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At Media Blitz, we have an interest in video games that goes back to the 1980s, the Atari 2600, & the Nintendo Entertainment System. As kids, many of us found these video game systems & their interactive media products to be much more interesting than the television shows and other media offered on television and movies that were available on VHS (and Beta) tapes. Video games involved the viewer as a participant.
Video Games are consumed as “lean-forward” media content. While television and movies may hold your interest and even keep you in suspense, video games rely on the player’s actions to progress. Video game players have a sense of control – “agency” – that goes beyond changing channels or volume on a remote control (analogous to switching cartridges). Television viewers are often doing other things or half-watching, even falling asleep as the television continues its programming. Use of The Internet is regularly described as lean-forward content consumption. People go online with a purpose, or they surf and make choices based on interests that arise.
A similar tangent could be explored involving the different types of “sports fans”: There are those who like to watch others play (further divided into engaged and passive fans), and there are those who actually participate as athletes. The difference is huge. While some people fall into both camps, there are many that only fit into one of these groups. Their driving motivations contrast starkly, and these same types of differences are at play when it comes to traditional television programming versus what in past years has been called “New Media” that allows participants to engage with the media content and even create, share, distribute, and exchange content on a variety of online platforms.
The story of the level design for the very beginning of Super Mario Brothers 1 on the NES may provide some insight regarding what was the first home video game experience for many, many people in a time when traditional TV media still reigned. To what extent did video games prime us for the interactive media experience that would explode a decade later on The Internet?
