Academic Theorising Social Convergence and its Relation to the Xbox Experience: All parts

Academic Theorising Social Convergence and its Relation to the Xbox Experience

Henry Jenkins, one of Americas most respected media analysts described convergence in 2006 as “the technological, industrial, cultural and social changes in the way that media circulates within our culture” (Jenkins, 2006). Now with the recent development of the Xbox360’s new integrated dashboard technological convergence has been taken to a whole new level beyond simply competing with friends in video games around the world. Users are now able to complete a variety of daily tasks such as engaging with friends through their social networking sites (Facebook and Twitter), streaming movies with friends around the world (Netflix and Zune) engage with what was previously believed to be an “old media technology” through listening to digital radio (LastFM) and watch sports and television (ESPN, SkySports and Foxtel). These new Xbox live experiences show how far convergence has come and how staying connected with a variety of networks has been made possible by one device. This report aims at analysing the potential of the Xbox as a home entertainment system and how it has become the theoretical ‘black box’ that academics have theorised. The report will further contemplate the repercussions that such a device has on society (more particularly gamers) and what it means to have access to various forms of media through one device.

Developments in the gaming market similar to those above have led Sony employee Phil Harrison to categorise games under the new title: Game 3.0 (Kennedy and Wilson, 2007). This new category marks a new set of technologies (as mentioned above) and also the development of user generated content which can be seen by the Xbox channel dedicated to what they refer to as “indie games”. Indie games give users the chance to engage in a new form of participatory culture where they are invited to create and circulate new content that they may find interesting. Through this Xbox creates a form of sub-culture of gamers who have the ability and desire to edit and create culture in hope of generating discussion, publicity or even make some form of income (as Xbox allows its users to maintain the rights and even pay them for the games that they make available online). Essentially Xbox’s Indie games experience is not simply a gaming experience but something more social as users are able to take part in this participatory culture and create experiences for themselves and other gamers (Cross, 2007).

Xbox’s experience is not free and they use the subscription model in order to keep users consuming and paying. The standard Xbox Live Gold Member subscription costs $US79.95 for twelve months and allows the user access to all the perks that Xbox has to offer. This model is used to ensure the longevity of Xbox and make sure that as long as users are using they are paying. Microsoft and there developments in the area of convergence (integrating; Netflix, social networking sites and user generated content into their consoles) has created a true next-generation gaming experience. These new game 3.0 experiences will have lasting effects on the way gamers interact with their gaming systems and communicate with the others. However it isn’t enough for the Xbox experience to simply converge these multiple forms of media into one console, they must ensure that the quality and legitimacy of the various media forms are adequate to guarantee adoption and continuous use by users (Huang, 2008). This need to ensure legitimacy and quality is echoed in Jenkins belief that there will never truly be a central ‘black box’ which fulfils all the entertainment need of an individual (Jenkins, 2006).

The next line of posts from Vincent and I will outline the Netflix, globalised gaming and the social media aspects of the Xbox 360 and analyse their potential to fulfil the needs of individual users and if they make the Xbox experience into a ‘black box’ able to fulfil all the entertainment needs of an individual.

Netflix

Netflix is the world's largest online movie rental service, with over 10 million subscribers (Netflix, 2009). Netflix is a subscription based service that includes a mail-order DVD service, as well as instant streaming of movies and television episodes to computers and televisions. Netflix is available for streaming on television currently through certain LG Electronics and Samsung Blu-ray disc players, TiVo, the Roku digital video player, and now Xbox 360.

Xbox is currently the only games console that Netflix is available on. The service is limited to Xbox Live gold members who are subscribers to Netflix. Xbox allows you to browse and order your Netflix movie playlists through your television without having to visit the Netflix website for the first time (Microsoft, 2009). Netflix on Xbox also exclusively features a party mode, which allows you to hook up to 8 Xboxes together and watch your movies and television shows together with your friends in real time. Your gamertag avatars will be displayed on the side of the screen and you can have your virtual-selves flirt or throw popcorn at each other (Patel, 2009), as well as talk to each other through Xbox voice. Netflix on Xbox Live also features a ‘friends channel’, which includes information about what you and your friends are watching (Microsoft, 2009).

Social Networking

As part of the new convergent experience of Xbox Live, Mircrosoft have made two social networks available on the Xbox Live System: Facebook and Twitter.

Facebook is now the world’s biggest social networking site with over 400 million active users (Facebook, 2010), while Twitter is the fastest growing, with a growth rate of 1382% from 2008 to 2009 (McCarthy, 2009).

The Xbox Live Facebook service uses Facebook Connect to link your Facebook profile to your Xbox Live gamertag. This won’t give you full access to Facebook, but rather a limited version of it. Facebook on Xbox Live will only allow you to view Facebook profiles, update your status and look at pictures. However Xbox Live also does uniquely allow you to update your profile to let your friends know about your in-game achievements and easily post in-game screenshots (McElroy, 2009). It will also allow you to see which of your Facebook friends are on Xbox Live so you can add them, which will be an opt-out service (McElroy, 2009).

Twitter on Xbox Live will post your gamertag status on your twitter account, which will be automatically updated every few minutes (Miller, 2009). It will also allow you to post and view tweets on your television through the Xbox Live network.

The ability to use these social networking services through your Xbox is an important feature of the increasing convergent nature of the Xbox Live platform. Greater study needs to be taken to fully understand how the introduction of this new feature of the Xbox Live system allows people to connect in new and different ways.

Xbox Events

Community events and competitions are a vital part of the Xbox Live social network. Since the release of the New Xbox Experience update late last year, there has been a constant flow of promoted events that everyone is encouraged to participate in. This is represented specifically through the Events tab on the Xbox 360 Dashboard which lists all of the upcoming proceedings up to two weeks in advance. These kinds of information systems allow people to make preparations based on the events as stipulated by the Xbox Live team. We then have to ask ourselves “to what extent and in what ways computer games are currently transforming our understanding of as well as the actual construction of personal and cultural identities” (Raessens, 2006. pg53). It is however, extremely beneficial to have a large amount of people playing at the same time to reduce matchmaking times and increase variety of opponents with different skill levels.

This is part of a business model that endeavours to create a respectable social medium comparable to Facebook, but to do so without losing the focus of its identity as a gaming platform. Corporate Vice President for Xbox John Schappert said in the Microsoft E3 conference, “In this uncertain economic climate...now, more than ever before people want to have fun...they want to play games...and they want to connect with each other all from the comfort of the living room...last year the New Xbox Experience accelerated the transformation of our console into a true all in one entertainment device” (2009).

The introduction of the Microsoft Events system builds on social aspects of gaming which have been dominant in the past. Clan and group gaming have been a part of game culture for a number of years and have stimulated the creation of web entities such as the Australian based Telstra BigPond GameArena and the American Major League Gaming corporation.

GameArena is an internet based games website which allows and encourages social gameplay. Throughout the year the site conducts competitions for PC gaming which it hosts on its own servers. At present, GameArena runs one hundred and twenty two servers that are dedicated to thirty different PC games (GameArena.com). The website promotes TeamSpeak which is a program that allows people to connect and chat in real time. This generates a much more socially interactive environment for the players. The tremendous investment in hardware alone is a clear demonstration of just how popular this social multiplayer style gaming can be. It is of no wonder why the Xbox Live team has decided to replicate aspects of this model that has proved so successful in generating a consistent user base.

One of the most important social aspects of the Xbox Live Events system is seen in the Event Calendar found on the Xbox.com website. By viewing the calendar from a computer, users are shown all of the upcoming events and are provided with links to seek out other people who will be participating. There is a definite agenda here that is promoting social game play to ensure that the Xbox Live service maintains a healthy user base and an enjoyable environment for all who use it.

Globalising Gameplay

What is the reason we buy an Xbox? To play games, so how can globalisation be achieved while involving yourself in gameplay on Xbox? Microsoft has introduced some highly social aspects to gameplay and online gameplay through the Xbox.

The first of these is the party system where acquaintances and friends can communicate through headsets while playing their respective games, this feature can be used in many aspects either while playing together or playing separately. This takes the sociability of gaming to a new level and gives us a new perspective on the capability of gaming to achieve a never before seen form of social interaction. Interaction is the important word when we discuss gameplay and it is the interactive aspect of gaming that gives it its entertaining nature. It seems that it is combat which brings the height of interaction within popular gaming because game designers have had years of practice in this form of building interaction, this issue that this poses is the danger of rating systems and rating online gameplay. The response that has been taken by the majority of ratings board globally is to agree to not rate online gameplay and separate it from the ratings of other games. Cross, (2009) in his article about combat interaction talks about not relying on combat for successful interaction although issues such as language and personal behaviour. Greater research has to go into how communities are forming themselves around game-play and the effect this has on the people who previously would not have had this type of interaction.

References:

Aviles and Carvajal (2006) ‘Facing the Challenges of Convergence: Media Professionals’ Concerns of Working Across Media Platforms’. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, Vol. 12, No. 1, 83-98. Sage Publications.

Cross, J. (2007) ‘Sony’s Phil Harrison talks up Game 3.0’, Extremetech 7 March. URL (consulted September 2010):

Cross, T (2009) ‘Diamond in the Rough’: Forget Combat Mode Engaged’, Game Set Watch, Accessed 19/9/2010 http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2009/04/column_diamond_in_the_rough_fo.php

Facebook (2009), ‘Press Room: statistics’, Facebook, accessed 20/09/2010, http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics

Jenkins, H. (2006) Covergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: NYU Press.

Kennedy, J and Wilson, J. (2007) Editorial: Playing with Convergence. London. Sage Publications

McCarthy, C (2009), ‘Nielsen: Twitter's growing really, really, really, really fast’, Cnet News, accessed 20/09/2010, http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10200161-36.html

McElroy, G (2009), ‘Facebook on Xbox Live: What it is and what it isn’t’, Joystick, accessed 20/09/2010, http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/01/facebook-on-Xbox-live-what-it-is-and-what-it-isnt/

Microsoft (2009), ‘Xbox Live and Netflix’, Xbox, accessed 20/09/2010, http://www.Xbox.com/en-US/live/netflix/default.htm

Netflix (2009), ‘About Netflix’, Netflix, accessed 20/09/2010, http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/pdf/Consumer_Press_Kit.pdf

Oehlberg, L, Ducheneaut, N, Thornton, J, Moore, R, Nickell, E (2008), ‘Social TV: Designing for Distributed, Sociable Television Viewing’, International Journal of Computer-Human Interaction, Vol.24, Iss.2, pp.136-154.

Patel, N (2009) ‘Xbox Live update details announced, includes Games on Demand support, Netflix Movie Parties, game ratings’, engadget, accessed 20/09/2010,

Raessens, J. 2006. ‘Playful Identities, or the Ludification of Culture’, Games and Culture 1(1) January: 52–7.

Schappert, J. 2009. Microsoft Electronic Entertainment Expo Conference, L.A. Convention Centre, June 2-4, Approximately 15:30 into presentation.

Telstra BigPond, GameArena, Date Visited: 17/09/10, http://www.gamearena.com.au/getconnected/servers/

Terranova, T. (2004) Network Culture: Politics for the Information Age. London: Pluto.