Erick Garcia

The University of Texas at El Paso

RWS 1302
06/28/2015

As technology gets more and more sophisticated the things that cane be produced
from it also get more and more advanced with each passing moment. One example of
such is video games and the gamers tendency to want more advanced and realistic
games. With this trend of games getting more realistic there comes a price, the more
realistic the game tries to become the more realistic all the bad things will also become.
Examples might be the violence in the game getting more realistic and graphic, the
profanity used, or in some instances even sexual content is depicted graphically in video
games. With such shocking images in todays video games and so many hours that are put
in them by the gamers, one can only wonder if prolonged exposure to such content might
affect the individual and how it might affect the individual.
The Japanese animated show entitled Sword Art Online created by A-1 Pictures
has a plotline that at first might only seem like a simple work of fiction. But if it further
analyzed one might see that this plot line might be representation of what people in real
life might do if this fictional situation might be presented to Them in real life. The main
point of this story is that in the near future there is a new kind of technology that allows
video games to be the most realistic they have ever been. This is done using an apparatus
called a Nerve gear that allows people to dive into a completely virtual world, all while
their body is rendered unconscious in the real world, allowing the brain to be able to
freely move in this virtual world without actually moving in the real world. The
conflict begin when the creator of the machine rigged it so no one could take it off other
wise risking certain death, trapping them in their virtual world until he so chose to free
them. This situation might seem to far fetch to ever be able to happen in the real world,
but the point is that the people of today always want a more and more realistic video

games experience. Thus, making people crave this kind of technology, despite the
dangers that it might pose. The obsession with a more realistic experience makes the
gamers more vulnerable to submitting our minds to whoever offers the better game.
The second genre is a prime example of what people think of when they think of
video games affecting people negatively. This Video Game published by RockStar Games
does not even try to hide the fact that some of the material that it depicts might be
considered offensive or too graphic for some audiences. The premise of this game is
literally to do anything that the player can think of, this includes crime and murder,
among other inappropriate things. This game franchise has been blamed multiple times
for causing violence in the real world by people being influenced by all the things that are
depicted. As a new game is released in the franchise the games get more and more
realistic, meaning that all the graphic content gets to the point of being almost lifelike. It
is only to be expected that this game is the one people think of when the issue of video
games affecting people comes up.
The Intended audience for both genres seems to be previous fans of both
franchises or of things that are similar, for example both genres appeal to video games
fans since one of the genres talks about video games, and the other is literally a video
game. With both of these being genres that are based around the entertainment media, the
purpose of both genres is to entertain the audience and the plotlines of both genres seem
to also be able to attract a broader audience. The audience ties in with the genres because
the genres present information that only that specific audience would understand.
However, this only applies for the first genre because the second does tend to keep
repeating information so that not only the intended audience can understand it.

For both of these genres the audience is likely to know only things that would be
real within the context of the real world. Meaning that when a new piece of information
is introduced that the audience did not know it was probably the first time the audience
might have heard of such information, since the work is mainly fiction it is unlikely the
information was known before the audience was exposed to it. Both the genre require a
great deal of time in order for it to fulfill their purpose therefore the audience spends a
great deal of time with the information that is presented to them. Making difficult and
complex information easy to understand.
The language presented is not entirely formal since most of the language exposed
is done between characters in the story it is very casual language. However, in the second
genre the language presented is very informal, the game assumes the player will
understand references and uses profanity in most of it dialog among characters.
The similarities between the two genres include mainly that they are both fictitious and
take place in fictional locations. They are both geared towards people who were already
fans. The language and themes all make sense in terms of their own discourse
communities. The differences are that one genre takes it self seriously and does not
deviate from its purpose or forgets who the audience was in the first place. In contrast the
second genre does not take its purpose seriously switching between serious and extremely
comical situations with little to no transition between them, also sometimes forgetting
who the audience was in the first place
Both genres have very bad ethos since they were both mean to entertain and not to
inform or to persuade. Although this does help in achieving their purpose for the genre,
which was to entertain. The first genre introduces characters and makes them out to be

likeable. It then proceeds to place them in various emotional situations such as despair
and some even perishing. Since the series gave so much focus on this characters, seeing
them in difficult situation might make the viewer feel those same feelings. It helps to
achieve the purpose because people seem to like shows that actually make them feel. :
The only emotional response this genre might evoke is laughter and in some rare
instances, disgust. However, since these two seem to be in a very good balance the
satirical ways and the shock factor play well together to entertain the player in order to
fulfill its purpose of entertaining the audience. Since both of the genres are works of
fiction and do not seem to want to inform. There is very little information that requires
backing up in terms of the genres themselves. Not requiring information to back up any
claims that it makes works solely because both of the genres were meant to entertain. The
main similarities between the two genres is that they both lack ethos, but have a very
strong pathos, The main difference between the two genres is that only the first genre has
a very good logos, with it following a story in a manner that makes sense and avoids
leaving any questions unanswered. While the second one being a video games is nonlinear and the characters and situations seem to be all over the place. If the first genre
lacked the logos and pathos that it has, it would be a very dull genre and no one would be
interested, thus failing to fulfill its purpose. If the second genre lacked the pathos that it
had, then the main hook that it has to attract the audience is gone and again, fails to fulfill
its purpose. If the first genre had to back up the claims that it made, with it being a
fictional show it would have been either really hard or extremely complicated to explain
these concepts in detail. If the second genre had tried to be more linear and have a strong

logos, then it would nonlinear be of the same genre anymore and would most likely fail
to fulfill its purpose.
Since the first genre is a series then it needs to fill all the information that it is
trying to convey into the allotted time that it has. And since it is aired worldwide it has to
appeal to various culture so it cant be only geared towards one but to all .The second
genre took a little more liberty in presenting the information that it presents. So much that
it might have been a bit too extreme and caused some major controversy. But in
retrospect had it not wanted to cause controversy then it would have shown a little more
restraint.
The first genre shows all of its information in a linear manner that is also
reviewed briefly at the start of each new segment. The second one tells a stories from
various points of view all while giving the player freedom to choose the outcome of the
story based on decisions made through. Both genre used music to evoke a much stronger
reactions from the audience, all while showing some stunning visuals that leave the
audience wanting to be engaged. The elements make both genres more entertaining,
which is the sole purpose of both genres. Both genres try to captivate the audience with
visuals and sound, which to some extent is the reason why they both kept going with their
respective franchises. But only the first genre used sound to raise the excitement of the
audience, all while the second genre used it to make the audience feel like they were
inside of the genre itself.
The second genres message was that to entertain, all while demonstrating in a
very satirical way the faults of the American people and their customs. They do this by
giving the audience freedom to perform any action within the game, with each one

yielding different consequences. At the end the player realizes that all the actions they
took were the ones the game expected them to make based on the different stereotypes of
the American way of life. Thus only proving their own point.

References
kawahara, R. (2012) Sword Art Online. Tokyo, Japan: A-1 Pictures

(2013) Grand Theft Auto V. New York, New York: RockStar Games