Video Game Culture

    Though I am by no means an "expert" on video games or video game culture, multiple nights spent controller-in-hand has made it quite apparent what type of culture gaming has become over the years.  To me, it seems as though the gaming industry has started to fragment itself into distinct groups of gamers all trying to be the best in their favorite games.  Though this is not necessarily a bad thing, as it makes finding like-minded gamers with similar skill levels significantly easier, it does seem to contradict the theories in the Jenkins and Wright readings.
    This is not to say the readings are incorrect, but I think that the ideas of games being used as instruction-supplements as presented in the Wright article is a slightly debatable topic.  Most games that are played and purchased today are not strictly for education, and focus more on objective-play, usually through collaborative effort of a team.  Though it is true that many games are played without looking at the instruction manual first (some games don't even have instruction manuals, just a standard button layout and the usual legal jargon), this has introduced the "learning curve" concept to gaming which keeps experienced players with many logged hours far above the skill of players who are just learning the game or are new to a series.  It is often difficult to climb to the top of the learning curve, and it all too often seems like game designers release new content right as you reach the top, but I think it is this constant challenge to be better that keeps gamers interested as opposed to what they are learning.
    As for the Jenkins pages, I think that he makes a good point of how provocative games could be compared to what the current trend in cinema was and how the crossover at the time could be viewed in a negative light.  There is no doubt that games with questionable content more often make the news rather than movies following similar story lines, but the question is why?  Where Jenkins argues that cinema has been perfected over the years to move audiences and influence emotions, I feel that the ability to simulate real-world situations connects with gamers on a deeper level than movies will ever be able to.  One such experience I have with this concept is in the game Civilization IV where you can re-create the Manhattan Project and develop nuclear weapons in-game for use on hostile factions.  As soon as I unlocked this technology, I used it to try and take another step towards victory, but I did not account for how dramatic and upsetting the cut-scene for the nuclear weapon was.  You see the missile launch from a base an fly towards the target, and as you are thinking "was this really the BEST option?" the missile strikes the target city and levels it. The sight of erasing a city from the map, even a digital one, was extremely depressing and really made me wonder what was going on when real life nuclear weapons were in use. 
    Seeing as gaming culture is constantly evolving and changing, I think the Wright and Jenkins articles are a good place for new gamers to gain insight into the world of video games.  Experienced gamers, however, may find the articles slightly outdated but can still appreciate what views on gaming have been.  One thing everyone can agree on: gaming is its own media that makes its own trends and acts interdependently of other media forms.