After much consideration, I decided that I did not like either of my original topics for the Paradigm Shift Paper and TED Talks. I did not believe that either of the two would make great discussions for the topic, in being too general and hard to narrow down to be more specific.
So instead I have come up with an entirely new topic! I will discuss the gradual change in our popular, best-selling video games from a complete lack of gun violence to an era where just about every popular title features shooting of people, whether they be soldiers of an enemy nation (in war games like Call of Duty and Battlefield), or even innocent victims (such as in the Grand Theft Auto series).
My thesis then would be the following: Over the span of just three decades, the most popular video games in the industry have become noticeably more violent, illustrating a shift in society's mentality where once simulating killing at all was unheard of, yet now it is extremely common, even in our youth.
This trend can be measured in a variety of ways, many of which I will aim to discuss in my paper. The first, and perhaps easiest thing to research is the most successful video games of all time, and to compare the ones from the 80s, to the 90s, etc... The trend should be obvious, Mario Bros., one of the most popular of all time, came out in 1981, while Call of Duty made its appearance in 2003. Of course many exceptions exist such as Minecraft in 2009, but the general trend is there. We can also examine how series like The Legend of Zelda have been on the decline, while Call of Duty puts out a bigger hit every year. Another discussion point is how the violence itself evolved, from ghosts chasing Pac-man, to criminals running over pedestrians with their cars.
After defining the shift, I will also discuss how the shift is important, in how it affects our society. Our youth seems to be more violent than it has ever been, according to this article. While some people believe it is all good fun, many people hypothesize that these violent video games may cause increased aggression in children. Both sides of the debate can be found in this article. Even if the games don't cause increased aggression, they certainly show a change in mentality of the acceptability of killing other people (even in a virtual world).
Some sources I will use are linked in the post. Some others are below:
http://www.video-game-addiction.org/violence.html
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-33960075
http://time.com/4000220/violent-video-games/
http://ncac.org/resource/a-timeline-of-video-game-controversies/
I think the topic you decided on is meaningful because many people don't believe that these video games actually impact the minds of growing children. Also, I think you have a clear, strong thesis. It says exactly what the paper is going to be about.
ReplyDeleteHave fun :)
Very concise. You have a great idea and it seems like you will have an abundance of research at your disposal. Even within this RCL everything links back to your thesis so it seems you have a strong foundation.
ReplyDeleteNice! I really like your topic. Gun violence is a huge issues in the United States and people might pay attention to your topic because video game has affected us in many ways. I would like to see that how these shifts have impact on our lives.
ReplyDeleteAidan, you're entirely on the right track. It's a precise shift -- one that can be proven to have happened, and one that can be supported to be significant for the reasons you've highlighted.
ReplyDeleteGreen light -- keep going!