Since I was little, games as a form of entertainment has grown from an insignificant past time into becoming the worldwide phenomenon it is today. As a child of the eighties, new technologies were very common place in an average household like the one I lived in. These new inventions - like the VHS and later DVD, CD-player and MP3 or the home computer - were all important steps into changing the way we live and spend our lives today. None of these however seem to have had the same radical effect on people as games have. Nowadays, children and adults alike from all walks of life, spend countless hours adventuring and playing. Even though portable music players are seen everywhere and television is bigger than ever, playing games is the one that I believe involves us the most.
I have been documenting games in movies since back in 2003 and one of the most important changes I've seen so far is the way games are featured in movies and television. Back in the early eighties, when home consoles and arcade games were in one of their biggest peaks, games in movies were often shown as a part of the youth culture. Kids of the eighties loved to spend their time at shopping malls or at fast food restaurants and this was often the place for arcades.
Nowadays, almost every single TV show and a large number of movies have product placed consoles, handhelds or games in them. Arcades are very rare, but somehow almost every kid seem to be aware of, or, are playing video games. They often know about game companies like Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft as well as bigger franchises like for example Mario, World of Warcraft or Halo. Also, when it comes to product placement it is almost certainly always one of the big three that are shown - Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft. This isn't so strange since they are the main manufacturers of home game consoles.
By documenting images from different movies and television series in one place, I have been able to build an understanding of which titles and distributors that appear to be or have been more prominent than others. By far the most reoccurring arcade games are Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man from Midway. This stays true to the fact that the Pac-Man franchise is said to be one of the most important throughout history. Among the companies I would say that Atari is the most exposed, closely followed by Nintendo - both of these pioneers in their own way. As we get farther into the 21st century, console manufacturers like Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony, do appear more. I would even say that since the end of the last century, arcade games are an extremely rare sight within any media.
One thing that surprises me though is the lack of Massive Multiuser Online games in movies and TV shows. MMOs are huge right now and people spend millions and millions playing them and maybe it is the current success that keeps them from having to market them in media?
As I also document both video-, computer-, and arcade games as well as pinball machines, it is possible to get a rough apprehension of which of these are the most common. As pinball machines have been around from the late eighteen hundreds up to today, one would think that they also are the ones most shown within media. It is hard for me to say this for certain since there are literally thousands of movies out there. From what I can asses, home video games are the most common followed by handhelds, arcade games and then pinball machines.
The Electronic Playground will continue to grow and this will surely help me to determine if my conclusions are correct. For now, since they aren't based on any actual facts other than my own observations, they do point me in a general direction.
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