Costantino+Olivia

=**__Week 2 Lab Response:__ Can Video Games be considered another new mass media? What makes Video Games a different medium from conventional movies and music? Why are video games catching on?**= Video games, even before Pokemon, the case study it states that it was a “transnational form of pop culture”.Having video games in general being so popular already, introducing Pokemon into the video game market, and having it be popular, was that much simpler.Also the appeal associated with the game: control.Children could control the character, search and catch Pokemon, fight other trainers in battles for more Pokemon, learn the maps of the cities and where to find things to aid in the ultimate quest of the game: to catch them all, and beat the best, to become the best. As for being a new form of media, I don’t think it is one.Media are channels through which messages are sent.Video games contain the messages. If anything is a new media it’s the video game system that plays the games, not the games themselves.

__Week 3 Lab Response:__ Why are new genres created? Why is the definition of genre controversial and not so applicable to the formation of digital genres?
New genres are created because what people like constantly changes. There are the standard genres like comedy, action, etcetera, but as humans evolve and develop i.e. change, so do their tastes. Media wants to attract as many people as possible. However, no two people are alike in likes vs dislikes. That's not to say that there are no similarities between them though. Genres are a way of categorizing these similarities and attracting different types of people i.e. different demographics. The definition of genre is controversial with regards to digital media i.e. the computer because they aren't really genres. Well, in regards to homepages, the purpose of them is not to adhere to demographics specifically, it is simply a bunch of random things that a person likes put onto a page. In the survey of the article, there were 8 different pages in which elements were separated 5 most common, 5 least common, and remainder. Then the results of the 100+ people were tallied and categorized to see which elements were most popular, least popular, etc. From all that, when looking at the final numbers, they are too random i.e. there is no definite pattern to suggest any sort of genre. Genres usually attract specific demographics i.e. are based on patterns. Because digitally, it is so easy to alter, revise, edit pages they constantly change. Whether it be for improvement or just out of boredum, they do change. Far more quickly than paper and movie genres ever have or ever will. Hence, genre cannot be defined it within the digital world because there is no steady pattern i.e. too much change, too often.

** __Week 4 Lab Response:__ Do you agree with McLuhan when states comics are an extension of photographic media? Why or why not? **
==** I disagree with McLuhan, because even though both are pictorial forms of media, the reality aspect makes them far removed from an extension of photographic media.Photographic media depicts real things, real things being real people, places, and objects that we obtain information about through our senses.In comics, there are animations; creations that artists make that are, for the most part, far from reality.They are more like paintings then photographs and because of that cannot be considered an extension of photographic media.They are simply too diverse and change too often. **== =[[beduzalex:Lab Seven Culture Jam Lab Oct. 22|Week 7 - Culture Jam]]=

=__Week 8- Lab Response:__= [|Link to article] **Who are the sources?** The Toronto star. Written by Kevin McGran. Source of topic CBC.

**Is there a lack of diversity?** Yes, the article only talks about the Toronto Maple Leafs (TML) and who’s playing well on their team. The article fails to mention anything about how rival teams are playing in comparison. It merely mentions that the Montreal Canadiens beat them.

**From whose point of view is the news reported?** Toronto Star writer and thus has bias for TML over Montreal.

**Are there double standards?** The tone of the article with regards to Kessel is positive in that they kind of ‘praise’ his skills by saying that ‘all signals point to Tuesday when Kessel returns’ as if the team winning depends on one single player.This is clearly unrealistic and is nicely offset by an interview with Ron Wilson, head coach, who states that he has been off the ice for six months, so the likelihood of him getting 6 points his first night back is highly unlikely.

**Do stereotypes skew coverage?** Not stereotypes necessarily, but inflating ones importance on the team yes. Phil Kessel is a big name in the NHL. He has yet to start with the leafs due to injury, but in the article they build him up to be this big star, which they counteract with Wilson’s comment about how he probably wont live up to everyone’s expectation because of his 6 month absence.

**What are the unchallenged assumptions?** The article glorifies a handful of players as opposed to the entire team, creating the assumption that the success of the team is dependent on these few players. Which is a little ironic since the article continues to state that the team is doing better as a whole.

**Is the language loaded?** The language of the article can be considered as loaded because there’s a lot of hype about how skilled some players are and how well they’re performing, which suggests that the TML should be a good team. However, they are clearly not since they haven’t been winning many games. The article talks a lot about how well they’re playing as a team and how the team is beginning to play consistently. The writer is clearly trying to keep the audience backing the TML.

**Is there a lack of context?** Yes there is a lack of context as the writer chooses to focus the article on snippets of information that he finds interesting. It actually feels like the writer is publishing a personal statement about why he loves the TML and who his favourite players are.

**Do the headlines and stories match?** In the title it doesn’t mention Phil Kessel at all and yet a third of it was about him. It didn’t really review the game at all it was more a summary of how they changed since the road trip started five games before.As for the information regarding lasts night's game it was a bunch of one-liners with quick information.

**Are stories on important issues featured prominently?** N/A