Bad Object 2.0: Games and Gamers

Colophon

We should be wary of historical models that imply causal relations or direct reflection between the real world and the worlds depicted on film and television. The goal of this project is not to prove that the rising economic threat of the games industry in general -- or home consoles in particular -- motivated individuals or institutions in Hollywood to systematically work to discredit video games. A great many more factors certainly influence the content of films and TV shows and it is my hope to avoid making assertions that are overly deterministic or historically reductive. However, I believe these questions are worth taking seriously and it is only by viewing the original media themselves that an informed hypothesis may be made. Although the media samples included in this project are not exhaustive by any means, I have made every effort to include as many clips from the most diverse sources possible.

The media-centric format of this project encourages readers to directly access dozens of clips from American film and television dating back to 1973. In addition to the more or less linear argument presented by the sequence of paths in this article, readers are free to undertake their own investigation of the broad range of media included in the project chronology. The collection of clips included in this article constitute a sub-archive within the online media sharing site Critical Commons, where all original media files may be downloaded for further critical use or investigation.

In addition to the various paths featured in this project, readers are invited to explore the full collection of media samples included here via the Media Chronology or Media Works Cited pages.

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