Abstract This paper explores Walter Benjamin and his unfinished masterpiece, "The Arcades Project". There is an emphasis on how Benjamin perceived society to have altered in order to allow gambling and prostitution within the fabulous Arcades of Paris in the earliest part of the Twentieth Century.
Abstract The paper describes Walter Benjamin as an important German literary critic and philosopher who provided a means by which emerging social trends could be discerned through a careful and insightful analysis of various aspects of a capitalistic society. Benjamin maintained that his Konvolute framework provided a means to recognize and appreciate such social trends and this paper updates The Arcades Project into the 21st century and applies his Konvolutes to the contemporary social movements that are emerging in the United States. The paper concludes that America is faced with some unique challenges to its survival and all of the stakeholders - including illegal aliens who live there - are going to have to come to grips with the new realities of life in a multicultural America.
Outline:
Introduction
Review and Discussion
Conclusion
From the Paper ""People-watching" has always been a popular pastime for many people, but Walter Benjamin used this technique and others to elucidate a number of influential but largely incomplete thoughts concerning the capitalist origins of modern Western society and how these forces affect the social movements that have emerged over the years. In an increasingly multicultural society, understanding how and why other people behave the way they do has assumed a new level of importance today. In fact, in recent years, people in the United States have been forced to face a number of harsh realities, with one of the most pressing and poignant of these issues being illegal immigration and its impact on the nation's security and employment."
A discussion of whether the analogy set forth in "Jurassic Park" between film and the theme park ride is appropriate and the implications this has for cinema in general.
Abstract This paper examines how throughout the history of cinema there has always been the thrill of the spectacle. It reviews the film "Jurassic Park" within the context of the history of the cinematic arts by placing it in the cycle of spectacle driven films, that has followed cinema since its beginnings. It analyzes the implications this has for cinema in general as a return to the cinema of spectacle in the new guise of themed entertainment, similar to the entertainment arcades of old.
From the Paper "Jurassic Park is part of a cyclic trend in cinema that exploits new technologies to hark back to the tradition of early cinema and its amusement park roots. The film begins inside reality, the normal world, where dinosaurs exist only as fossils; technology is limited, allowing us only to see radar outlines of dinosaur skeletons from inside an inhospitable desert. It is in the pristine jungle that the trouble begins. The gates to Jurassic Park open, and with them the metaphoric flood gates of Ian Malcom's chaos theory. The visitors are no longer viewing the theme park from a spectator's view, but the theme park comes to them , and with a millennial rage . The film becomes the ride that explains the process of creating dinosaurs with cute animations, but Sadler, Grant and Malcom subvert the ride, wanting a more real experience. "
Abstract This paper examines how a new means of assessing vision known as the Contrast Sensitivity Function (CSF) has emerged and how it is vital to calculate the sensitivity of the visual system for humans and other animals as it presents information regarding individual visual function capabilities. It looks at how a programme called Gabori attack was used to test the contrast sensitivity function of 8 participants. The experiment was performed to test the accuracy of the programme and to find if there was any significant differences in spatial frequencies for individuals and between individuals.
From the Paper "Contrast sensitivity testing adds to and extends the measurement of visual function provided by simple acuity tests. Contrast sensitivity measurements offer information about an individual's ability to see low contrast targets over an extensive range of target size and orientation. Modern vision research has undoubtedly demonstrated that the capacity to detect and identify spatial form varies widely as a function of target size, contrast, and spatial orientation (Campbell & Atkinson, 1978)."
Abstract This paper argues that the government has not done much to improve either the media or video violence; this is the main source of motivation towards violence that our children receive daily. The paper recommends that the government needs to monitor the amount of violence shown on television, as well as the amount of violence shown in video and arcade games. The paper argues that, just as there are laws against the consumption of alcohol and tobacco by minors, there should be laws against minors being exposed to violence in the media.
From the Paper "Video games are not the only problem when it comes to the children watching violence. The media is also a large source of the amount of violence that the children consume. What are the effects of the media on children? The media has negative effects on children when the only thing it shows is violence. "Children who learn that violent behavior 'works' [...], on television, [...], may have a greater potential to behave violently as adults", expresses Reiss and Roth. Once the children learn the behaviors and are accustomed to them, it is very hard to break them of that behavior."
Abstract This paper explains that educators and parents are concerned mostly about the amount of violence in computer games, which not only assaults kids with sex and violence, but also induces them to imitate what they see on the screen, ultimately causing them to lose their moral compasses. The author points out that researchers also have looked at positive aspect of electronic games, such as virtual reality (VR) and computer simulations, as educational tools for language learning and self-esteem and skill building. The paper relates that some research has found that gaming cannot be considered addictive, that arcade guests were not special in alarming ways, and that there was no correlation between heavy game use and mental disorders or delinquent behavior.
From the Paper "The people on the other side of the argument, those who do not agree with the association of violence and media, report that youth crime has dropped sharply in the last decade. From 1992, the year "Mortal Kombat" debuted to year 2000, arrests for serious juvenile crime fell by about two-thirds, while the number of children carrying guns to school dropped by half. Game supporters say that their opponents gloss over the large amount of evidence that does not support a link between watching portrayals of violence and engaging in violent behavior. As scholars such as University of Toronto psychologist Jonathan Freedman and University of Southern California sociologist Karen Sternheimer have shown, experimental studies that alarmists cite may hinge on self-fulfilling prophecies, with researchers pushing subjects into giving the "right" answer. Furthermore, it is not clear how the stimuli and measures of aggression used in the highly artificial setting of a laboratory relate to viewing and violence in the real world."
Tags: violence, imitate, eyespy, learing, research
Abstract Through an examination of the history of film in America, this paper looks at the censorship and regulation of the film industry and argues that the need for regulation was forced upon the industry (and still is, in a way) for no other reason than that conservative elements of America felt that what the average American could see should be censored. The paper further argues that this regulation was not merely to prevent bawdiness, lewdness, or unsuitable physical actions that stimulated sexual feelings, but also to regulate the politicization of the movies.
From the Paper "Following the end of the War, while many film makers now turned to a rather "new" sophistication, there was also a very serious anti-Communist note in some movies. While the real "Red Scare" occurred in the 1950s, in 1919, for example, there was real concern that the newly Communist Russia might actually invade the U.S. "Conservative films such as The New Moon (1919) disparaged communists and communism with scenes of perfidious Bolshevik officers attacking vulnerable young women....In The Penalty...audiences saw 10,00 disgruntled foreign workers, armed with rifles and pistols, waiting to open fire on police and take over the city of San Francisco." (Ross 136). Politicians applauded these films, even though they often misrepresented actual events. This included several truly anti-Semitic films, which, under extreme political pressure, were forced to change character names and some dialogue. "Pressure from the Yiddish press and Governor Al Smith forced the producers of The Volcano to alter its blatantly anti-Semitic plot. The hero's name was changed from Garland to Nathan Levison and the hook-nosed villain was given the line: 'I am not Jew. I am a Bolshevik.!'" (Ross 141)."
Abstract This paper provides a market analysis for Gametraders Garden City, a fictional franchise store that offers retro and current video game products located in the Perth Garden City Arcade, in Australia. The paper presents a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (SWOT) analysis for the company and then analyses its market strategy and financial situation. The paper also shows the areas of the company that need to be monitored.
Table of Contents:
Executive Summary
Situation Analysis
Market Summary
Market Demographics
Market Needs
The Market And Trends
Market Growth
Swot Analysis
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
Competition And Buying Patterns
Product Offering
Keys To Success
Critical Issues
Marketing Strategy
Mission
Marketing Objectives
Financial Objectives
Target Marketing
Positioning
Marketing Mix
Marketing Research
Financials, Budgets, And Forecasts
Break-Even Analysis
Sales Forecast
Expense Forecast
Controls
Implementation Milestones
Marketing Organization
Contingency Planning
From the Paper "GGC will position itself as being the only Australian-owned specialty gaming retail store that offers video gamers the best prices on a wide range of new and retro video gaming products. GGC can offer the gaming market the ability to sell and trade-in most video gaming products regardless of age and offer better prices compare to current competitors offering and trade-in policies. Currently competitors such as Electronic Boutique are losing touch with the hardcore gaming market and the large department stores are not responsive enough in pricing to serve value-seeking hardcore gamers on new releases. Hardcore gamers also consist of retro gamers and collectors who have grown up with gaming and when they enter a Gametraders store such as GGC it ignites their nostalgic feeling of video gaming in the past. GGC have found that releasing video game products faster and at a relatively cheaper price than competitors have grab a market share from them even casual gamers. The hardcore gaming market is currently the most profitable market although smaller market but also they are the most influential. Hardcore gamers dictate what are the games to play and are able to convince casual gamers on places to shop. Casual gamers are sometimes converted as hardcore gamers through game introductions given by hardcore gamers."
