A Three Dimensional Amusement Arcade

Caption: Mario Children
Creator: Mopo
Source: http://mopo.ca

ONLINE Gamer. . . 

Support, Collaboration, Sociability, Leadership

As somebody who does not interact with online gaming, I never understood the distinct culture and buzz around this new form of media. Nor had I refuted  socially Inept stereotypes chanted by online spectators (Yahoo! Forum 2011). It was not until now that I really acknowledged the true meaning of an online gamer.


It would be misleading to say that gaming is for the antisocial. Online arcades not only embody interaction between new media and ones self, they harvest social relationships, connections (Nardi 2010) and a sense of belonging (Wellman 2002). Bcistu's blog reiterates the idea that social media simply connects consumers who share similar interests.

Caption: Team Players
Creator: SK Gaming
Source: http://www.sk-gaming.com

However, new digital technology stems further than three-dimensional virtual worlds. In recent episodes, talk show host Conan O'Brien (2011) emphasised media convergence by recreating a real-life version of the video game 'Angry Birds' with music and film (watch below). The hilarious real-life experience proves that new media gaming steps outside of individual homes and extends to a more social, collaborative environment within a digital economy.

Caption: Angry Birds
Creator: Rovio Mobile
Source: http://angrybirds.myshopify.com/

(O'Brien 2011)

This emerging culture inspired media conglomerate News Corporation to 

"cash in" on the social gaming trend 

with "Making Fun" and "IGN Entertainment" (Chang 2011) as social gaming proves to have aspects of a business model (7News 2011). 

Employers should take note of this new trend as strategic challenges facing leaders in multi-player online role-playing games are shaping the skills required for real-world business leadership (Reeves, Malone, O'Driscoll 2008).

So don't be too quick to dismiss online gaming. After all, new media consumers shape our digital future.

Caption: Gaming
Creator: PE Central
Source: http://pecactivegaming.blogspot.com/2010/11/video-games-are-now-segmented-active.html

References

Bcistu, Pete. 2011. "The New Media Amusement Arcade," Digital Media Student Blog. Accessed March 20, 2011. http://digimediastudent.wordpress.com /2011/03/20/the-new-media-amusement-arcade/


Chang, Ellen. "News Corp. to Build Its Own Social Gaming Business." Last modified March 17, 2011. www.mobiledia.com/news/84332.html.


Nardi, Bonnie. 2010. "My Life as a Night Elf Priest: an Anthropological Account of World of Warcraft." Excerpts in First Monday 15 (7): 1-16. Accessed March 14, 2011. http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/ 3064/2574


O'Brien, Conan. 2011. Conan. TBS (broadcast March 8, 2011). Television Program.


Reeves, Byron, Thomas Malone and Tony O'Driscoll. 2008. "Leadership's Online Labs." Harvard Business Review, May. Accessed March 18th, 2011. http://hbr.org/2008/05/leaderships-online-labs/ar/1


Seven News. 2011. "News Corp. Aims to Build Own Social Gaming Business." Accessed March 18, 2011. http://au.news.yahoo.com/tech-news/a/-/technology/9023588/news-corp-aims-to-build-own-social-gaming-business/.


Wellman, Barry. 2002. “Little Boxes, Glocalization, and Networked Individualism.” Lecture Notes in Computer Science 2362 (1): 337-343. Accessed March 18, 2011. doi: 10.1007/3-540-45636-8_2. 


Yahoo! Forum. 2011. "Why do people hate on people who play World of Warcraft." Accessed March 17. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101212020819AA5xhW6