Consalvo
Mia Consalvo
consalvo@ohio.edu
ÒItÕs no videogameÓ: Global news media commentary and the second Gulf War
ABSTRACT: Videogames that simulate war have a (comparatively) long history, with recent entries such as Battlefield 1942 and Medal of Honor: Frontline praised for their ÒrealismÓ and excellent gameplay. Governments have recognized the value of such games as potential recruitment tools, as seen in the US ArmyÕs release of the free game AmericaÕs Army, which has been downloaded 700,000 times.
Just as videogames have tried to make war games increasingly realistic, the news media has likewise strived to bring greater levels of immediacy and ÒrealismÓ to their coverage, leading some commentators to wonder if wars have started to resemble videogames. Coverage of the first Gulf War led to comments that the television graphics and overall approach to showing the war was Òvideogame-likeÓ in that it seemed separated from the ÒrealÓ context of the fighting, and appeared sanitized for those watching at home.
This study analyzes global news media coverage of the second Gulf War through a slightly different lens. Rather than demonstrate how similar or dissimilar the war coverage was to current videogames, the study examines how the news media, and news commentators themselves, made reference to the current coverage as being like or unlike videogames.
By studying how the news media itself sought to distance or criticize coverage of the war as being un/like videogames, we can see how videogames continue to be constructed in popular media in negative ways. Initial analysis, for example, shows that use of the term ÒvideogameÓ in news analyses usually is in reference to the first Gulf War (as a type of coverage to be avoided), or in reference to war coverage by a competing news outlet. Use of the term is continually pejorative and dismissive, reflecting (and reinforcing) popular views of videogames as lacking context and seriousness. Gaining a systematic understanding of how the news media constructed their own war coverage as like or unlike videogames, and how videogames were presented through this representation, is the principle goal of this study.
Author bio
Mia Consalvo is an assistant professor of telecommunications at Ohio University. Her research interests include the critical study of popular culture and new media, most recently the study of digital games. Her other work analyzes sexuality in The Sims, and investigates the role of cheating in gameplay.
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