Game as Culture

Raymond Williams calls culture "One of the two or three most complicated words in the English language." Raymond Williams, Keywords, London: Fortana, 1983, p 87. I agree with this, I think that Culture is very hard to define and any thought or opinion on it would have to change as culture does.
In Cultural theory and popular culture by John Storey he talks about Williams broad definitions of culture.
"Williams suggest three broad definitions. First of all, culture can be used to refer to "a general process of intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic development". We could, for example, speak about the cultural development of Western Europe and be referring only to intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic factors - great philosophers, great artist and great poets. This would be a perfectly understandable formulation. A second use of the word culture might be to suggest "a particular way of life, whether of a people, a period or a group". Using this definition, if we speak of the cultural development of Western Europe, we would have in mind not just intellectual and aesthetic factors, but the development of literacy, holidays, sport, religious festivals. Finally Williams suggests that culture can be used to refer to "the works and practices of intellectual and especially artistic activity". In other words, those texts and practices whose principal function is to signify, to produce or to be the occasion for the production of meaning. Culture in this third definition is synonymous with that structuralists and post structuralists call 'signifying practices. Using this definition, we would probably think of examples such as poetry, the novel, ballet, opera, fine art. To speak of popular culture usually means to mobilize the second and third meanings of the word 'culture'. The second meaning - culture as a particular was of life - would allow us to speak of such practices as the seaside holiday, the celebration of Christmas, and youth subcultures, as examples of culture. These are usually referred to as lived cultures or cultural practices. The third meaning - culture as signifying practices - would allow us to speak of soap opera, pop music, and comics, as examples of culture. These are usually referred to as cultural texts. Few people would imagine Williams's first definition when thinking about popular culture."

• "a general process of intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic development"
• "a particular way of life, whether of a people, a period or a group"
  

Final Fantasy VII.

http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/3075/418640-aeris_super.jpg

Aesthetic development of games.
The quality of graphics in video games has increased massive amounts in the last decade, for example Final Fantasy VII was made over ten years ago and the more recent game Crisis Core by Square Enix shows how they are more aesthetically pleasing.

Crisis Core.

http://o.aolcdn.com/gd-media/games/crisis-core--final-fantasy-vii/psp/2.jpg

Final Fantasy XIII.

http://nekoe.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/final-fantasy-xiii-lightning-render.jpg

Final fantasy XIII is to be the next game in the long running series and still Final Fantasy VII has been considered as influential in more than just the gaming world. This article looks at the dialog of the game, something that I don't think many people would consider to be a topic for academic study, but the scripting in game is just as important as in films and television.


"This article examines the way that Final Fantasy VII reshapes the conventions of mainstream Hollywood film dialogue. Dialogue, of course, is not a distinguishing characteristic of film; it is a shared inheritance from television, the cinema, novels, and the theater. Games, however, do not borrow equally from these media because they have need for particular kinds of dialogue." - http://www.gamestudies.org/0202/smith/

Okami.

"especially artistic activity"








Okami concept art. - I personally believe that these two images are art, this sort of work is essential to the development of games and then enjoyed by players after release. This is part of gaming culture


http://uk.gamespot.com/users/Archon_basic/view_image_original?id=OIQJ70sj7h2b4Rnj
http://uk.gamespot.com/users/Archon_basic/view_image_original?id=PIcI4hR37h2b4Rnu

Halo 3.

http://www.stuffwelike.com/stuffwelike/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/halo3_450x360.jpg

Halo 3 has been played online more than most other online games that have been out for much longer. http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/19026/Halo-3-Online-Matches-One-Billion-Served/ - This site has an article about "Halo 3's one billionth match."

"Halo 2 has yet to achieve one billion games played. As of right now, it's sitting pretty at 798 million total matches played" This is quite surprising as Halo 2 was released in 2004 and Halo 3 in 2007.
The increase in the amount of players and the time spent on the game clearly shows how popular it is and the massive following that it has. Maybe it's possible for games to create their own sub-cultures.