proove the relation to narrative roles and how they can be seen in the audiences eyes. This is because by games such Call Of Duty, narrative roles tend not to vary with the dominant white hero and minority passive muslim/russian villian. By continually showing this role of power to its audience repeatedly the audience tends to believe this is true.
Narrative as social practice
By Daniele M. Klapproth, Danièle M. Klapproth
The roles played by narrative discourse in alngelo western culture and within which social institution are these roles practived
Time and narrative, Volume 2
By Paul Ricoeur, Kathleen McLaughlin, David Pellauer
So the mediation that the narrative brings about as a quest cannot be simply a locial one, the transformation of the terms and their relations is really a historical one.
The Link Between Video Games and Violence
By Rahul Massey
The media whole heartedly are supporting the caused effects links between violent games and real life brutality, inspired by shooting games such as Doom, call of duty create levels of familiar violence.will portray power. Also how some institutions will act on moral panics and use scares such as 9/11 as a selling
‘To say we may judge what is or is not real based on what is shown to us’
This quote fits into my title as it would suggest how the audience portray narrative roles. How if games and television shows muslims for example to be terrorists and evil all the time or the 'other' than the audience will begin to believe this.
'If something is repeated often enough it will tent to be believed and remembered’
This also fits into my title production as it helps proove the relation to narrative roles and how they can be seen in the audiences eyes. This is because by games such Call Of Duty, narrative roles tend not to vary with the dominant white hero and minority passive muslim/russian villian. By continually showing this role
Academic study- violent gaming reduces stress
http://www.gamepro.com/article/news/215790/academic-study-says-violent-games-reduce-stress/
Christopher Ferguson concluded that violent video games could actually combat anger and depression, two groups were given a violent game to play (Hitman: Blood Money or Call of Duty 2), one was given a non-violent game (Madden 2007) and a final group was told they wouldn't be able to play any games due to a malfunction.udience repeatedly the audience tends to believe this is true.
Film / Genre
Rick Altman
1990
British film institution
‘ Hollywood consistant use of cultural norms as narrative devices’
This suggests that it is normal to see the same narrative role through media having a dominant white male character as the hero and a villain being a other non norm which is usually according to contemporary games Russians and muslims
Stuart hall 78
‘Ethinic minorities are continually misrepresented by racial stereotypes’
This suggest that if a ethinic minority is seen in a negative way through generations it will continue to be seen this way and mean that stereotypes will continue to carry on.
Valdimir Propp
‘ characters and actors have the narrative fuctions of villiens hero doner father and false hero. ‘
This quote suggests that there is always a narrative role in any action and would be based on these forms of roles. This is relative in gaming as each role has a link to a character in the Call of Duty franchise.
Howard becker – moral panics
Some individuals and institutions within society have greater power than others to react to situations and allow others to voice opinion
This suggests that by having a game or institution that challenges the normal narrative role it is possible to see a voices opinion on change and misrepresentation will decrease.
Task 1
In this particular video in which I had found I had realised that at 3.20 minutes the clip from Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 2 has the level ‘ No Russian’
This particular clip begins with captions of Russian terrorists that are being taken down by American ‘Heroes’ suggesting that the Russians are ‘others’ in any narrative role. This has lead the video to show the next few scenes of an American soldiers point of view, showing the darkness in which they go through in order to take down each Russian spy/terrorist.
The scene in this video in which I will speak mostly about is the level ‘No Russian’ this particular level in the game of call of duty has shown a lot of controversy as the gaming institution have allowed there to be a very violent scene within the game that shows terrorists walking into an airport and shooting each passenger and civilian in which they can see. This clip begins at 3 minutes and 20 seconds.
They begin this level early in the game entitled "No Russian". The player assumes control of a undercover CIA agent, joining a group of Russian terrorists in an airport massacre. The name comes from a briefing from the terrorist leader, Vladimir Makarov, telling the player's character and the other gunmen not to speak any Russian throughout the scene. Although the player is not forced to kill any of the civilians themselves, they must keep pace with the terrorists as they commit this act. Civilians scream and run in terror, the injured crawl away leaving a trail of blood, and some try to drag others to safety, only to be shot with bloody results. The player also cannot kill the terrorists themselves which would result in failure of the mission. The player is warned prior to starting the single player campaign of the mission's "disturbing content", and can choose to skip the mission in advance, at no penalty. If the player chooses not to skip the mission in advance, they are still given the option to skip the level at any point. The end of the level, Makarov, knowing the identity of the Joseph Allen, confronts and executes him before escaping.
This controversial mission was removed from the Russian PC version of the game. It was originally reported that sales of the console editions of Modern Warfare 2 were delayed in Russia due to an ordered recall, but Activision has called this report erroneous. Activision stated that they made the decision to remove the "No Russian" mission from the game prior to the game.
Censorship had also been a factor when this had been released and complaints had begun as this controversial mission was removed from the Russian PC version of the game. It was originally reported that sales of the console editions of Modern Warfare 2 were delayed in Russia due to an ordered recall, but Activision has called this report erroneous. Activision stated that they made the decision to remove the "No Russian" mission from the game prior to the game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYZ3SmVTfGc&feature=related
Another video from the same franchise but challenges the general narrative role in which the audience are used to seeing in war games.
This particular scene shows American soldier (spetnaz) to be interrogating a Russian doctor who is already forces to work when he does not want to. This leads the innocent character on the doctor getting beaten up whilst tied to a chair by the American soldier in a very violent and gory way.
The level takes place in Kowloon, Hong Kong. It involves torturing Dr. Daniel Clarke, a prisoner, as Hudson along with Grigori Weaver, something the player does himself with context-sensitive commands. When torturing Clarke, the player will smash a glass window, place a shard from it in the mouth of Clarke, and proceed to punch his jaw twice.
After the torture scene, the Spetsnaz discover their positions and the player will have to escape the area through apartment buildings and across rooftops. One part in the mission, the protagonists come across a weapons cache behind a fridge after Weaver and Clarke push it out of the way. Raining and lightning from a thunderstorm set for the mood of this mission.
This particular video also shows a lot of violence in narrative roles showing the American soldier to be the violent character terrorising the Russian victim which challenges the ideology of the gaming narrative of the war genre. This is a good research video as it has shown there to be change in the recurrent status of the call of duty narrative role and how characters are portrayed
This video however helps challenge the narrative roles in which you see in contemporary games. this is because it is a audience based game in which he has created for online purposes allowing the narrative role to be switched around, having the american as the villan 'other' and the muslim terrorists seen as the higher character 'hero'. The game had obviously caused alot of issues with governmental heads in both Britain and America, causing them to threaten prison sentences and bans of the original american dominant game.
In this particular video in which I had found I had realised that at 3.20 minutes the clip from Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 2 has the level ‘ No Russian’
This particular clip begins with captions of Russian terrorists that are being taken down by American ‘Heroes’ suggesting that the Russians are ‘others’ in any narrative role. This has lead the video to show the next few scenes of an American soldiers point of view, showing the darkness in which they go through in order to take down each Russian spy/terrorist.
The scene in this video in which I will speak mostly about is the level ‘No Russian’ this particular level in the game of call of duty has shown a lot of controversy as the gaming institution have allowed there to be a very violent scene within the game that shows terrorists walking into an airport and shooting each passenger and civilian in which they can see. This clip begins at 3 minutes and 20 seconds.
They begin this level early in the game entitled "No Russian". The player assumes control of a undercover CIA agent, joining a group of Russian terrorists in an airport massacre. The name comes from a briefing from the terrorist leader, Vladimir Makarov, telling the player's character and the other gunmen not to speak any Russian throughout the scene. Although the player is not forced to kill any of the civilians themselves, they must keep pace with the terrorists as they commit this act. Civilians scream and run in terror, the injured crawl away leaving a trail of blood, and some try to drag others to safety, only to be shot with bloody results. The player also cannot kill the terrorists themselves which would result in failure of the mission. The player is warned prior to starting the single player campaign of the mission's "disturbing content", and can choose to skip the mission in advance, at no penalty. If the player chooses not to skip the mission in advance, they are still given the option to skip the level at any point. The end of the level, Makarov, knowing the identity of the Joseph Allen, confronts and executes him before escaping.
This controversial mission was removed from the Russian PC version of the game. It was originally reported that sales of the console editions of Modern Warfare 2 were delayed in Russia due to an ordered recall, but Activision has called this report erroneous. Activision stated that they made the decision to remove the "No Russian" mission from the game prior to the game.
This type of narrative role has increasingly occurred in games such as the Call of duty franchise as they have continued to make Russians and Muslims as terrorist acting with high levels of violence for no apparent reason. This is a factor in which I have been looking at when doing my own study as it suggests that these cultures are seen as villains or the ‘other’ whereas American soldier have ALWAYS been seen as the hero and would be the character in the game who does nothing but the right thing. This game and franchise continues to carry the same trend of narrative role throughout its game play allowing its audience to believe that the villains in war games will never be American soldier/ loyal soldiers and any other culture against them would be automatically seen as villains. This can be because the call of duty franchise had been successful showing its audience exactly what they want to see meaning that if they have been successful with this type of representation of Russian/Muslim terrorist in their narrative role, they will continue to show it as it will deem to show an easy success rate.
This had created moral panics in the uk alone as it had shown Russians and other typed of terrorist according to this game being able to access larger populated areas such as airports and using acts of violence. This was seen as a realistic issue in which had caused audiences to be very afraid. As this was post 9/11 it has also been a very touchy situation and using acts of violence through terrorism and narrative roles had allowed many of its audiences to be intrigued and also frightened of the possibility of this occurring.Censorship had also been a factor when this had been released and complaints had begun as this controversial mission was removed from the Russian PC version of the game. It was originally reported that sales of the console editions of Modern Warfare 2 were delayed in Russia due to an ordered recall, but Activision has called this report erroneous. Activision stated that they made the decision to remove the "No Russian" mission from the game prior to the game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYZ3SmVTfGc&feature=related
Another video from the same franchise but challenges the general narrative role in which the audience are used to seeing in war games.
This particular scene shows American soldier (spetnaz) to be interrogating a Russian doctor who is already forces to work when he does not want to. This leads the innocent character on the doctor getting beaten up whilst tied to a chair by the American soldier in a very violent and gory way.
The level takes place in Kowloon, Hong Kong. It involves torturing Dr. Daniel Clarke, a prisoner, as Hudson along with Grigori Weaver, something the player does himself with context-sensitive commands. When torturing Clarke, the player will smash a glass window, place a shard from it in the mouth of Clarke, and proceed to punch his jaw twice.
After the torture scene, the Spetsnaz discover their positions and the player will have to escape the area through apartment buildings and across rooftops. One part in the mission, the protagonists come across a weapons cache behind a fridge after Weaver and Clarke push it out of the way. Raining and lightning from a thunderstorm set for the mood of this mission.
This particular video also shows a lot of violence in narrative roles showing the American soldier to be the violent character terrorising the Russian victim which challenges the ideology of the gaming narrative of the war genre. This is a good research video as it has shown there to be change in the recurrent status of the call of duty narrative role and how characters are portrayed
This video however helps challenge the narrative roles in which you see in contemporary games. this is because it is a audience based game in which he has created for online purposes allowing the narrative role to be switched around, having the american as the villan 'other' and the muslim terrorists seen as the higher character 'hero'. The game had obviously caused alot of issues with governmental heads in both Britain and America, causing them to threaten prison sentences and bans of the original american dominant game.
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