Published Jun 21 2021

Power up: A Different Lens explores the multibillion-dollar gaming industry

Antonio
Verdejo-Garcia
Professor (Research), Turner Institute For the Brain and Mental Health
Andy ruddock
Senior Lecturer, Communication and Media Studies
Steven roberts
Professor, School of Education Culture and Society, Monash University
Kirsten ellis
Senior Lecturer, Department of Human Centred Computing
Xavier ho
Lecturer, Department of Design
Zhuying li
PhD candidate, Exertion Games Lab, Faculty of Information Technology

The gaming industry is booming. What was once considered a brainless pastime is now globally recognised as a rich form of storytelling, a respected artform, a treatment for depression, and a professional sport with prize pools in the millions. And with a steadily increasing yearly revenue of $160 billion, it deserves to be taken seriously.

Even in the face of COVID-19, the gaming industry continues to thrive. For millions of people stuck indoors, online gaming has turned out to be the perfect source of entertainment and human connection. Even professional athletes, such as race-car drivers and cyclists, are turning to virtual game simulators to train safely from home.

But gaming does come with its share of problems.

Gaming addiction is a serious issue that’s claimed the lives of many children and adults. There are also some game mechanics that promote gambling to children from a young age. And there’s still an ongoing argument for the wider social effects from being exposed to violence, sex, drugs and gore in video games.

This episode of A Different Lens will explore the good, the bad, and the ugly side of gaming, and see what’s in store for the future of the industry.

About the Authors

  • Antonio verdejo-garcia

    Professor (Research), Turner Institute For the Brain and Mental Health

    Antonio's research focuses on the cognitive and neural mechanisms underpinning executive control and decision-making, and their implications for addiction and obesity.

  • Andy ruddock

    Andy's research focuses on media audiences, media users, the politics of popular culture and mediatisation. It's informed by British and American cultural studies and the North American mass communication tradition. He uses ethnography, cultivation analysis, quantitative survey research, content analysis and online thematic discourse analysis, guided by grounded theory. He's the author of the books Youth and Media; Investigating Audiences; Understanding Audiences; and Exploring Media Research: Theories, Practice, and Purpose.

  • Steven roberts

    Professor, School of Education Culture and Society, Monash University

    Steve is an internationally recognised expert in research on youth, social class inequality and young people’s transitions to adulthood, and also on the changing nature of men and masculinities. The latter includes men’s engagement with risky drinking; sexting; emotionality; computer gaming; violence; domestic labour; compulsory and post-compulsory education; employment.

  • Kirsten ellis

    Senior Lecturer, Department of Human Centred Computing

    Kirsten has a creative and technical background and has experience in designing, developing and evaluating systems for people with unique requirements. Her research interests include human computer interaction and how technology can create a more inclusive society. She had developed multiple resources using a variety of technologies including on the Nintendo DS lite, iPad, iPhone, Android and the Microsoft Kinect. She also plays with maker technologies including eTextiles to make creative pieces and artefacts to assist people. In addition, she also researches innovative technologies to create tangible objects as authentic learning experiences.

  • Xavier ho

    Lecturer, Department of Design

    Xavier is the creator of Roguelike Universe, Smoke and Fire, and other interactive data visualisations. He is a hybrid design and software practitioner-researcher appointed at Monash Art, Design and Architecture. Prior to joining Monash, Xavier led the Graph Visualisation Engineering team at CSIRO designing visualisations for machine learning on networked data. He has more than seven years of industry experience in co-designing interactive data visualisation tools for research, government, businesses, and the everyday citizen.

  • Zhuying li

    PhD candidate, Exertion Games Lab, Faculty of Information Technology

    Zhuying’s research focuses on the intersection of technology, the human body, and play. She is currently working on playful interaction design with ingestible sensors. Before starting her PhD, Zhuying studied Information Engineering and worked as a game designer.

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