Over the past 20 years, video games have become an integral part of the entertainment in the modern society. In this regard, whereas they were only accessible to a few people in society, particularly those who were rich enough to purchase personal computers at the beginning of the 2nd half of the 20th century, the increased accessibility to different types of technologies such as the internet, smartphones, games consoles and computers has made video games a pervasive part of the modern society. For instance, researchers and scholars observe that whereas the first dedicated video game console managed to sell approximately 300,000 units, the release of the first modern consoles such as Wii, PlayTsation 3 and the Xbox 360 in the mid-2000s managed to sell over 84 million each action the globe (Green and Seitz 101). The growing popularity of video games in modern society is further emphasised by revenues they generate, particular when a new game is released. For example, in November 2011, the newly released Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 managed to raise $400 million within 24 hours in the United Kingdom and North America, and its revenue clocked $1 billion within only 16 days (Marchand and Hennig-Thurau 141). Importantly, the global society has experience an increased access to video games mainly through technologies such as the internet and social media. With this in mind, this paper explores different issues on media audiences and technology. In particular, the paper will evaluate how media audiences and technology overlap through video games.
在过去的20年里，电子游戏已经成为现代社会娱乐的一个组成部分。在这方面，尽管社会上只有少数人能够接触到它们，特别是那些在20世纪下半叶开始时足够富有可以购买个人电脑的人，但人们越来越容易接触到不同类型的技术，如互联网、智能手机、，游戏机和电脑使电子游戏成为现代社会的一个普遍部分。例如，研究人员和学者们观察到，尽管款专用视频游戏机成功销售了约30万台，但款现代游戏机，如Wii、PlayTsation 3和Xbox 360在2000年代中期的发布，在全球的每一个动作销量都超过了8400万台（Green和Seitz 101）。视频游戏在现代社会越来越受欢迎，尤其是当一款新游戏发布时，其所产生的收入进一步凸显了这一点。例如，2011年11月，最新发布的《使命召唤：现代战争3》在英国和北美成功地在24小时内筹集了4亿美元，其收入仅在16天内就达到了10亿美元（Marchand和Hennig Thurau 141）。重要的是，全球社会主要通过互联网和社交媒体等技术获得了更多的视频游戏。有鉴于此，本文探讨了媒体受众和技术方面的不同问题。特别是，这篇论文将评估媒体受众和技术如何通过视频游戏重叠。
To begin with, one of the critical aspects of video games is its relationship with technology. Researchers and scholars agree that technology continues to play a central role in both the development and distribution of video games across the globe. Over the past 50 years, the advancement in technology has created a platform to development complex and advanced video games. Researchers observe that whereas the early video games did not allow players to emotionally connect with them, through technological advanced such as the development of better graphics and graphical interfaces, video games in the modern world are not just played for entertainment purposes but also provide a platform for players to connect emotionally with them (Cohen 323). Arguably, there is a notion that one of the most effective ways to create viral video games that are capable of generating high revenues for producers is to establish a strong emotional connection between such games and the target users. For instance, most video games in the modern world have focused on promoting realism where the graphics as well as the environments in which these games are set are sophisticated and are more real as compared to the past where the environment in video games had no relation at all with the environment in which the players live (Safadi, Fonteneau and Ernst 1). With this in mind, the target audience are able to identify with the environment portrayed in these games, thus enhancing their emotional connection to these games. For instance, a game such as The American Sniper brings its audience to the actual battle field by providing an environment similar to the real battlefield environments. To achieve this, technology has consistently played a central role helping develop such games.
首先，视频游戏的一个关键方面是它与技术的关系。研究人员和学者们一致认为，技术在全球视频游戏的开发和发行中继续发挥着核心作用。在过去的50年里，技术的进步创造了一个开发复杂和先进视频游戏的平台。研究人员观察到，虽然早期的电子游戏不允许玩家在情感上与他们联系，但通过先进的技术，如开发更好的图形和图形界面，现代世界的电子游戏不仅仅是为了娱乐目的而玩，还为玩家提供了一个与他们情感联系的平台（科恩323）。可以说，有一种观点认为，创造能够为制作人带来高收入的病毒式视频游戏最有效的方法之一是在此类游戏和目标用户之间建立强烈的情感联系。例如，现代世界的大多数视频游戏都致力于提升真实感，与过去视频游戏中的环境与玩家生活的环境完全没有关系相比，这些游戏中的图形和环境都非常复杂，更加真实（萨法迪、丰特诺和恩斯特1）考虑到这一点，目标观众能够认同这些游戏中描绘的环境，从而增强他们与这些游戏的情感联系。例如，像《美国狙击手》这样的游戏通过提供与真实战场环境相似的环境将其观众带到实际战场他的技术一直在帮助开发此类游戏方面发挥着核心作用。
Apart from this, there is a need to observe that technology plays a central role in the distribution of video games in the modern world. To begin with, there is a need to observe that technology is instrumental in helping create awareness on the new video games that have been released or are almost being released to the market. For instance, social media technologies and the internet at large play a central role in sharing news on different video games (Cohen 323). Furthermore, the target audience can easily access information on video games such as the supported devices, the nature of graphics in the game, as well as aspects such as the emotional connection and satisfaction that a particular game can generate to its players. In this case, the target audience have an opportunity to understand and know more about the video game they are interested in even before they acquire or play it. In addition, technology is instrumental in helping players with different devices access a particular video game that they are interested in. For example, currently, gaming players can access a game such as Sniper Elite 4 on different devices such as computers, smartphones and gaming consoles. Furthermore, through the internet, video game players in different parts of the globe can share their experience with respect to a particular video game by playing together in multiplayer video games (Molyneux, Vasudevan and de Zúñiga 382). Therefore, technology has redefined the way video games are developed and consumed across the globe.
除此之外，还需要观察到技术在现代世界的视频游戏发行中起着核心作用。首先，需要观察到技术有助于提高人们对已经发布或即将发布到市场的新视频游戏的认识。例如，social媒体技术和互联网在分享不同视频游戏的新闻方面发挥着核心作用（科恩323）。此外，目标观众可以轻松访问视频游戏的相关信息，如受支持的设备、游戏中图形的性质，以及特定游戏能够为玩家带来的情感联系和满意度等方面。在这种情况下，目标观众有机会了解和了解更多信息关于他们感兴趣的视频游戏，甚至在购买或玩之前。此外，技术有助于帮助使用不同设备的玩家访问他们感兴趣的特定视频游戏。例如，目前，游戏玩家可以在不同设备（如计算机、智能机）上访问游戏，如狙击手精英4手机和游戏机。此外，通过互联网，全球不同地区的视频游戏玩家可以通过多人视频游戏（Molyneux、Vasudevan和de Zúñiga 382）一起玩，分享他们对特定视频游戏的体验因此，技术重新定义了全球电子游戏的开发和消费方式。