In chapter 6 Nielsen talks about video game culture and the public perceptions of gaming. For any new media there comes a time in its lifespan that it has become big enough that people seem to question if it is high culture or just pop culture. For something to be high culture it implies people in the elite part of society hold it in high regard as something culturally important. Popular culture is often described as the entertainment for the less intelligent or lower classes. The debate is right now going on whether or not video games can be high culture or just popular culture. In the last few years we have seen many debates in the media about if video games can be art. Even this universities famous alumni, Roger Ebert made a big stir by stating that games are not art.(Ebert-Video games are not art)Nielson sates that " arguments tend to underline the arbitrariness of distinctions between art and non-art, and expose the unfairness of denying the status of art to a form of expression just because it provides entertainment and aspires to a mass market." (pg. 134) The thing about art is that it really depends on our definition of "art" because what i think is art may be completely different from what you think is art. I think that today maybe a small handful of games could be argued that they are "Art" but i think that in the future we will see many more for their cultural significance and consider video games as more of an art-form.

The video games as art debate is really at heart an issue of the publics perception of gaming. Even with most people today having played video games themselves they are still considered to be: "unsophisticated in their form; problematic in their content; the cause of health problems...and inculcated in amorphous cultural fears--like the seemingly ever-present  scourge of anti-social, aggressive teenagers." Video games have always been seen as something that is meant for only children to play and when games with mature themes and violence showed up they stirred up the image of gaming as something that will lead to the downfall of all western society. Games like "Mortal Kombat" and " Grand Theft Auto III" were among the leaders in games that influenced the publics perception on how terrible games could be to the children of America.

But this perception of gaming is starting to change with how companies brand and market their games and gaming consoles. With all of the current generations consoles we have seen less of a focus on the games themselves and more about the environment in which games create. Such as the Xbox 360's "Jump In" ad
 ( I just love the Teddy Bear Picnic song is the commercial it just makes it all seem so innocent and fun)
In this advertisement they don't even show the system or footage of any video game. Its all about people coming together and showing that its not just nerdy white teenagers playing games in a basement.

We can also see how video game culture has affected other forms of culture. The most prevalent today is how video games are influencing films. In fact a lot of films today are based of video games such as the recent Disney blockbuster "Prince of Persia" staring Jake Gyllenhaal. One of my favorite forms of how video game have influenced films and other media's like graphic novels is the book/ movie "Scott Pilgrim vs The World".

In this clip you can see how in adds little video game influences like the "pee bar" which mimics the video game "health bar". Also the music playing in the background is the fairy fountain music famously found in the Legend of Zelda. The entire movie is an homage to video games as the entire world has video game music, sound effects, and even is centered around Scott going level by level defeating one "Evil Ex" after another just to get to the final boss. It truly shows how much video games have become part of our culture because none of these things would work or make sense if a lot of people were not culturally aware of video games.

So my question to you is do you think video games are Art? and How else have video games changed or become a part of our culture?  Is there anywhere you have seen video games become part of our culture?
(Hint Hint)