New Media/Digital

Culture:
Alejandra Val Cubero
What is Digital Culture?

A digital culture is a concept that describes

how technology and the internet are
shaping the way that we interact as humans.

 It’s
the way that we behave, think and
communicate within society.
What does digital culture include?

 Digital Cultures include :

the web; social media; online identities; mobile

media; social networks; computer games; virtual
communities; theories of technology and culture;
digital research; and media arts.
When did digital culture start?

 In the mid-1990s, a confluence of factors;

1) exponentially increasing microchip

processing power,
2) the diffusion of personal computing,
3) the conception of the World Wide Web …
Examples of digital platforms:

• Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter,

Instagram, and LinkedIn.
• Knowledge platforms like StackOverflow, Quora,
and Yahoo! Answers.
• Media sharing platforms like YouTube, Spotify,
and Vimeo.
• Service-oriented platforms like Uber, Airbnb, and
GrubHub.
Example: Video Games

 Videogames have become ubiquitous in

modern culture. Understanding them as a
medium allows a fuller understanding of their
implications in the realms of entertainment,
information, and communication.

 Studyingtheir history reveals new perspectives

on the ways video games have affected
mainstream culture/media
Video Games

 Nowadays we take classic movies or

video games and showing them to
young people to record their reactions
for YouTube.
Video Games

The 1970s saw the rise of

video games as a cultural
phenomenon. However, the
precursors to modern video
games were created as early
as the 1950s.
 The
first video game console for the
home began selling in 1972.

 The
birth of the home computer
market in the 1970s paralleled the
emergence of video game consoles.
 Nintendo, a Japanese card and novelty
producer that had begun to produce electronic
games in the 1970s, was responsible for
arcade games such as Donkey Kong in the
early 1980s.

 Its first home console, developed in 1984 for

sale in Japan, tried to succeed where Atari had
failed.
 The game Super Mario Brothers, released with
the system, was also a landmark in video game
development.

 Its designer, Shigeru Miyamoto, tried to mimic the

experiences of childhood adventures, creating
a fantasy world not based on previous models
of science fiction or other literary genres
 Super Mario
Brothers also gave
Nintendo an iconic
character who has been
used in numerous other
games, television
shows, and even a
movie.

The development of
this type of character
and fantasy world
became the norm for
video game makers.
As companies focused on new
marketing strategies, wider
audiences were targeted, and
video games’ influence on
culture began to be felt.
Online Gaming Gains Popularity

 The
current state of the home console
market still involves the three major
companies of the past 10 years: Nintendo,
Sony, and Microsoft.
Game Culture
 Gaming culture is the set of customs,
traditions, symbols and norms that have
emerged around the share experience
of video games.

 Gaming culture also features a large

number of subcultures centered around
factors such as genre, locations, interest
and skill level.
Game Culture … Game Values?

 Identity:
Sense of camaraderie with
others gamers.
 Social: Video games are a form of
social interaction that provide diverse
environment to engage other people
both physical and virtual .
Game Culture … Game Values?

 Languaje: Vocabulary that emerges within the

players know as leetspeak. Ex: gg as Good
Game.
 Etiquette: Rules of politeness associated with
a game or situation. Ex: in some games is
Good etiquette to leave a game with gg when
it is clear the other player has won. In other
cases can be bm, or bad manners, to leave a
game before is over
Game Culture … Game Values?

 Traditions: LAN parties.

A Local area network (LAN) party is a

gathering of people with computers or
compatible game consoles, where a local area
network (LAN) connection is established
between the devices using a router or switch,
primarily for the purpose of playing
multiplayer video games together.
Game Culture … Game Values?

Stories: Games are often wrapped in rich

narratives that represents a literary
tradition of histories. These stories are
another type of shared experience
among gammers.

Media: Video channels, music videos,

films ..fashion, art …
The Effects of Video Games on Other
Types of Media

 Video games during the 1970s and ’80s

were often derivatives of other forms of
media. E.T., Star Wars, and a number of
other games took their cues from movies,
television shows, and books.
 This began to change in the 1980s with the
development of cartoons based on video
games, and in the 1990s and 2000s with
live-action feature films based on video
games.
Television
 Television programs based on video games
were an early phenomenon. Pac-Man, Pole
Position, and Q*bert were among the animated
programs that aired in the early 1980s.

 In the 1990s, Pokémon, originally a game developed

for the Nintendo Game Boy, was turned into a
television series, a card game, several movies, and
even a musical.
Film
 The rise in film adaptations of video games
accompanies the increased age of video game
users.

 In 1995, Mortal Kombat, a live-action movie based

on the video game, grossed over $70 million at the
box office, placing it 22nd in the rankings for that
year.
 Ex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-dfaJ1plvk
Film

 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) , starred by

Angelina Jolie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlCylyAKpGA

 Tomb Raider (2018), starred by Alicia Vikander

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ndhidEmUbI
Film

 Films based on video games are an increasingly

common sight at the box office, such as producer
Jerry Bruckheimer’s Prince of Persia, or the recent
sequel to Tron, based on the idea of a virtual
gaming arena.
Music
 Video games have been accompanied by music ever
since the days of the arcade. Video game music was
originally limited to computer beeps turned into theme
songs. The design of the Nintendo 64, Sega Saturn,
and Sony PlayStation made it possible to use sampled
audio on new games, meaning songs played on
physical instruments could be recorded and used on
video games.
 Beginning with the music of the Final Fantasy series,
scored by famed composer Nobuo Uematsu, video
game music took on film score quality, complete with
full orchestral and vocal tracks.
Music

 Composing music for video games has turned into a

profitable means of employment for many
musicians.

 Schools such as Berklee College of Music, Yale,

and New York University have programs that
focus on composing music for video games.
The students are taught many of the same
principles that are involved in film scoring.
 While video games may not be
accepted by everyone as a form of art,
there is no doubt that they contribute
greatly to artistic media such as music
and film.
Blurring the Boundaries Between Video Games,
Information, Entertainment, and Communication

 Social media outlets such as Facebook have

also used video games to expand their
communication platforms. FarmVille, a
game in which players plant, harvest, and
sell crops and expand their farm plots with
the profits, is integrated with Facebook so
that all users can connect with their real-life
friends in the game. The game adds another
aspect of communication—one centered on
competition, strategy, and the aesthetics of
game-play—to the Facebook platform.
Blurring the Boundaries Between Video Games,
Information, Entertainment, and Communication

 In 2010, FarmVille had 80 million users, an

unprecedented number of people playing a single
game. Other games for Facebook
include Lexulous (formerly Scrabulous), a game that
mimicked the board game Scrabble closely enough
that it had to be changed, and Pet Society, a game
that allows users to raise virtual animals as pets.
Controversial Issues

• Video game violence has been an issue

since the 1976 game Death Race. The
potential of video games to simulate murder
created a new issue in entertainment media.
• A great number of news stories link video
games with violent crimes. Studies have
found a correlation between aggressive
behavior and video games, but critics claim
that these studies do not prove that video
games cause violent acts.
Controversial Issues
 Videogame addiction is associated more with
online games, although many instances of
single-player obsessions exist as well.

 Sexism and gender issues are hot topics in the

video game industry, as female gamers and
developers often struggle for equal footing.
Controversy has arisen over character
stereotypes; however, modern games are
beginning to break through conventional
barriers of gender.
Asociación española del
videojuego:
http://www.aevi.org.es/

Desarrollo español del

videojuego: http://dev.org.es/
The Future of Media
 Life has changed dramatically over the past decade, and
a major reason for this is the progression of media
technology.

 Traditional Media encompasses all the means of

communication that existed before the Internet and new
media technology, including printed materials (books,
magazines, and newspapers), broadcast
communications (TV and radio), film, and music. New
Media, on the other hand, includes electronic video
games and entertainment, and the Internet and social
media.
 New media has three major advantages over
traditional media: First, it is immediate, enabling
consumers to find out the latest news, weather
report, or stock prices at the touch of a button.

 Digital music can be downloaded instantly, movies

can be ordered via cable or satellite on-demand
services, and books can be read on e-readers.
 In an increasingly fast-paced world, there is little
need to wait for anything … but ….
 The second advantage is cost. Most online content
is free, from blogs and social networking sites to
news and entertainment sources. Whether readers
are willing to pay for content once they are used to
receiving it for free is something that the The New
York Times set to find out in 2011, when it
introduces a metered fee model for its online paper.

 Finally, new media is able to reach the most remote

parts of the globe.

 But …
Modern media delivery has
numerous advantages, including
the speed at which content is
delivered, the widespread reach of
the Internet, and the low cost—
most online content is free.

But …
 Online media delivery enables a wide range
of voices and perspectives to be heard via
blogs and social networking sites. These
sites are also changing the way knowledge is
consumed: from a one-way system (for
example, through passively reading
newspaper articles) to a dynamic process
that involves an entire online community.

 But …
• The Internet also has economic disadvantages; it
widens the digital divide between those who have
access to the technology and those who do not
(usually older people, people of lower economic
means or educational status, or people in
developing countries with poor infrastructure) …

• Reading: Favaro, L. (2018). Los

Estudios Críticos de Internet:
Conceptos, debates y retos. Revista
Teknokultura, 15(1), pp. 151-167.
 Techgiants: FAMGA (Facebook, Apple,
Microsoft, Google and Amazon), FANG
(Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google), or GAFA
(Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple) ….

 They are different from their predecessors in

two significant ways: They are U.S.
multinationals rather than being rooted in the
countries in which they operate, and they are
largely unconstrained by commitments to
protect the public interest.
New Trends in Media (2021)

1.TikTok’s continued takeover

2.Livestream’s
power to connect
with consumers
3.Mainstream virtual reality
4.Augmented reality is everywhere
5.Audio chat
6.Video content
7.Instagram stories for strategic
marketing
New Carees in Media

 As a result of rapid change in the digital age, careers in media are

constantly shifting, and many people who work in the industry
face an uncertain future:

• Interface designer
• Cloud computing engineer
• Integrated digital media specialist
• Game developer: Art director, Programmer, Sound designer,
Producer, Game tester, Animator …
• Mobile application developer
• Media consultant