Electronic Realities: From Pong to World of Warcraft

Welcome to HUM 104 Pop Culture. The focus of this course is analyzing the world of online gaming and the impacts on our society. This three week course will consist of: one week of researching different online worlds and the basic philosophical foundations behind experience, a second week of first-hand research based in game experience and observation, and a third week of drawing conclusions regarding the importance, impact, and future of online games in our society.

I am a member of the first generation of Americans raised in an electronic game culture. I was born in 1974 and remember playing Pong as a young child. As i aged and matured so did the games i played. My parents invested in a Tandy TRS-80 for my sister and i when i was in grade school and an Intellivision game system a year or two later. My friends were all playing Atari games during this time and admittedly i felt left out. In 1988 i received a Nintendo game system for Christmas. This was the best Christmas present i ever received or have received. By the time i was in high school and college i was busy chasing girls and had little times to play games but still managed to play Sony PlayStation with friends. After graduating from college and entering the work force i spent my hard earned money on and XBox game system. This thing was very different from my old Nintendo. In the years since i have built several computers for my self and my wife. When time allows we play World of Warcraft together. She enjoys the game at least as much as i do, although i suspect for different reasons. While i use the time as an escape, much like running which i also enjoy, my wife values the social interaction and time spent "doing something" together. Far from being a competitive experience she sees it as a collaborative one. But more on this later.

My purpose in presenting this is to highlight the importance electronic gaming has had on generations of Americans. Many of the formative experiences in my life have occurred in what might be termed "electronic realities" or at least in the presence of their influence. This has contributed to the person i am today and to how my children will be raised and in turn, my grandchildren.

My parents, both born in 1947, have an entirely different set of experiences growing up and have a hard time seeing the importance or relevance of electronic online games have for millions of people worldwide. This does not mean their perspective is wrong, or right, or better, or worse. It simply is a reflection of their reaction to a new world confronting them which is not a part of the world they "know".

Chances are that most of you were born after 1974 and have a similar set of experiences with electronic games. If you don't play them, you know someone who does. Regardless of when you were born i would like you to keep your mind open and refrain from judgment of others' experiences. We are entering this course together in an effort to answer questions and learn about the realities we all inhabit and that will continue to change and shape successive generations of people worldwide.

For Tuesday the 5th please read "Allegory of the Cave" by Plato.