Introduction

Gamer culture is a wide variety of many values, behaviors, and attitudes surrounding people who play video games. This culture has evolved alongside the video game industry for many decades. Personally, I've always loved to play and watch other people play video games. Gaming and games have been around for centuries, and the communities centered around them are super interesting to me! 

History and Social Context:

Some of the first video games were created from post-WW2 mainframe computer systems, designed for codebreaking and the calculations for ballistic trajectories. As innovation progressed, video games were known to be contained in coin machine computers in arcades with culturally famous games such as Pong and Pac-man (Ahoy). 

The video game industry and gamer community is beloved by all types of people and cultures. The gamer identity is not exclusive to any type of identity, although it is widely stereotyped that most gamers are white and male (Shaw). 

Values:

Some of the shared values within the gamer community subculture are those of authenticity and substance. Being as most video games are highly social, many gamers value the ability to engage and interact with other members of their community. As technology advances, gamers also value the quality and craft of video games (Baker). For example, GTA VI is set to hit the market in 2024 after more than a decade since GTA V was released. Many fans are anticipating this game to be highly advanced and contain innovative gameplay mechanics compared to its prior. 

Consumerism:

Video games are highly tied to consumerism, as they cost money and require a console or a computer to play. 

Pop-culture Artifacts:

Many pop-culture artifacts within the gaming community include the first release of the ever popular Pac-Man, the first release of the Nintendo Wii that took gaming to a whole other level of mainstream, the instant popularization of the game Minecraft as a whole, and the legitimization of Esports. 

Annotated Bibliography

Ahoy. (2013, September 16). A brief history of video games. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoyGlyrYb9c

A short video essay by the youtube channel Ahoy delves deep into the full history of video games from the earliest inventions. This source provides a great perspective on the depth of video games and how the entertainment and consumerism industry was impacted. 

Shaw, A. (2010). What is video game culture? Cultural studies and game studies. Games and Culture, 5(4), 403-424. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412009360414

This scholarly article by Adrienne Shaw examines video game culture from a cultural studies perspective. Shaw dives deep into her questions such as, who plays video games, what do they play, and how do they play. Shaw provides a unique perspective to readers as to why the video game community recieves the stereotypes they do and what it means for culture. 

Baker, J. (2023, June 21). The rise of gaming culture - is this the next frontier for marketing? The Drum. https://www.thedrum.com/news/2023/06/21/the-rise-gaming-culture-the-next-frontier-marketing

An article by Jenni Baker, published by The Drum, analyzes how the video game industry is becoming the new frontier for marketing. Jenni Baker discusses the importance of video games for the younger generations and how the marketing industry is going to be forever changed by the video game industry.

 Stash, T. (2022, June 29). Defining moments in video game history: A timeline. Stash Learn. https://www.stash.com/learn/defining-moments-in-video-game-history-a-timeline/

This article published by Learn offers an in-depth timeline of defining moments within the gamer community and video game industry. This article highlights the significance of the booming gaming market and offer readers an insight to how this industry got its start.