The Message Behind the Game

This is what I have so far for the essay, I don't like it much because I know what I want to write but I'm have trouble putting it on the page, so some constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated.

The Message Behind the Game

              The highly competitive, fast passed, and always evolving world of videogames is one of the biggest influences on popular culture in the world. From its humble beginning in arcade stores to today’s hyper realistic graphics, this form of new media is one of the biggest money making industries out there. Videogames have always been very popular ever since the very first game came out so it’s no surprise that they’re one of the biggest influences on popular culture.

Videogames are filled with gripping tales of heroics and exciting stories of adventure all with you in the pilot’s seat and while not all games are a hit all of them have a huge impact on the players. The most important thing for something to be in pop culture is that it has a large fan base. Videogame fans help to make the game popular and well known by talking about the game with their friends, some fans write stories based off the videogames, others make fan-art, and some even expand upon the game its self. Games like The Elder Scrolls; Skyrim have dedicated fans who on the PC version will make mods or modifications to the game such as giving all the mudcrabs top hats and monocles. 

Of course all this couldn’t have started without the game and the people who play the game; the primary demographic for most videogames tends to be young men. Recently a lot of videogame companies have been reaching out for a female audience by making more games where the protagonist is a female but the simple fact of the matter is this; without the fans the game it would not be considered popular culture. People determine a game’s success and take into account everything from the characters, setting, plot, graphics, and game play. Lots of games currently push for high quality graphics to make the game look more realistic normally at the price of the plot. BioShock Infinite is a great example of this where the game designers set up what was to be a great game combining beautiful graphics with a great and shocking story arc until the last half hour of game play where the writers got lazy ruining the whole game and not giving you the one decision you always got in the first two games: the choice to be a hero or the villain. Sure people loved the game play and graphics but in relation to the first two games it’s would have been better to have been release as its own game instead of tacking it onto the BioShock series as the ugly stepchild you hid from the public.

 Video Games as one of the highest money making industries in the world they do what they do which is licensing popular game titles for marketing purposes. While on the surface that doesn’t seem like much to the world of popular culture until you look at how many people talk about the game online and in person or when you walk into a trendy store filled with products based around the games. Stores such as Hot Topic and Spencer’s selling the game themed memorabilia, the selling of the product means that it’s popular and in purchasing the items it is further cementing the game into culture. Lots of videogames have clothing, toys, and props being sold based off the game and as we all know in our society if you love something you should spend large amounts of money on related items to show the world how much you love it. 

Videogames are a heavy influence on popular culture in their content, enjoy-ability, and memorability. The products that surround it and the fan bases play a big a role in a videogames pop culture status being practically what the game is built off of.

BioShock; fight with morality- Draft

BioShock; fight with morality

              Forgotten Memories flow back to you as the plane you’re on crashes into the ocean, the only survivor you swim to the only piece of land. Suddenly you’re sucked into the underwater city of Rapture forced to defend yourself from drug crazed citizens and metal abominations as you try to escape from this submerged dystopia. BioShock makes you question cultural values and where the line between right and wrong lies. The video game forces you to make moral decisions as you play though while pointing out flaws in cultural norms, values, and beliefs. From child murder to the concept of free will BioShock challenges cultural values and reveals the negative values of society.

              BioShock the first of the BioShock series has you play as Jack, the lone survivor of an airplane crash as he finds himself in the dystopian city of Rapture a city that’s literally underwater. As you play through the game under the direction of Atlas and Dr. Tenenbaum you must fight off the citizens of Rapture who were once normal everyday people but are now drugged up lunatics known as Splicers as you try to escape Rapture. Along the way you are given the choice of either killing or saving creatures known as “little sisters” once normal little girls, they were genetically altered and mentally conditioned to harvest ADAM (A drug the city of Rapture is practically formed around) from corpses. Killing or saving the little sisters will give you points however killing them gives you more and the little sisters are always guarded by a large mindless cyborg called “Big Daddy”. While playing the character runs into large amounts of propaganda and is shown how Rapture went from an escape from the cold world above to the dystopia you fight for your life in. BioShock is a horror action game meant for teens and young adults.

              All cultures value children after all their little people and it’s considered very bad to drink their blood, which is why BioShock sets up your biggest source of power as little girls. The little sisters are the only way to get ADAM which goes towards buying powers or plasmids which gives you the ability to shot elements such as lightning out of your hand. The little sisters who were once normal children were turned into drug incubators, the now raggedy children walk the streets harvesting the corpses that line the streets. The little sister’s challenge cultural values by having kids used as a drug mules for an entire city dependent on the drug. It makes it seem as though its okay sense the entire city is on the drugs, the very despite splicers will often attack and kill them for the drug they carry and grow in their body. The player has to constantly make the decision between right and wrong by either saving or killing the little sisters. With the exception of Dr. Tenenbaum and some dead NPCs every citizen in Rapture even the first person to help you survive Rapture encourages you to kill the little sisters. BioShock sets up a world were child murder is something everyone is trying because it feeds their addiction.

              BioShock also tests the belief of free will by later reviling that Atlas who was first thought to be helping you was actually controlling your actions and using you to kill Andrew Ryan his biggest competition when it comes to controlling Rapture. The game is about power and questions the existence of free will, as with most games the story only progresses by doing as your told BioShock however draws attention to that fact. The decision to kill children is given to give the illusion of choice in the game. The belief that there is no such thing as free will is normally that of an individual and not that of groups, the fact that the entire city of Rapture believes that there is no such thing as free will is a very bad cultural belief. The concept of not having free will seems a little pessimistic on a small scale but is a very dangerous thing with mass belief. People who believe that they have no free will are more likely to not care about what happens and more likely to lean towards murder, suicide, and other crimes. Mass apathy is a very dangerous thing especially in a city full of drug addicts, BioShock doesn’t promote so much as warn about the dangers of believing that there is no free will.

              Rapture is an anarchist society which is heavy influenced by two major figures; Andrew Ryan and Frank Fontaine who battle for control in the quickly dividing sections of Rapture. The game is filled with anti-government propaganda posters and city wide broadcasts from Ryan denouncing established governments sense a world without big brother was why he created Rapture. BioShock promotes positive views for structured governments while showing the dark reality of anarchy. BioShock also brings up the cultural belief that there should always be boundaries in science to protect the people and animals involved. This belief is reinforced throughout Rapture as the city is flooded with science experiments preformed with no regard for who they might hurt. Creating the little sisters caused large amounts of child deaths, the big Daddies that protect the little sisters required to memory wipe and torture the men who signed up in order to graft them into metal diving suits, smaller experiments are shown throughout the game to have cause mass loss of life and unnatural results for those who lived only stand to prove that scientific progress should never come at the price life. The mad scientists of Rapture are able to do these horrible things because there is no rules to stop them just as there were none during the holocaust.

              BioShock takes a unique perspective on society the lines of right and wrong. From unrestricted science experiments to anarchy and child murder, BioShock brings to light questionable beliefs and values that when unrestricted lead to horrible consequences. BioShock brings to the surface the negative values and beliefs that come with cultural norms.