Abstract
This paper is an introduction to simulation and a deep dive into the gaming industry which includes video and computer games. The last part also talks about the growth of this industry and job opportunities with a focus on international marketing profiles. Simulation is a process where a real life object is built using a model and digital prototype can be formed for experiencing the real object. It helps in testing and making sure the real life object is successful. Simulation is widely used in gaming industry with social games where people live as a simulated person and do everything they can do in real life in simulation mode. There are many gaming companies which develop games and devices to help people with physical and mental fitness goals. Gaming has a lot of positive and negative effects on us which is covered in detail with five attributes or parameters. It has a very bright future because the gaming industry is growing at a very fast rate with technology and other advancements including virtual reality. There are a wide array of job opportunities and ample opportunities for career growth in this industry. International marketing is one of the many great career paths in gaming industry with specific skills and responsibilities.
Simulation Modeling
Simulation modeling can be understood as a process through which we can create a digital working prototype of a real entity for the use of predicting its behavior and performance in the real scenario. This is a great concept applicable to a lot of professions and research especially for designers and engineers where they can observe, evaluate, and test a prototype in terms of a model before the real thing is built or changed (Fishwick 11).
As defined by Maria, in her published paper, that a system simulation is a generated working and operational model of that system. This model can be put under a lot of configuration, reconfiguration, experimentation before the desired result and performance can be observed and inferred. Without simulation, it is unfeasibly expensive to do with the real project. She defines simulation as a tool which is used for the performance evaluation of an existing or new system with various possible configurations over a long period of time. The whole process of simulation modeling and analysis can be well defined in the following steps:
STEP 1: Identification of the problem or need
STEP 2: Definition and formulation of this problem or need
STEP 3: Collection and processing of data associated with this system
STEP 4: Development of a model
STEP 5: Validation of the model
STEP 6: Documentation of the model
STEP 7: Defining and Selection of various experiments to be conducted
STEP 8: Creation of working environment in terms of simulations
STEP 9: Perform all the simulation experiments multiple times
STEP 10: Recording and interpretation of the results
STEP 11: Recommendation with rejection, acceptance or further changes (Maria 8).
Video/ Computer Games in Health Fitness
There has been a lot of research and work done in this area to use video games or computer games for the health benefit of people. There are a lot of companies who have such games and gaming products specifically designed to be used as games with exercising. As mentioned by multiple researchers, media and companies, there are these fitness games commonly known as “Exergaming” which is built on simulation technology that captures the body part movements and reactions. This is a very effective way of fitness routines as people enjoy while they exercise (Tara 1).
As defined by Bogost, “Exergaming is the combination of exercise and video games” (Bogost 294). In these video games, a simulation is created for the user or the player, where they play games like go-boarding, sea surfing, tennis, soccer and other physically engaging games on computers or gaming console.
This started in eighties, when first devices like ‘Foot Craz’ and ‘Power Pad’ were released for fitness video games however these were not very successful. The first successful breakthrough was with “Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution” when it was moved to PlayStation. Over three million copies were sold and there was a major successful roadmap of video games for health benefit was developed (Kim 1).
With the huge demand of such video games, computer games and gaming consoles, a lot of companies started investing on the research and development of innovative and practical games. Laboratory studies have been done on various comparisons between a simulated game versus a real game or between a game and running on treadmill. It was found that Exergames have the potential to make those effects on human body which happens during exercising or physical activities. A lot of companies manufacture Exergames and Wii is one of the most famous and used consoles (Graves et al. 8).
There are special games focused at various age groups for fitness. “JAMA” pediatrics presented their study showing the effectiveness of these videogames on the health and fitness of children. There were seventy five children in this study lost over four pounds of body weight over a course of one year in the comparison to the control group who didn’t participate in this gaming activity and didn’t show any weight loss.
Effects of Video/ Computer Games on human beings
As Gentile very well explains in his research paper, there are very conflicting reports about the effects of video games on the brain. Some studies will suggest that video games are good for the learning and brain; others will suggest that young people who play video games become more aggressive. Douglas Gentile gives a very strong argument that this can’t merely be seen as an “either-or preposition” because video and computer games can have both positive and negative impact at the same time on us. With multiple people including the parents, gamers, and media often give great importance or heavily attack video games, which makes it important to research and analyze the effects of video and other games on people. Numerous dedicated studies by psychologists and other researchers including neuroscientists now show the real effects of video games. These studies have proven that video games have multiple consequences in the brain, and most are not obvious as they might seem. They have long term effects which don’t show up in immediate behavior. There are five important attributes which can be used to define the effects of video games on human beings. With different combinations of magnitude amongst these five factors the impact can be subtle or more serious:
AMOUNT
This is obvious that as people and especially children spend more time playing video games, the risk of poor performances in the real life increases like school grades, office projects and social relationships, health issues will surface like overweight or obesity, and there will be specific negative health results. There is also a direct correlation of causation between the amount spend on playing video games to the disorder related to photosensitivity. Multiple studies have shown that school going children show a worsening trend in performance as their time spent in gaming increase. However, at the same time if the games are specifically designed for health and fitness, or mental exercise than moderate amount of recommended time spent can be beneficial as well.
CONTENT
Most important attribute is the content i.e. what the video game is about? The kind of games one plays impact what the player will take from gaming to real life. Many studies in the area of content and effect on us show that games with educational content improve the education skills better than other traditional systems. More importantly and interesting things is that those games which are designed to cure chronic diseases like asthma are more effective than doctors. Similarly, if the games have violent content, it increases aggression in the long term in gamers which can be disastrous. The learning which happen subconsciously by playing each type of game are not only sustained during the play however it gets into the brain and behavior for the long term. Thus content has a direct relationship with positive and negative learning and effects on human beings.
STRUCTURE
Structure means the on-screen distribution of components and attention to details. In some games, the user has to carefully monitor the whole screen and identify even small changes and respond very quickly. In real life, this kind of attention is required for many jobs like “air-traffic controller”. It can be good for additional concentration and focus enhancement for the player however, it can be really tiring for the eyes and mind. Another example is when a three dimensional object is represented in the game on screen which is two dimensional. This can be very useful for learning skills of analyzing objects on screen and helpful in the profession of architecture and scientific simulation researches.
MECHANICS
The mechanics of a game can have huge impact on particular skills and behavior. There has to be a great coordination between eyes, brain and hands or feet to quickly respond to the game’s changes on screen. This can enhance motor skills of players. However, as this is simulation mainly, it can also add to the aggression of players if the mechanics need that kind of behavior in the game. While playing the sports or fitness games, it can have a combined positive and negative impact on the player. It can improve the sports skills and enhance physical and mental fitness however it can stop the gamer from playing the real sport which is a negative influence.
CONTEXT
Social context will also have a very important effect on the player’s behavior and mindset. For example, some games need teamwork, others are a simulation of a healthy environment including social environment which will have a positive impact however games where one has to fight or do things individually might have a negative impact in terms of social context (Gentile 9).
Thus it is unfair to measure the impact of video and computer games in isolation as good or bad and they have a combination of effects. There are both pros and cons of playing video games with different intensity and proportion based on these five attributes.
Future of Video/ Computer Games in Next Five Years
Dada explains and shares in his article published on ‘BidnessEtc’, according to a global market research organization, NPD, video and computer gaming industry is over eleven billion US dollar industry. And it will continue to grow multifold with the technology advancement, innovation and creativity. Most of the players fantasize about an amazing game playing experience and wonder what does future holds for gaming. With the cutting edge and advanced technology, the expectations are even higher. Next generation technology including very efficient hardware, virtual reality sets, super-fast and amazing software and cloud based services are adding a lot of value to the video game industry. Even though this also makes it harder to exactly predict the future however it is for sure that there is a lot to come with ample growth in this industry. Gaming is already making a mark in the physical and mental fitness programs, curing diseases, learning and education other than just fun. This trend will be more peaked in the years to come. Companies know the scope and thus continuing to research and develop new and innovative ways to create amazing and effective games. Slowly and gradually, gaming companies will do away with the physical disks and will sell most of the games online subscription based. The same thing which happened with the movie and music industry will happen with the gaming industry. Devices like PlayStations and Xbox are already there and we’ll see a lot more innovative devices like these. Virtual reality (VR) will make a big mark in next five years as the VR revolution has already started. Countless companies are working in this field with some manufacturing VR headsets like HTC and Oculus. This technology is in early and premature stage and we’ll see a lot of improvement in next five years. Another major thing which is happening is the evolution of cloud based technology which includes rendering and cloud computing. Today, gamers use this technology to only save their games, and download from cloud with all the computing still on the local devices however we’ll see a change here as well when the players will not have to buy the costly equipment and all the game processing will also happen on the cloud (Dada 1).
My Career in Gaming Industry
With the growing size and scope of gaming industries, there is a very bright future and scope for career growth. Even though there are several areas to explore as a career path however I will be most interested to utilize my learning and skills to get into the marketing arena of the gaming industry. I would like to work in the global marketing field.
I believe with so much growth, new innovations, products, and multiple ways of gaming, it is very important to market these and create a market for the company. No matter how much investment goes into the development of a game or gaming product, if it is not marketed well, it will not sell at a profitable level and will hide behind the shadow of big gaming companies.
In terms of learning and skills to be employable I will have to do in a few steps. First of all, with my current education I will hone on general marketing skills. After that, I will learn about the gaming industry in detail to acquire the domain skills. With the blend of these two skills and a desire to work in the field of marketing in gaming industry I will be able to get a job with companies like EA or Sony in the international marketing as a product or marketing manager. In this job role, I will be responsible for influencing branding teams with planning and implementing concise and effective marketing campaigns. For each product and game a roper marketing mix has to be designed which will also be my responsibility in this role. Other skills which are required would be creative thinking, great communication, passion for video games, campaign designing, creating amazing advertisements, people skills and time management. With some experience in this job I will continue to learn and grow.
Based on some research on job portals, and finding job descriptions, I learnt what exactly are the roles and responsibilities for this kind of job. Some of them are:
Partner with the multiple international marketing teams to work on the international commercial opportunity strategies
Design and create “go-to-market” marketing strategies for local and international markets
Capitalize on the opportunities in terms of sales and revenue targets
Understand the customer needs and prepare the documentation to be shared with engineering or research and development teams
Work along with the operational teams to make sure the products are launched as promised to the market and clients
Ensuring that sales targets are achieved and the marketing activities provide a good return on investment
Always staying ahead in the market to learn the future trends and help the organization in building appropriate branding and marketing strategies
Building a very strong PR for the company and brand
As my long term career planning and goal, I will continue to work in the growing gaming industry to reach the top level in next fifteen to twenty years. Learning from the marketing field, I will develop my skills working in various different departments with lateral and vertical movements within the organization or industry. This will give me a broader perspective of each and every function which is a necessity to lead and head a company in future.
Works Cited
Bogost, I. “Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames.” Feb. 2007. The MIT Press.
Dada, S. “The Future of Consoles and the Video Games Industry.” Web. Mar. 2007. BidnessETC. April, 2016.
Fishwick, P, A. “Simulation Model Design and Execution: Building Digital Worlds.” Oct. 2009. Prentice-Hall.
Gentile, D, A. “Violent Video Games as Exemplary Teachers: A Conceptual Analysis.” Nov. 2008. Journal of Youth and Adolescence 9: 127–141.
Graves, L., Stratton, G., Ridgers, N. & Cable, N. "Comparison of energy expenditure in adolescents when playing new generation and sedentary computer games: cross sectional study". Feb. 2007. BMJ.
Kim, T. “In-Depth: Eye To Eye - The History Of EyeToy.” Web. Nov. 2009. Gamasutra. April, 2016.
Maria, A. “INTRODUCTION TO MODELING AND SIMULATION.” June. 2007. State University of New York at Binghamton. Journal of Systems Science and Industrial Engineering.
Tara, P. "The PlayStation Workout: Videogames That Get Kids to Jump, Kick and Sweat." Web. Oct. 2005. Wall Street Journal. April, 2016.
