Saturday, August 25, 2012

Assignment 1-4-2


Theories of Videogames in Formative Years
              There are theories in which people say that videogames are influential in kid and adult lives. One can argue the other (in theory) that it can develop kids into acting bad or misbehaving, depending on what type of game a child is playing. An example is the Columbine shooting in Colorado, an article which was written after the school shooting explained how videogames were getting blamed from the behavior of the teens that did the shooting. Janelle Brown, a writer for Salon, went on to say in the web article “Still, violent video games were quickly blamed as a possible motivator in Tuesday’s mayhem.” (1999) Does this mean videogames were the cause, not in my opinion.
              I myself play a first person shooter game online called Medal of Honor and do not fully agree with the notion that videogames can make someone kill. The reason why I said “not fully” is because not all people are the same and people can react differently, depending how mentally stable their mind is at the time. I guess in a nutshell, if videogames cause thoughts of killing real people then that person should stay far away from playing them.
Icons of Videogames in Formative Years
There are certain icons that represent different brands of videogame consoles. In my childhood, Nintendo, being very popular when Super Mario Brothers game came out and Sega, another popular gaming system that had Sonic the Hedgehog, were very two different videogame consoles competing. Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog became iconic, especially for kids. Kids that grew up during that era and had one of the games look back and see how it has changed their life in general. These icons have established the foundation of popular videogames and allowed other videogames to evolve to create their own icon.
References
Brown, J. (1999, April 23). Doom, quake and mass murder. Retrieved from http://www.salon.com/1999/04/23/gamers/

Assignment 2-1


Assignment 2-1

There are many contemporary icons in today’s society. The icons I chose were Aaron Rodgers, The Simpsons and Intel. These three icons can be classified into different categories of contemporary icons, like sports, television and technology.

Aaron Rodgers can be recognized as an icon for football. He is a great quarterback and led the Green Bay Packers to Super bowl XLV and won, earning MVP in it. The reason I chose him is because I am a Green Bay Packer fan. He has stepped up to the plate filling in shoes of Brett Favre. I have him on my fantasy football team since he is such a good player and is able to give me tons of points each game. 

The Simpsons can be recognized as an icon for animated television show. It is now on its 23rd season and can show how a popular television show can be on the air for as long as it has. The reason why I chose it is because it is one of my favorite television shows and in its comedy, it does not discriminate against a specific culture, race or politician.

Intel can be recognized as an icon for computer hardware. Intel sells a wide variety of computer hardware like central processing units, motherboards and solid state drives. The reason why I chose Intel is because I believe there product works great and is durable. Working in the I. T. field I have had a good experience with their different types of hardware.


          Aaron Rodgers                            The Simpsons






References


(n.d.). Intel. [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://siliconangle.com/files/2011/05/intel-logo.jpg

(n.d.). Simpsons-couch-1. [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.simpsonschannel.com/screenshots/Simpsons_couch-1-.jpg