Written Analysis #2

This week’s written analysis asks if the concepts of rituals and stereotypes are applicable to my chosen topic.  In my opinion, both concepts are easily relatable to the Xbox One and Playstation 4.

Rituals are habitual activities that are performed routinely.  There are plenty of these applicable to the Xbox One and Playstation 4.  A relevant well-known ritual is the midnight launch.  People interested in purchasing the systems as well as those who pre-ordered them travel to select stores prior to midnight on the day the product is initially introduced for sale to partake in pre-release celebratory activities at the store such as game demos and trivia contests.  The midnight launch was not limited to the release of the above-mentioned consoles.  This ritual can also be applied to major video game releases for the respective systems.  So far, this ritual has been done for Dead Rising 3, Forza Motorsport 5, Titanfall, Infamous: Second Son, and Killzone: Shadow Fall.  A second ritual pertaining to my topic is trading in older games to receive credit towards new releases.  Stores such as GameStop offer promotions in conjunction with the release of highly anticipated video games. These promotions entice customers to trade in their old games towards the purchase of the new release by offering more credit than is customary for doing so.  This incentive results in customers trading in more often than usual. Moreover, it is a custom for hard core gamers to play the new game they purchased almost immediately after they get home with it.

As far as stereotypes are concerned, even though they are not directly related to the systems themselves, they are related to the gamers, the people who purchase these systems and play games on them.  The gamer stereotype is generally defined as a clueless slacker who spends nearly every possible free minute playing video games.  Unfortunately, this is stereotype is negative and more often than not is untrue.  I personally would define a gamer as someone who enjoys playing video games as a hobby and may actively follow news regarding them as well.

The insight I can gain from the application of rituals to the Xbox One and Playstation 4 is that I actively partake in many of them.  I do not own a Playstation 4; however, I did purchase the Xbox One a few months ago, and traded in several games I no longer wanted to acquire games for my new system.  Furthermore, I plan to purchase future games at launch and, if possible, go to the release celebrations of new games such as Wolfenstein: The New Order, Watch Dogs, Batman: Arkham Knight, & Assassin’s Creed Unity. 

The insight I can take away from the application of stereotypes is that I proudly consider myself to be a gamer.  That being said, I do not fall into the negative connotation many people believe defines a gamer.