Stereotypes in Vedio Games

Since 1958, video games have come along way. ‘Tennis for two’, the first game was first brought out at one of the Lab’s annual visitors’ days. The operation of this game was simple: Two people played the electronic tennis game with separated controllers that connected to an analogue computer and used an oscilloscope for a screen. The game’s creator, William Higinbothim, was a nuclear physicist who had worked on the Manhattan Project and lobbied for nuclear bomb. Soon after its release, several companies began producing games that copied Tennis for two's game play.

However, by the late 1950s and through to the 60s, 70s, 80s up until the present, more video games were developed, gradually increasing the popularity of gamers, and gamers desire to play them.

Consequently, video games addiction have become a matter for gamers yet little research has been done on the effects of video games on young audiences, “A survey of 1,102 teenagers aged from 12-17, 97% of them said that they play video games; half of the survey respondents said that they had played a video game in the last day” Martha Ivan is a researcher who found that through this survey, video game addiction has been clearly shown. But why are video games so addictive?

A stereotype is mental “shorthand which helps to convey ideas and images quickly and clearly” (Courtney & Whipple, 1983, p. 205). It refers to one group’s generalized and widely accepted perception about the personal attributes of members of another group (Ashmore & Boca, 1981; Dates & Barlow, 1990). Stereotypes have a range of uses in a variety of cognitive and motivational processes. The main requirements of a simplified, as the environmental factor, such as different social roles, group conflicts and power differences. The Academy Award-winning actor Forest Whitaker once said that “Stereotypes do exist, but we have to walk through them.” Truer words have never been said and the existence of derogatory prototypes can sadly been found in the video game industry heaps. Whether Stereotypes can be sexual, racial or based on sexual orientation, there are still stereotyped characters in our most beloved video games. Some of these characters are easier to miss while playing as they are presented in innocuous fashion while others hit you right in the face.