1. To examine the role of
social video games.

2. Structure
 How do the structures of these games challenge the
player text relationship?
 Discuss
 What do we mean by gaming community?
 Digital gamers form common associations or
relationships with other gamers.
 3 concepts of community. 1] communities of
presence, 2] imagined communities, 3]virtual
communities
 LAN parties

3.  How are these games media text?
 Imagined communities... Symbolic devices
 Iconography
 Flynn 2003, notes how writers such as
Baudrillard 1993 and Mitchell 1998
conceptualised home-based wired
technologies and /or gaming consoles within
cyber utopian framework, viewing them as
portals to a fantastical world of speed,
danger and freedom.

4.  Do these video games challenge the
audiences understanding of what a video
game is?
 Social play and learning
 Observing players
 Playing the game... Or each other?

5.  Are there references to other media forms?
 How do they break the audiences
expectations?
 Read the article from The Guardian and
discuss. “How Wii Fit and Ubisoft's Your
Shape bring guilt into gaming Breaching the
barrier between physical and virtual selves
threatens a fundamental part of gaming's
appeal”

6.  Does the game have a traditional narrative or
a different type of structure?
 Where is the narrative anchored?
 Does it immerses the player...
 Is it a convincing, intricate believable
world... Does this matter?

7.  Then came the humourously titled Wii.
Released in 2006, this machine, I will
Let’s play!
argue, is pure post-postmodernism. The
controller, immediately broke from  Now, had the machine not been a
tradition coming in two seperate parts success, this argument would be
which were not always necessary. They specious, but in recent months,
were never intended to be connected Nintendo has been almost unable to
physically with the machine, instead match demand with supply. It's
using motion sensor and infra-red cheaper too, perhaps signalling an
technology. And the first part of it, end to the status symbolism of
labelled the "Wii-mote" had just seven money. It can even be used to surf
buttons, the d-pad and nthing else. But the internet, and download
though it had less buttons, because of its software originally designed for
motion sensor activity, it could do more. machines around twenty years older
Nintendo had gone forewards and than itself, and even do work. This
backwards at the same time. The backward-compatability is another
motion-sensitivity made it active, in a sign of humanity harking back to
realm that was the very definition of simpler times with fond overtones.
inactivity and it has even been proven to
help develop hand-eye coordination and So the Wii is form and function,
help its users to lose weight. sociable solitude, active inactivity
and work at play. These features
are not postmodern, they are in
fact post-postmodern.
http://www.musingsandpoetics.co
m/page9.htm

8. Signs & Signifiers
Baudrillard
Strinati
Brens and Howard 7 rules
Pastiche
Bricolage
Parody
Intertextuality
Nostalgic
Narcissistic...eclectic?
An active audience?

9.  Subject matter : narrative
 Moralities
 Setting
 Characters
 Sound and dialogue
 Representation of culture
 Identity
 Can it be considered postmodern?

10.  To truly understand how Wii revolutionizes gaming, you
have to try it for yourself. Quite simply, Wii is for
everyone. The ease of use and interactivity of the Wii
Remote and Nunchuk allows for a unique social gaming
experience for the whole family. You don't just play Wii,
you experience it.
 Why do I need Wii?
 Wii is not just a gaming console, it's a reason to get
together with your friends and family and play today's
hottest games. Wii offers legendary Nintendo franchises
like Mario, Zelda and Metroid, as well as all new classics
like Wii Sports and Wii Play. Create your own Mii character
to star in Wii games. Play friends online over Nintendo Wi-
Fi Connection or use the Internet Channel to surf the net
from your sofa. You can even download classic Nintendo
games using the Wii Shop Channel. Take a look around and
see why your TV is not complete without Wii