Final Powerpoint Structure

For my final powerpoint presentation, I wanted to focus on a activity or hobby that I do myself and can research from the inside using the techniques and reading from class. I have chosen to focus on video game networks and culture and how they are increasing their reach throughout society. Like many 20 year old guys, I enjoy playing video games in my free time like others watch TV or surf the web. What I find particularly interesting is how games now incorporate a sense of community into almost every title. From World of Warcraft, to Xbox Live, and even to what some would think of as a more casual game, the music game Rock Band. Each showcases how our social relations are moving onto the internet. I will choose to overlook the impact of MySpace and Facebook as they actually became popular after many video game online communities were well established. Also, the relationship between users is different in video games because they are centering their experiences around a virtual world, and their character interactions. Users on Facebook relate everything back to the real world.

The structure of my presentation cannot be shown just in slides. After watching the Dutch Flash video in class, I decided that I would like try to create a presentation that takes the same form. Nothing with distinct slides, but rather something that reads and plays more like a movie with subtitles, photos, some video, and music.

Mark Dery talks about online virtual worlds, and how they are spreading throughout society. His work will be a major source of information for my product. Our discussion of the Matrix and what is truly real will be another source. Plato's cave is particularly applicable as well. In World of Warcraft there is an entire industry built around the farming of virtual gold within the game. People are payed cents and hour in some Asian countries to earn gold in the game. After hours in front of a screen, though, could they begin to forget what is real and what is virtual? I know that personally, after a long time in front of a game, I begin to think in the game's language. In the real world actions are thought out in one's brain as "what button combination would that be." Gold farms are one of the best modern virtual representations of Plato's Cave.

I also hope to incorporate other concepts from our readings as well such as culture jamming, and the creation of memes. With gaming's strong foundation online, there is a wealth of knowledge from ad campaigns, to user created phenomenons. I look forward to creating my presentation and hope that it will not play as a powerpoint, but more of an opinion/research piece.