Of the Odyssey 100 to NewsGames: A Genealogy of the Games as Information

By Geraldo A. Seabra and Luciene A. Santos

This is the first e-book of four volumes of Theories of NewsGames series - games like emulators news. The material was divided on issues of research, narrative, social impact and mechanics. The first volume is based on the research of the dissertation ‘Games Emulators Information’. This edition draws a timeline on the history of consoles, media titles and games from the perspective of game information. The paper also describes the theoretical basis of news based games and brings a draft proposal of a new model of Online Journalism produced, reproduced and consumed from ludic-informative platforms. Throughout this e-book we seek to demystify the world of video games demonized and support the idea that games are the best platforms for learning, information and increase our cognitive capacity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Geraldo A. Seabra
• Release date: Aug 26, 2015
• ISBN: 9788563475015

Geraldo A. Seabra

It's a professor, journalist and master in media, web journalism and games emulators news. The market worked on Radio Alvorada, Itatiaia Radio, Television Minas Network and Gazette of Belo Horizonte. In the academic sphere taught at the Funorte College, Unipac and UniBH. Yet it was a partner of Millennium Communications Agency. He is currently a professional writer and editor of the Blog of NewsGames. Born in Belo Horizonte (Brazil) is based in Treviso (Italy).

Book preview

NewsGames

Of the Odyssey 100

to NewsGames

A genealogy of the games

as information

Published by

Geraldo A. Seabra

Luciene A. Santos

Series Theory of NewsGames

first digital edition – Jan/2012

updated version – Oct/2015

Brazil and Italia

Volume I

email the authors

[e-mail]

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authors

Geraldo A. Seabra

Foto_Geraldo_Mac

It is a writer, teacher, journalist and master in media, web journalism and news games emulators. The market worked on Radio Alvorada, Radio Itatiaia, TV Minas Network and Daily Belo Horizonte. In the academic field taught at Funorte college, Unipac Lafayete and UniBH. It was a partner of Millennium Communications Agency and currently works as a professional writer and editor of the Blog of NewsGames. Born in Belo Horizonte (Brazil), is currently based in Treviso (Italy).

Luciene A. Santos

Foto_Luciene_Mac

It is a journalist and expert in media, web journalism and games like information and news. The market went through private and public press advisory. It was also a partner of Millennium Communications Agency and currently works as a professional writer and editor of NewsGames Blog. Born in Belo Horizonte (Brazil), is currently based in Treviso (Italy).

preface

We started our journey into the world of video games for about five years, to unravel the secrets of his multi narratives. Throughout this time, we seek to discover the reasons why the gaming media have become so attractive to children and adolescents, mainly as a platform for information and news. To confirm my hypothesis, we made hard work of field research, in collaboration with the journalist Luciene Santos. In September 2009, we defended the dissertation Games and emulators Information of the University Presidente Antonio Carlos (MG - Brazil). By of way publication, the material has given rise to Series Theories of NewsGames. Because of the work of extension, the publication was divided into four distinct parts editorial: Research, Narrative, Mechanics and Social Impact of the Games as Emulators of information and news. 

Much of the material used in this first volume of the series covers the data collected during our master. Beyond the material of our master's dissertation, this book is based on articles (Seabra, 2007; Seabra 2008a and Seabra 2008b) produced on the subject over the years of research. The first part of the research has led to the book "Odyssey 100 to NewsGames - a genealogy of the games as information' In the e-book version, the text outlines a timeline on the history of the console, the media and the titles of video games in terms of the games as information. The trip to the cognitive universe of video games begins from the old platform Odyssey 100 and covers the main game titles turn on Atari, Nintendo, PlayStation and Xbox, until finally we arrived of the Galaxy of NewsGames. 

The work culminates with the presentation of the theoretical basis of the games based on news, as well as a draft proposal for a new model of online journalism produced, reproduced and consumed by gaming platforms-informative. Throughout this e-book also tries to demystify the world of video games demonized and support the argument that the games are the best platforms for learning, information and increase our cognitive capacity. We classify this new format of Journalism 4.0 - product in recreational settings on the basis of the communication media online games, in order to transform the situations in games, applications, consumption habits and actions to mobilize around virtual real social problems. 

Our study also seeks to revive the sense of citizenship 'lost' by young people, and provide a more optimistic outlook on the future of our young people more and more difficult, especially with regard to the labor market. Schaff (1995, p.118) states that young people will need to prepare more and continuously to fight on equal terms for a place in the labor market. According to Schaff, this led to the extreme competitiveness in an information society, is already taking away the meaning of life. Without a sense of life - aware of the purpose for which we live - the young is in danger of falling into what Schaff (1995, p.118) calls 'existential vacuum': existential vacuum. 

This sense of the lives of young people would be consumed by the voracity of the information society that, inexorably, establishing structural unemployment, whose socioeconomic impacts will be far more catastrophic to those already imposed before the Industrial Revolution. The theme of this book was chosen because of the growing involvement of adolescents with video games. A survey conducted in 2003 by research Zanthus¹ revealed that no less than 92% of young Americans had played video games and a contumacious. Young people were heard between 14 and 26 years, revealing the importance of games in the cultural life of today's youth. Another issue that influenced the choice of theme is the current course of discussion and analysis around the Manichean games who strides to the demonization of especially violent games. 

This myopic view of reality is due largely to the war between traditional media and new media, depending on the progress of this in relation to other marketing media. To achieve a longer life, traditional media, especially TV, has been bombarding negatively video games to defend against the growing expansion of this new medium. Therefore, we seek to tackle the problem from a new approach: see the violent games or not in support of learning for skills development and skills of young adolescents. Instead, they are trying to marginalize that which can be extremely useful for the development of the youth of today and tomorrow's computer in a society that increasingly demands skills to enter the competitive job market. When speaking to the young escapes of information seeking only pleasure and fun in these games do not question that the information displayed in the traditional way, even in new media, may be in some way, far from their reality. 

If we lose this war with a view to the high school dropout, unable to conquer it through traditional models of seizure information (school and traditional media), why not try to look at video games as a definitive model of seizure information? Given this context, the games would be one of the only open door to citizenship of young people in information society? In fact, for thousands of young people, the games have already served as a source of income. In the last decade, automakers began to recruit young gamers to deal with computerized platforms for the production of vehicles before they have the ease in handling commands endless. In addition to physical agility of the hands, the new profession requires new skills and competencies, quick thinking, decision making, whose performance is captured from information provided in support of any games. One can question whether or not this would be learning from factual information. 

We must then define the meaning of the term etymologically information. In this book, we adopt the definition of knowledge transfer as a synonym for information. Indeed, any learning gauged from the gaming media can be considered transmission of knowledge of any kind. So let's see, the knowledge can be tacit or direct. In the case of the narratives of games, the information may not always appear explicitly, clearly, as an exhibition of traditional classroom, or in the text of a newspaper headline in a descriptive way. Often, only refers to graphs whose information content arises only from the narrative underlying form of the game, however, with important implications in the formation and development of the young today. Remember that the Internet had undermined the old pattern book. With the advent of the Web, there were three phenomena: 

1. depagination (Levy, 1996); 

2. dephonetic (Derrida, 1993); 

3. deverbalisation (Coover, 2000). 

At the interface of browser², verbal and written language tends to become more and more behind the advancing front of the image as narrative form most appropriate to universe of cyberculture. In this new reality, the phenomenon of deverbalisation strengthen or not the original identities or multiple transformations would point to know and mean? Far from a conclusive answer, the visual storytelling or visual information coming from the games point to a paradigm shift in understanding of information. Within the game, repeating the same action several times, the user can grasp educational information without himself note that this is occurring. In the process, the player will have learned information without having conscious contact with them. There are types of games, such as simulation games and strategy, in which information is available in a latent form, not by chance the RPG games were the inspiration for the drafting of a new model of support based on Online Journalism games. 

Already in fighting games and combat, the information appears so behind, through the actions of the player and visual information. An example is a game maps for Counter Strike, which requires a lot of concentration and breath control by the player to perform with precision shots. Otherwise, it can not achieve their goals. Apparently, there is no information of an educational nature of this game, whose narrative is of extreme violence. But in the face of routine cognitive repetitions - a characteristic of these games - the player will have learned two important information for real life: increase the level of concentration in other cognitive areas and increased physical control of respiration, an indicator of control emotional. Whether seeking their first job, whether in search of new horizons for the career professional, games, unquestionably opened new job opportunities for young people to enter the market through the front door. 

Throughout this book we will try to answer every question that guided the research: the games can function as emulators of information? But Pierre Levy warns: The more we are personally involved in an information, the easier it will remind her (Levy, 1993, p.81). Our research of games as part of the narrative information emulated by the Odyssey 100 platform, considered the first console game released for the videogame industry. The work culminates with the presentation of the theoretical bases of games based in real-time news or event. On this trip, yet we seek to demystify the world of gaming. Throughout this book we will sustain the argument that gaming platforms are the best platforms for learning, information and increase our cognitive capacity.

introduction

The study of games as emulators³ information seeks to fill a gap left by a vision to some extent myopic, that video games somehow warped the formation and behavior of young people, leading them to juvenile delinquency due to the increase of violence caused considered by their narratives, often violent. If this were entirely true, millions of young gamers around the world doomed to a cruel fate: they are victims or perpetrators of violence that has always been at the heart of human history. Several scientific studies (Alves, 2004; Johnson, 2005; Mendes, 2006) show that the games, especially fighting and fighting, can incite violence in those plays. On the other hand, according to Johnson (2005, p.108), violent games can lead to anger, but certainly games that people line up to buy are those that require more thought.

This survey is the basis for the profile of the brazilian gamers⁴, since the games have universal standard platforms. Johnson's statement coincides with the annual report of Entertainmet Software Association (ESA) published in 2009⁵. In the survey, commissioned the Institute The NPD Group/Point-of-Sale Information and published in 2008, violent games do not appear as the most played, which in itself serves to demystify the 'bad reputation'. In the computer platform, strategy games (strategy) appear in the first place as the best selling (34.6%), while the shooters (shooter) appear only in fourth place (9.7%). Another survey conducted by the institute in the United States contradicts Zanthus further triggered this wave against violent video games. According to data, only 25% of young American men are considered heavy players⁶.

venda

However, do make clear that violence is not just in games, is part of our culture. As a result, we live in a time of stories created in the aesthetics of violence, certainly contaminated by violence from our daily lives. In this scenario of actual violence there are naturally reflected in film scripts, novels, plays, finally, in the plots of the games. But this book wants to provide a scientific basis against those who still see the games only as an instrument of increased violence, especially among young adolescents. Given this scenario hostile, this book seeks to answer the following question: games emulators can act as conscious or unconscious information as to serve as a learning aid and generate traditional skills and competencies in practitioners of violent video games?

Without a unanimous response, we can say that games are behaviorists⁷. Sure, they may be good and bad in light of the value judgments of each culture. On the one hand, the violent narratives can generate violent behavior, it would be a mistake to assert that the information underlying them would not generate any other type of learning beyond the violence mentioned above. So it's a mistake to view the information given - to avoid the term subliminal narratives of games as we did with the germs before the advent of the microscope: the seeds were always there, no one believed existed in fact. 

Result: many people died to ignore the fact that the virtual echoes relentlessly, in real life. The Microscope Metaphor applies to the universe of games. In December 2001, was released the results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)⁸. In this report, Brazil appeared in last in reading among 32 countries assessed in the study performed in 2000. In the evaluations conducted in 2003 and 2006, Brazil returned to the last bitter collocations⁹. In 2003, he left the flashlight after a further group of countries do the same test.

In the final ranking, Brazil went to the 39th position among 43 nations. In 2006, Brazil ranked 49th. Place among 56 participants, ahead of Argentina, but behind Indonesia, Romania, Mexico, Uruguay and Chile. The fact that the Brazilian educational system is deficient in terms of its goals has systematically been ratified by the results of the National Basic Education Evaluation System (Saeb), the National Survey of Secondary Education, the Ministry of Education (Enem) and Exam National Course of the Ministry of Education (General Test).These results show that the performance of students from most schools in Brazil is still far below that required by the leading educational centers of the world.

In general, the data show that Saeb the Brazilian educational system is extremely poor, since most students do not achieve minimum performance standards in relation to the lowest level established by teachers and educators. One reason for this poor academic performance is due to the fact that schools still adopt the old system of memorization, while the ideal would be to adopt a system that favored more comparative and reasoning skills of each individual student. Only 1% of Brazilian students reached the highest level of performance, a level which is desirable for a good education. (Araújo, 2002). 

Faced with this adverse scenario, this book opens a new window on the universe of education, to bring new educational benefits that will contribute to the comprehension of the infinite possibilities of information and generation of new skills and competencies for open media and narratives of games without that counteract the interest that young people play games and nurture the school's institutional role of providing formal education. Instead, this paper seeks to encourage young people to take them to a more intimate, natural and interactive with the knowledge that comes from the media games. Thus it would be balancing needs and interests of the school readiness of young people to use new technologies in order to allow them a playful learning environment, contextualized their experiences and the pressing needs of daily life and professional.

After all, as stated by several authors (Castells, 1999; Turkle, 1997, Latour, 1994; Levy, 1999; Zille, 2004), a new information culture we live, where the games are configured as a star last informative greatness newfound especially by fans of video games. In this sense, our research project Games and emulators information seeks to open the front doors of the media to an emerging medium that society insists on putting aside. In the first part of this book, the goal is to show that even in these hostile environments-looking information is laid out underlying (unconscious) or explicit (conscious) that can be perceived as an educational information, in order to generate skills and competencies in practitioners gamers of adolescents. After all, it is important to note that since the first games in the late 50's and early 60, the information has always been part of the narratives of games. As the history of games to be confused with the emergence of the islands where the games are run, we analyze the information from the media game console Odyssey 100¹⁰, considered ground zero for the first generation of video games.

The analysis follows the series of games by Atari consoles released in the early 70's through the PlayStation series in 80 years and the computer games in 90 years, right up to current games played on online platform. In the end, games are also evaluated the new generation of games that help structure the theory NewsGames - news or event published in real time format game, culminating with the proposal of a new model of online journalism. To support this theory, the research was based on the games Counter Strike, Medal Of Honor and RPG Everquest¹¹, considered by experts games whose content would lead adolescents to violence). The goal is a strategic asset: Identify the information provided directly or indirectly in these games that can serve as educational content, learning traditional and help raise awareness for the purpose of generating skills and competencies in adolescents gamerschips¹² connected communities.

1. etymology of the game

The game comes from the Latin word ludus, Luder that designated children's games. Incorporated into the Romance languages, the term has been replaced by other ludus - ocus, iocare-, referring also to the scenic representation and gambling. Gradually, the term associated with the idea of movement, lightness and non-seriousness. Due to the large number of shares indicated by the word play, it took on different meanings according to the time and place comes to be confused with mockery, hobby, fun or even being used as a synonym Toy and play. The term derives from the game still jocu masculine noun of Latin origin meaning joke. Etymologically could be summed up with the idea of a joke, hobby and subject to rules to be observed by the player. The game can be seen as a stimulus to growth, a search of cognitive development, not as a form of competition between people or groups, which inevitably would involve only a victory or defeat.

For Huizinga, the game is not a task imposed, with set rules, but rather a way to establish their own limits of time and space, creating order and balancing a rhythm with harmony. The play is, in essence, movement, because it assumes a share, its own dynamics, during which the player presents quantitative changes in relation to their behavior, their feelings, their learning or their form of expression. So we offer the possibility of a class to play, the behavior of joy, seriousness, creation, freedom may appear simultaneously (Carneiro, 1998). The writer Oswald de Andrade once said, man is an animal that lives between two large toys, love and death where everything gets where it loses. Epistemologically, the game is a disinterested and spontaneous activity, admitting a rule freely chosen, which must be observed, or