ISS 210 Society, the Individual, & Video Games (W1)

ISS210 Society and the Individual: Video Games

Topic #6: Politics and Economics of Video Games

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Today’s Questions • What are the political and economic

elements of video games?

• Video games about politics • Political themes of video games

(content analysis/criticism)

• Questions of regulation, law, and policy-making

Dimensions of Gaming Politics

Games About Politics

• Video games are creative/artistic works; treat them like film/literature/ etc.

Political Themes

• Oliva et al. (2016): Video game covers promote neoliberal values (freedom, choice, meritocracy)

• Perez-Latorre et al. (2016): How are games produced during the Great Recession communicate themes of austerity?

Examples

• Pales (2018): How do politicians talk about video games?

• Content analysis of floor statements made by members of Congress (1995-2016) [N = 480]

• Partisanship: Party affiliation and ideology scores (“NOMINATE”)

Policy-Making: Partisan Divides

Eli Pales

• “I have repeatedly made the point that Canadian children, who play the same video games and watch the same movies are much safer than their American counterparts. The reason-- Canadian laws successfully limit minors' access to firearms while American laws do not”

• I find over and over as I talk to parents in Connecticut that they will say to me: Please do something about the violence and sex and lewd language on television and movies and music and video games”

Policy-Making: Partisan Divides

Policy-Making: Partisan Divides

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25

50

75

100

Democrats Republicans

Neutral Positive Negative

Policy-Making: Partisan Divides 0

.5 1

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-1 -.5 0 .5 1 Congressperson Ideology

Pro Statements Con Statements

• Brown v. Entertainment Merchant’s Association (2011): Video games are protected speech under the First Amendment

Policy-Making: Political Judging?

Dissent Majority

Policy Making: Lobbying

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1750000

3500000

5250000

7000000

98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

ESA NRA

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$ $ $

Year

• Economics in gaming (e.g., SimCity) • Industry aspects

• Production • Competition • Sales

Economic Dimensions of Gaming

• Report: “2017 Sales, Demographic, and Usage Data: Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry” (ESA 2017)

The Gaming Industry

Gaming Growth

• Systematic research limited

• Yamaguchi et al. (2017): Limited substitution evidence for mobile vs. console

Mobile vs. Console Gaming

• What drives video game sales? • Lifetime sales data for 1770 video games as

of September 2011 (VGChartz.com)

• Explanatory variables: game characteristics, platform, genre, perspective, developer, review ratings

• Quality (+): 1% higher => 1.5% higher sales • Rating (+): “M” rating => 10% higher sales

vs. “E” rating

Cox (2014)

• What drives video game sales? • Lifetime sales data for 1770 video games as

of September 2011 (VGChartz.com)

• Explanatory variables: game characteristics, platform, genre, perspective, developer, review ratings

• Quality (+): 1% higher => 1.5% higher sales • Rating (+): “M” rating => 10% higher sales

vs. “E” rating

Cox (2014)

Summary • Today: Political and economic

aspects of video games

• Readings • Peticca-Harris, Westar, and

McKenna (2015)

• Piacenza (2018) • Next Time: That’s all folks!