Video Gaming Culture and News Online?

Before the internet really started taking hold of news and newscasts that had to do with entertainment more specifically video games there were television shows that supported this culture. Those television shows are such as G4 which was recently shut down because of lack of viewers. Why was there a lack of viewers? It is simple really, it is just that the majority of viewers shifted to a more adaptable medium, the internet. Through the progression of technology and the availability of such outlets like YouTube.com. On YouTube other gaming news outlets really started to take hold and pull in viewers with examples shown above, Machinima and IGN. These are just 2 of a wide range of news outlets located on YouTube. This particular medium allows viewers to watch a more concise news clip or podcast without advertisements, commercials or interruptions. This was one of the huge turn-offs of watching these types of shows on local cable television. The question really was why wait a full thirty minutes to find out what you want to know when you can just watch a similar clip done by one of the above organizations in a matter of minutes and the answer is you don't hence why G4 went out of business.

So what do these two organizations have to offer us viewers when we make the switch over to internet TV from actual cable television? Actually they have a lot more than what G4 had to offer with the reason being that there are more possibilities with the internet. On the channel that I have linked above the give their fan base news shows, updates, video game trailers, tips and tricks, coverage on the whole video game genre broken down into sub channels, game-play footage from the game producers and game-play footage from the players themselves which turns out to be us the viewers. Some of the game-play footage is that of games like W.O.W (World of Warcraft) which is an MMOG (Massively Muliplayer Online Game) which is mentioned by T.L. Taylor in the book The New Media and Technocultures Reader. Taylor talks about how MMOG's bring together a social culture by the thousands in attempts to create and finish a common goal. Some of these on takings are easily uploaded to these channels in YouTube and are available to everyone to see where as for the television this is something that would not be possible under basic cable. Eventually our generation will have internet televisions that not just allow you to surf the web but it will be incorporated into the internet and the way we view television will be forever changed. Machinima and IGN have shown very prominently that online news and media channels can be as successful or even more successful than television shows. The cost to do these news casts as compared to the cost of airing a single television show is significantly less and thus seems to be a more viable option to air the news especially with the abundance of "smart" technology aka smart phones, tablets, etc. This type of news emergence needs to be embraced and adapted to because it is the future of "television shows".


http://www.youtube.com/user/IGNentertainment
http://www.youtube.com/user/machinima

Digital Ethics and Responsibility

What is digital ethics? Digital ethics is about teaching ethical, courteous and productive behavior while using digital media. Some things to consider when dealing with digital ethics are plagiarism, copyright laws, and productively using the digital resources one is citing. When I, or anyone for that matter, research anything whether it is on my research project, for work or even other classes I want to make sure that the person that wrote the article that I am citing in my paper gets their due credit and referenced otherwise myself or anyone else are stealing information and claiming it for ourselves which is illegal. This kind of citing falls under plagiarism. As long as a source is cited properly within your paper you are safe under the principle of plagiarism which can be grounds for termination in colleges depending on the extent to which one plagiarizes.

Copyright laws are almost about the same as plagiarism but applies to more then just written work. The acceptable use policy falls under copyright. As long as something that is being used that is not rightfully yours falls under the guidelines of the acceptable use policy you can use it. If it doesn't you will need to figure out a acceptable way to re-iterate the information without stepping on anyone's toes.

As far as being productive with the resources one comes across this is quite simple actually. With the amount of media that is available to use we need to ensure that our references are valid and  efficient. When you come across sources that you plan on using in a paper or just referencing in general only use what you need to make or support your point/idea assuming that the source is legit. If you use more than what is needed then it is quite possible to lose our on the idea you are striving for. The internet is a tool with more than enough sources to sufficiently back your paper. What is all comes down to is just be ethical about what you are putting in your personal work. You wouldn't want people stealing from you so then don't do it to someone else. :-)