Gaming Culture & Web 2.0

The electronic gaming culture is a growing phenomenon of a new media that has been inspired by video and computer games. The gaming industry has increased in popularity over the years it has resulted in a frenzy of enthusiasm that has escalated in a passionate gaming sub-culture. Today, the impact of the gaming culture of video and computer games has influences television, politics, Hollywood and even popular music. As the gaming culture has exploded it has often endured many skeptic theories and negative attention.

Electronic gaming is a media sensation that has been completely influenced large masses of individuals all interested and influenced by computer and video games. The expansion of technology and the upgrades in electronic material have caused a mountain of popularity and ultimately picked-up many social fads and consumer created content. The gaming culture has expanded with the introduction of new technologies such as Web 2.0 and has impacted most societal groups with its’ large ability to interact and socialize worldwide, resulting in an upsurge in gaming social networks and user-created content.

As Jenkins states, "much video game play is social", funnily enough this is contrary to most popular belief. Almost sixty percent of frequent gamers play with friends. Thirty-three percent play with siblings and twenty-five percent play with spouses and parents. Even games designed for single players are often played socially, with one person giving advice to another holding a joystick. A growing number of games are designed for multiple players — for either cooperative play in the same space or online play with distributed players. Gaming researchers have invested many hours observing online communities interact with and react to violent video games, concluding that meta-gaming (conversation about game content) provides a context for thinking about rules and rule-breaking (Jenkins, Undated). It is evident through the information above that ‘normal’ social interaction is governed and practiced through gaming cultures even with the lapsed fantasies presented on the gaming console.


Jenkins, H. (Undated)."Reality Bytes: Eight Myths about Video Games Debunked." PBS,
http://www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/impact/myths.html.
(accessed, May 8, 2008).