Graded Unit Essay

As a HNC Health Care student I am required to provide evidence of the following principal aims and objectives: to integrate knowledge, theory and practice, to develop and apply a broad knowledge and skills and to have an individual patient/client focus in my practice. To achieve all of the above I am required to complete project in a form of Graded Unit which consists of three stages: planning, development and evaluation. After consultation with my work experience mentor and lead lecture (appendix 1 and 2) it was agreed, the project will be a nursing activity, weighing a patient , which will be carried out within an ambulatory care settings which is my current placement . This will take place on Monday the 22nd of April. The chosen activity is a part of the patients’ treatment care plan and its aims maintaining patient’s safety related to correct medicine administration as well as to detect potential side effects associated with pharmacological treatment. In accordance with applicable law (Data Protection Act 1998) and to maintain patient confidentiality and privacy the name of the patient has been changed. I will be referring to the patient as Cinderella. The patients’ personal information had been obtained with her consent and knowledge (NMC Code of Conduct 2008). Cinderella is a 26 years old patient attending the Peter Burnt Centre at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where she has been receiving Hepatitis C (HCV) treatment since November 2012. Cinderella lives alone in high rise block of flats in one of Aberdeen City Council estate. She left school at the age of sixteen with no qualifications and used drugs for several years. She was brought up by single parent – her mother, and has no siblings. With the help from local drug rehabilitation team she managed to stop using drugs for five years. Currently she works as a housekeeper on a part time bases in one of the hotels in the city centre. Recently, she has reduced the number of working hours due to the side effects of medication which make her feel very tired. She also complains of an upset stomach and lack of appetite. After having a chat with Cinderella she has told me that her social life and circle of friends is quite limited as her income is now much lower. She also mentioned that is quie t difficult to make new friends while you have drug use history. When speaking to Cinderella it became evident to me that being HCV positive makes her feels worse than others and reminds her of when she was using drugs. It is well  evidenced that people who have both; history of drug use and disease which can be sexually transmitted such is HCV, are likely to experience stigma and discrimination in their life (Gilman 1999).Stigma and discrimination are socioeconomic factors which have a damaging health, social and financial consequences (Nursing Standard 2008). It is believed that those who are stigmatised and discriminated are more likely to have a lower income and due to this cannot afford to purchase better quality food, better housing, live in safer environments and have worse access to healthcare and education. Cinderella’s low socioeconomic status and negative social attitudes evidently put her physical and mental wellbeing at risk. Stigma and discrimination may relate to Social Symbolic Interaction Theory and in particular to the i dea of labelling and its negative impact on people behaviour and self- concept (Miller J, Gibb S 2007). This would also fit with Carl Rodgers Person- Centred Theory and his idea of self- concept. Self –concept in other words is how we perceive and value our self. Rogers believes that humans need a positive environment to achieve fulfilment in their lives. In Cinderella’s case both her socioeconomic status and unfavorable social attitudes may make her feel negatively about herself and stop her from social integration. I also believe that Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs can be applied to the patient situation. According to this psychological perspective every person is motivated by their needs and cannot achieve his/he full potential (self-actualization) if some of these are not met. I feel that this may relate to Cinderella’s safety, love and belongings needs. Limited social contacts, stigma and fear caused by her illness may stop her from moving on to the next level personality development. To support people in similar to Cinderella’s circumstances the Scottish Government launched the Hepatitis C Action Plan in 2006. The aim of this policy is to improve health care services for people living with HCV and to tackle HCV- related social stigma, by rising public awareness and changing the way HCV is portrayed in media. I have decided to use Roper Logan and Tierney twelve activities of daily living (A DLs) to asses Cinderella’s needs. The reason for this is that I find it to be the nursing model which is very effective in assessing basic day to day activities which have its own importance to the survival of life;  also it follows the objectives of my graded unit. For the purpose of this project I will focus on maintaining safe environment in relation to Cinderella’s HCV antiviral therapy. Cinderella had been referred to Peter Brunt Centre at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary by her GP due to the result of blood test which revealed Hepatitis C antibodies. After a number of blood tests and liver biopsy Cinderella had been diagnosed with Chronic Hepatitis C with genotype 1 and mild liver damage. HCV is a disease caused by blood – borne virus Hepatitis C, which infects the liver and causes its inflammation (British Liver Trust 2010). The term chronic describes illnesses that last for a lon g period of time (more than six months) or for the whole life. The liver is an organ which is a part of the digestive system and carries out numerous important jobs’ such as; detoxification, aiding digestion or extracting nutrients. These play a vital role in maintenance of equilibrium of the body internal environment, known as a homeostasis. Due to prolonged liver inflammation scaring of liver tissue occurs (fibrosis) and permanent liver damage is likely to occur (cirrhosis, liver cancer). As a result liver work capacity become impaired and the whole body may become poisoned (WHO 2011). There are several effective HCV treatment options available however none of them gives a one hundred percent guarantee. Nevertheless, adequately matched therapy can permanently clear the virus from blood and prevent liver from further damage. Cinderella after consultation with liver specialist doctor and liver specialist liver nurse decided to undergo HCV treatment known as a ‘triple therapy’ which is recommended by National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) The effectiveness of treatment among other factors lay in an adequate dosage and duration of medicine intake. Both too low or too high dosage as well as side effects of medication may negatively impact Cinderella’s physical health and put her life at risk. To maintain the patient safety it was agreed that Cinderella will be visiting PBC every Monday for blood tests and weight checks. To ensure Cinderella’s safety I will follow appropriate NHS procedures and policies (NHS Procedure guidelines: Weighing the patient 2008) in line with the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974). To perform chosen activity I will require specific resources which I listed in Appendix 3 and project timescale (see Appendix 4). I have obtained consent from a different patient who is also visiting PBC this day if for some reason I will not be able to complete it with  Cinderella. References Health Protection Scotland – a division of NHS National Services Scotland. (2009). Blood Borne Viruses & Sexually Transmitted Disease . Available: http://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/bbvsti/hepatitisc.aspx. Last accessed 25yh March 2013. The Scottish Government (2011). The Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus Framework 2011-15 . Edinburgh: Scottish Government. p31- 42. Grundy G, Beeching N . (2004). Understanding social stigma ii women with hepatitis C. Nursing Standard. 19 (4), 35-39. Gilman S (1999) Disease and stigma. Lancet. 354, Suppl, SIV15. World Health Organization. (2012). Hepatitis C . Available: http://who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs164/en/index.html. Last accessed 5th April 2013. Nicole Cutler. (2007). Breaking the Hepatitis C Social Stigma. Available: http://www.hepatitis-central.com/mt/archives/2007/08/breaking_the_he.html. Last accessed 7th April 2013. British Liver Trust. (2011). Facts and functions of the liver. Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/physical_health/c onditions/in_depth/liver/liver_facts_functions.shtml. Last accessed 11th April 2013. Maslow, A. H. (1970). Motivation and Personality. New York: Harper & Row Rogers, Carl. (1951). Client-centered Therapy: Its Current Practice, Implications and Theory. London: Constable. Miller,J and Gibb, S (2007). Care in practise for Higher Second Edition. Paisley: Hodder gibson. 202-204. Nursing and Midwifery Council (2008). The code: Standards of conduct, performance and ethics for nurses and midwives. London: NMC. p2- 8. Roper, Logan, Tierney (1980). The elements of nursing. Edinburgh: Churchhill livingstone. 141.

Nature and Nurture Influences Essay

We were asked to write a paper on Nature and Nurture influences on a child development. There has been a debate for years about this topic. Some phycologist believe that it is just nature that you are born with the genes from you parents to make you the way you are through evolution. Then there are those that it is just the nurturing we receive as babies or even in the womb through our child hood. That both Nature and Nurture go together in some way. The difference between Nature and Nurture will be described and the relationship between the two. I will explain the biological, environmental, societal, and cultural influences on child development in relation to nature versus nurture. This debate has gone one since 1970’s, when some studies showed the social behaviors of primates like chimpanzees and gorillas that this was humans closest relatives genetically speaking (Garcà ­a, J. 2014). The increased social significance of gay and lesbian rights in recent years has sparked in terest among some researchers as to the causes of homosexuality. Supporters of gay rights claim that homosexuality is natural and innate, while many opponents of gay rights often claim that homosexuality is a lifestyle choice (Garcà ­a, J. 2014). These are big debatable topics that they say is all nature. I disagree I am a Christian and go by the bible not scientist sorry that’s my belief. Whether you are gay or believe we come from monkeys that’s fine. I believe it is a choice you choose to be the way you are it’s your life style that’s fine. We are nurtures from the time we are conceived parents talk to their babies will in the womb. The fetus does respond to noise we say the ABC’s to them when they are born we hold them feed them. When our children get older or fall as a child we kiss their wounds to make them feel better. We teach them to ride bikes some grasp it faster than others we  encourage our children to do their best in everything they do. I have four children they are all different the pregnancies was different. My pregnancies with my sons I was not sick with either. First child sleep great hardly sick. The second pregnancy my son was sick for the first year had colic ear infe ctions was rough. The pregnancies with my girls I was sick had acid reflux in the beginning of the third pregnancy fourth was a girl acid reflux during my whole pregnancy. They both had it in the beginning as well, but my youngest daughter still have attacks of acid reflux. Not everything is genetic we get our looks from our parents some are great musicians, but their child doesn’t follow their footsteps and can play any instrument. I peck a piano my daughter taught herself other children do not know how to play. Factor, in the study of development, nature refers to the inherited (genetic) characteristics and tendencies that influence development. Nurture affects children’s development through multiple channels: physically through nutrition, activity, and stress; intellectually through informal experiences and formal instruction; and socially through adult role models and peer relationships. In contrast, abilities in traditional school subject areas (e.g., reading, geography) and advanced artistic and physical skills (e.g., playing the piano, playing competitive soccer) rest heavily on instruction and practice (Gardner, Torff, & Hatch, 1996; Olson, 1994; R. Watson, 1996). So in conclusion you will always have those that will say we still come from monkeys and those are the facts. I still do not believe that never will. Then there will be those that say that its nature that we are the way we are. I believe that nature is apart , but mostly nurture started in the beginning of life’s creation from the seed to the implantation thru adult hood. References http://www.education.com/reference/article/nature-nurture/ http://www.howcast.com/videos/513307-nature-vs-nurture-child-development Garcà ­a, J. (2014). Nature versus nurture debate. Research Starter Topics, http://video.about.com/genealogy/What-Is-Nature-Vs–Nurture-.htm

Nursing Physical Assessment

Physical Assessment Lab 120-103 1. General Survey ! Level?! Awake & Alert a. Orientation to person, place, time? b. Ability to Communicate in full sentences with clear speech? c. Posture: upright and erect, shoulders level and symmetrical? d. Personal Hygiene: Clean & neat, no odor, dresses appropriately for the weather. 2. Integumentary System: a. Color: Uniform color – pink, tan, brown, olive. Slightly darker on exposed areas. There are normally no areas of bleeding, ecchymosis, or increased vascularity. No skin lesions should be present except for freckles, birthmarks, or moles, which may be flat or elevated. . Temperature: Warm and dry bilaterally. Hands and feet may be slightly cooler than the rest of the body. Skin surfaces should be non tender. (use back of both hands on patient’s forearms) c. Textures: Skin should feel soft/fine or coarse/thick. d. Turgor: When the skin is released, it should instantly recoil, no tenting. Best place to assess: Ant. ?Chest or abd omen. **Verbalize: I will integrate the integumentary system throughout the rest of the exam through checking and observing. 3. Head, Face, Neck a. Cranium: The head should be normocephalic, midline, and symmetrical.? . Scalp: The scalp should be white to light brown, shiny, intact, and without lesions or masses, flaking, or pidiculi (lice)? c. Hair: Pale blonde to black, thick or thin, curly or straight, coarse or fine, shiny or dull.? d. Frontal Maxillary Sinuses: Should be non palpable and non tender (must ask â€Å"did that hurt? †) e. Cervical Lymph Nodes: Should be non palpable and non tender, non visible or inflamed. (Preauricular, postauricular, occipital, submental, submandibular, tonsillar, anterior cervical chain, posterior cervical chain, supraclavicular. e. Best place to assess: Ant. Chest or abdomen. **Verbalize: I will integrate the integumentary system throughout the rest of the exam through checking and observing. Physical Assessment Lab 120-103 f. Carotid Ar tery: Has visible pulsation (should be in front of the sternocleidomastoid muscle), palpable bilaterally (not at the same time!!! ), no bruits (soft blowing or wooshing sound from constriction of plaque) g. Temporal Artery: Should be palpable and equal bilaterally h. TMJ: Glides smoothly, no clicking or crepitus. i. Trachea: Midline, Thyroid: non palpable, non tender (ask) j.Neck: ROM & Muscle Strength: Stand behind the patient, touch the chin to the chest, look up at the ? ceiling, move each ear to shoulder (without elevating the shoulder), turn head to each side to look at the shoulder. The Cervical spine’s alignment is straight, the head is held erect. Normal muscle strength allows for full, complete, voluntary joint ROM against both gravity and moderate to full resistance. Muscle strength is equal bilaterally. There is no observed involuntary muscle movement. Say: â€Å"full active ROM with no restrictions† k.Thyroid: Palpation: have the patient lower the chin slig htly in order to relax neck muscles. Place your thumbs on the back of the patient’s neck and bring the other fingers around the neck anteriorly to rest their tips over the trachea on the lower portion of the neck. Move the finger pads over the tracheal rings. Gently move trachea over to the side, then have patient swallow. Feel for any consistency, nodularity, or tenderness. 4. Eyes? a. Eyelids: Palpebral Fissure are symmetrical, no ptosis or lid lag.? b. Lacrimal Glands: Pale pink, patent, no excessive tearing, dryness, drainage, or edema.? . Eyelashes: Evenly distributed no ectropion no entropion.? d. Eyebrows: Even and equally bilateral? e. Conjunctiva: clear, pink, moist, without lesions? f. Sclera: white & intact? g. Cornea: Surface should be moist and shiny and without discharge, cloudiness, opacity, and irregularity.? h. Iris: round, symmetrical, and colored: green, blue, brown, hazel, violet, honey, etc.? i. Pupils: PERRLA (Pupils are Equal, Round, Reactive to Light a nd Accommodation) Check pupil reflexes. check twice each eye, direct/consensual, then bring penlight toward nose to assess for accommodation. . Ears? a. Pinna: Non tender, symmetrical bilaterally, without lesions or masses, (top of pinna should always be equal to outer canthus) – palpate simultaneously? b. Tragus: non tender, without lesions? c. Mastoid Process (piece of bone inferior posterior ear): non tender, no swelling, equal bilaterally (if one is different, ask for how long)? d. Tympanic Membrane: Pearly gray, shiny, intact (sometimes will see some white-cottage cheese looking bumps = scarring) MAKE SURE TO CHANGE SPECULUM BTWN EARS FOR PRACTICUM Adult: pull back and up, look anterior.Child pull down) **know how to use equiptment!! Instructors/proctors look for this!!! *** e. Umbo: (Part of the Stapes) Make sure this is present, Protruding = dehydrated, Not present = fluid behind eardrum. f. Cone of Light: Tiny triangle anterior inferior on tympanic membrane = healthy. 5:00 on the right ear, 7:00 on the left ear. Physical Assessment Lab 120-103 6. Nose? a. Nares: patent, have patient occlude one nostril and gently blow out air on back of hand to test patency. Mucosa: pink, moist, without lesions, edema, drainage? b. Septum: without deviation.Best was to assess is to push tip of nose up – shows if deviation is present. ! ***If nares are pink = allergies. If nares are bright red = cold. Saline shortens cold as it washes it ! down to stomach, where stomach kills the virus. 7. Mouth/Lips? a. Lips: pink, moist, intact, without lesions? b. Teeth: 32 including 4 wisdom. White with good repair, without caries? c. Tongue: pink, moist, papillae intact, midline, full mobility (ask pt to stick tongue out move left, right, up, down), without lesions? d. Oral Mucosa: pink, moist, without lesions (use tongue depressor & penlight) no red, no swelling? . Gingiva: pink, moist, intact, no bleeding? f. Uvula: Midline, rises symmetrically with soft palate when patient says â€Å"Ahhh† If absent patient will be sensitive to gagging. If long may be a sign of sleep apnea? g. Tonsils: Pink, symmetrical. They are graded from â€Å"absent – +4) +1 = peeking, +4 = kissing h. Hard/Soft Palate: pink, intact. Soft palate is pinker than hard Write: â€Å"What you would expect to see† If not, must state what you see. Are the eyelids covering the top of the iris? Always compare OD to OS. First begin assessment with visual acuity.?Corneal Light Reflex: Shine penlight 12-15† away toward eyes (at midline) Should get right reflex in same position in each eye. If asymmetric they have strabismus (weak eye muscle) Ears: Use tuning fork? Weber Test: Hit on palm Hold at tip head (hairline) Should be able to hear equally in each ear. Rinne Test: hearing acuity. Hit prongs on palmar, put it on mastoid process until can’t hear it any longer, then move it to holding it in front of the ear canal. ***Air conduction should be twice as long as bone conduction*** Semicircular Canals: control balance and equilibriumVertigo can be caused by a foreign body which has been dislodged and landed in semicircular canals. Native Americans and Asians can have â€Å"Torus Palantitis† looks like mountain ranges on palate this is a benign condition. 8. Sensory Neuro (answer to most cranial nerve testing is â€Å"intact†) *verbage: Physical Assessment Lab 120-103 a. Sensation – light touch, sharp/dull, intact? a. Upper Extremities – use cotton ball, & sharp & dull sides of broken tongue depressor use 3 spots: finger, back of hand, arm. * ! b. Abdominal Reflex * ! ! Positive or not present * ! . Lower Extremities – use cotton ball & sharp & dull sides of broken tongue depressor use 3 spots: toe, top of ! foot, and shin.? b. Deep Tendon Reflexes – (smack deep tendons using flat side of hammer) *These are graded 0-4 â€Å"What you would expect to find +2/4†) ? a. Biceps – p lace thumb at patient’s elbow (antecubital) to hold their arm. Hit own thumb with the hammer. ?b. Triceps – hold patient’s muscle so patient’s arm can swing freely. Hit hammer above funny bone. ?c. Brachial Radialis – Hold pt’s hand then hit hammer midway btwn wrist & antecubital. d.Patellar – Find tendon right above patellar bone, hit hammer on tendon? e. Achilles – About 2† above heel, support foot, relax leg. Will have plantar flexion.? f. Plantar or Babinski = severe brain damage â€Å"abduction†. So we say â€Å"Positive plantar ? flexion, no abduction† we only expect to find in babies. How to test: use metal side of hammer and trace the outer margin of the foot and across top, under toes. ?babinski or f. Best place to assess: Ant. ?Chest or abdomen. **Verbalize: I will integrate the integumentary system throughout the rest of the exam through checking and observing.

The Founding Fathers Suspicion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Founding Fathers Suspicion - Essay Example During the 1700’s and 1800’s, people’s revolution was inherent and countries like the United States and France achieved their country’s liberties through these revolutions. But the transition of a revolutionary government to a more stable type of government also created certain fears to its founding leaders. Madison then feared at that time that since most of the masses were uneducated, a rule of the majority would turn into a â€Å"mob† rule with the majority abusing the rights of minority groups (Bardes et al., 2008, p. 7). Hence, the framers chose a democratic republic type of government, where sovereignty in the people as a whole as represented by their delegates. The greatest fear of every country is the abuse of authority and the corruption that their government may do to their people. One of the founding fathers Alexander Milton feared the elitist theory of choosing a few or small number of people â€Å"who exercise power to further their se lf interest (Bardes et al., 2008 p. 9). ... Madison [1803]) and prevent them from any form of abuse in their power and discretion. Framers of the Constitution have been aware of this possible abuse of authority that the government may have, and even if not specifically provided in the U.S. Constitution, debates at the Constitutional Convention justifies further this power, with Madison strengthening the judiciary saying that "A law violating a constitution established by the people themselves, would be considered by the Judges as null & void." (as cited in Ferrand,1911, p. 93). The framers where well aware of the possible corruption that even a democratic type of government may experience and even in our modern times, the same issue is relevant. La Porta et al. said that â€Å"the executive and the legislature may enact policies and pass laws that benefit themselves, democratic majorities, or allied interest groups † (as cited in Cordis, 2008, p. 380) Through this power of judicial review, the judiciary that is consider ed as apolitical is removed with doubts of possible â€Å"majotarian politics† influence that would restrict them to adopt measures that infringe on the basic rights of some, in order to follow the initial agreements that legislator or other elected official may have taken from their constituent in exchange for their votes (Hirschl, 2004, p. 4) Another important aspect that may be noticed in the United States Constitution is how the framers provided and made sure that each state had their own rights protected and independent from the federal government. The Tenth Amendment provides independence and power to the states for all other powers not specifically granted to the federal government. Through this, states may provide for

Birth Control Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Birth Control - Assignment Example Firstly, the world population is increasingly growing faster and even if one cannot feel the effects of earth’s growing population, many other nations are lacking basic needs and loosing resources. Therefore, philosophers and scientists argue that birth control can act significantly in slowing down the rate of population growth in the world and also prevent the increasing rate of deaths of infants. For instance, less than 5% people in many nations in Africa use the contraceptives; thus this increases the possibility of over population in the world. If the percentage of people using contraceptives was much higher and people could be aware of the advantages of using the controls it could assist everyone in the planet in terms of resources and basic needs. Therefore, there is need to help everyone understand the advantage of reducing or controlling population to help people have balanced resources and be able to get their basic needs.Secondly, people argue that it is reasonable a ccepting birth control to be a moral matter and also more of ethics. It can be immoral preventing conception but also it is not ethical to willingly permit ourselves causing unwanted pregnancies that may lead to more destitution. Some ladies tend to get unwanted pregnancies and make the infant suffer as they do not have income or resources to support the child. As a result many children are raised in such conditions whereby they were born unplanned and become miserable as their parents or mothers cannot afford raising them and providing all their basic needs.

My Writing Style Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

My Writing Style - Essay Example Writing is not an easy process, it takes time. To write in a manner that is appreciative and commendable, a person is required to read literary works. However, at any stage, it cannot be said that one has learned about writing and its techniques completely. Writing is a prolonged process and one has to continue writing for a long time in order to make his writing inspirational and persuasive. George Orwell in his writing, â€Å"Why I write† informs that he got engaged in the writing process by reading literary works and by trying to write himself when he was a child (Orwell 1). Writing process was not known to him as a revelation but because of a continuous struggle that he did to learn writing. Therefore, one cannot claim that the writing process is easy and anyone can do it without any hard work. As Orwell has explained that he did a lot of struggle to learn to write, similarly, every aspirant of the writing process has to struggle too much. I also consider myself an aspiran t but I feel that I have to do a lot of hard work to start writing something that is commendable. The writing process involves the representation of self as the writer intentionally or unintentionally exposes his own self in his writing. As far as my writing is concerned, I feel that my writing is also expressive of me as a person. A person who is sensitive and kind, his writing will be indicative of his nature. Similarly, different kinds of people can be known with the help of their writing. According to Joan Didion, â€Å"In many ways, writing is the act of saying I, of imposing oneself upon other people, of saying listen to me, see it my way, change your mind† (1). It means that writing is a personal process in which, the writer shows what he likes or dislikes, what is his idea or notion of a situation and what are the facts according to the writer. Therefore, writing for me is the representation of self as while writing, we see the world with our viewpoints and narrate wh at we feel about different aspects due to which, we reveal our personalities. People usually write with some aims such as for fame, for counseling of people, for self-expression and much more. Eliot Stephen says, â€Å"There are other great reasons to write. To tell a story, to be heard, to create art, to participate, to add to the generational discussion, to make a political point, to make the world a richer place (7)†.

Managing Cultural Diversity - Cross Cultural Communication Research Paper

Managing Cultural Diversity - Cross Cultural Communication - Research Paper Example Management is about setting goals and achieving them in the decided time. However, different cultures have different approach towards goal setting and setting deadline, depending on their beliefs of free will or ‘will of God’ (Munter, 1993, para 6). These important aspects are covered in the article in detail. So the article not only looks at the word patterns, body language and behavior pattern of people that are shaped by cultural influences, but also dives deep into the roots of the behavior and reveals that actually, the behavior pattern and psychology stem from the religious and spiritual beliefs of people coming from different cultures. Another important aspect discussed in the article is the definition of self in different countries, i.e., if people see themselves as individuals or groups. This is extremely important in communication style as it talks about the comfort level a person from individualistic approach might feel while communicating with person having group approach (Munter, 1993, para 17). Also, the article has described how communication does not mean only the verbal or non-verbal communication that takes place between people, but also means understanding the habits of people in their mundane life. Hence, the author has also discussed the importance of understanding and following the eating habits, as according to the author, food is the major aspect of lifestyle and culture. So food etiquettes also play an important role in communication pattern (Munter, 1993, para 24). Apart from discussing the cross-culture aspects like value, image, credibility psychology and understanding the audience, the author has discussed aspects like

Construction Technology And Innovation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Construction Technology And Innovation - Essay Example In the provided setting, looking out for all the environmental impacts comes in handy. The building is located in a busy location with a lot of traffic. It is thus important to understand that the cars passing by the house do not spend a lot of time at the location because the ground is rather weak. It is a requirement that the house uses rather tough tiles and the most recommended is the ceramic tiles. Green Raw Materials and Concepts Ceramic is harder than stone and hence effective enough to use in places with clay soil and having many people around. In the making of such houses, it is important to ensure that there is minimal use of space while still providing satisfactory area for people to use. The surrounding environment to the house should not have any building around it and should provide ample space for some form of field with grass. Grass is necessary seeing as the ground beneath is clay provides a rather smooth setting and environment for growth. Moreover, research has sho wn that having chemicals sprayed over the grass eventually leads to the clay soil beneath the foundation of the house stronger and can assist during the rainy season (Vasil, 2009, 77). Clearly, having ample grass space is not an aspect to conform to because it is a town setting but leaving space for it nevertheless is advisable in the setting. Clay soil is strong and provides a great support for the foundation and the basement. This is from the way its particles join to form one large compact Substance. This substance leaves no space for air and thus makes it even harder. However, during the dry periods, the soil gets wet and the particles, having not supported themselves alone, end up breaking into pieces. This consequently has the building developing cracks and eventually falling to the ground, which is a hazard needless to state. Below is an example of a building in the initial stages of construction just before the pouring of concrete Energy Conservation Conservation of energy i s one of the most important aspects to understand when dealing with the construction of a green building basement. The basement in this situation is for the provision of energy from a more effective and reputable source. Natural lighting comes in effective for the preservation of any type of commodity that the building owners may term important. The basement should have photovoltaics that are rather an effective method to save on energy used in not only the preservation of the basement, but also the establishment of the foundation. Fuel cells to run the mortar in the creation of bricks can come from new house appliances. An environmentally friendly house is otherwise known as a green house. Inspection An inspector is a vital aspect in the analysis of the already set foundation for the building. Most precisely an engineer ought to observe the already set foundation for the determination of the stability position that the building will have. Failure to analyze this may lead to the con tractors and the builders carrying on with their work with no idea whatsoever of the sensitivity of the issue (Pearon, 2011, 102). The surveyor then comes in after this stage and determines the kind of footing to put depending on the type of building that the owner requires. In this case, a green house would require a rather high footing provided the soil formation and characteristics at the

International Business in Emerging Markets Essay - 1

International Business in Emerging Markets - Essay Example An automobile is basically regarded as a vehicle having wheels and carrying its own engine. The previous names given to an automobile were "horseless carriage" and "motor car" where motor was to denote an engine. The behaviour or making an automobile work is entitled as driving. Every automobile consists of a seat for driver and at least another seat for the passenger (http://business.mytopix.com/automobile/). Mainly automobiles are designed for travelling on roads but there are some automobiles which permit people to drive "off-road." Basically an automobile is made up of "internal combustion engine" but as years passed, "hybrid cars powered by gas-electric hybrid engines" penetrate the market. A typical automobile consists of four wheels, though three-wheeled automobiles were also made but did not gain much popularity due to constancy purpose (http://business.mytopix.com/automobile/). "Steam-powered self propelled vehicles were devised in the late 18th century. Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot successfully demonstrated such a vehicle as early as 1769. The first vehicles were steam engine powered, and then electric vehicles were produced by a small number of manufacturers. In the 1890s, ethanol was the first fuel used by cars in the U.S. In 1919, alcohol Prohibition destroyed corn-alcohol stills which many farmers used to make low cost ethanol fuel. Later on gasoline and diesel engines were implemented." (http://business.mytopix.com/automobile/) The p... the United States but also the first "amphibious vehicle." It was called amphibious vehicle because it could be operated on wheels on land and with a paddle in the water. Amongst the initial environmental modernizations were the substitute fuels for the "internal combustion engine." Nowadays, "methanol and ethanol are used as petrol extenders" in several countries, mainly in Australia and United States. Every year more than a million people die in automobile accidents and around 50 million people get injured in such accidents. There are several chief reasons of these accidents, including "inattentive driving, reckless driving, road hazards etc." Even after skilled progresses, the deaths occurring as a result of automobile accidents are still high. Around 40,000 people die every year in United States as a result of such accidents, and the number of deaths keeps increasing year by year (http://business.mytopix.com/automobile/). Brief Introduction on Telecommunication Telecommunication is the "transmission of signals" above a distance for the intention of "communication." These days, this procedure includes propelling "electromagnetic waves by electronic transmitters", whereas during previous days, this procedure comprised of using "smoke signals, drums or semaphores." Telecommunication has gained much popularity nowadays and devices enhancing this procedure are television, radio and telephone. Computer communication is also done on internet through e-mail and instant messaging, setting up examples of telecommunication. The fundamental factors of a telecommunication are: "A transmitter that takes information and concerts it to a signal for transmission." "A transmission medium over which the signal is transmitted." "A receiver that receives and converts the signal

Tesco Brand and Culture Essay Example for Free

Tesco Brand and Culture Essay Corporate culture is one of the main determinants of success or failure in a business development practice, because it largely determines how flexible, accepting of change and innovative a company tends to be. Fairfield-Sonn (2001: 36) provided a four-layer model of corporate culture that included cultural artifacts, cultural history, core ideology and core values that helps to quantify and describe the corporate culture of an organization. Thus, Tesco’s corporate culture can be determined from its corporate responsibility statements, which describe its core values and core ideologies as well as some aspects of cultural artifacts. Tesco’s stated core priorities include: Ensuring community, corporate responsibility and sustainability are at the heart of our business. Being a good neighbor and being responsible, fair and honest. Considering our social, economic and environmental impact as we make our decisions. Tesco, 2010) These values have had a significant impact on the way in which Tesco does business, as well as its financial performance. For example, its expansion into California was designed to be not only profitable, but also socially responsible. As in the United Kingdom, American inner cities have a food supply problem wherein there are few large supermarkets and the smaller supermarkets do not have an adequate supply of fresh foods, including fruits, vegetables and proteins (Wankel Stoner 2007: 223). Because supermarkets are reluctant to build in the inner cities and many residents do not have transportation outside the area, inner city residents do not enjoy an appropriate diet, and suffer health consequences as a result (Wankel Stoner 2007: 224). Tesco’s corporate culture priorities allowed the company to consider opening stores in areas where native supermarkets were reluctant to go, and to provide services to the area that the local providers either couldn’t or didn’t consider. Thus, they opened stores in underserved regions, not only allowing them to express their core ideals, but also providing an opportunity to enter an almost untapped market. Although native retailers have scrambled to enter the markets in which Tesco is now providing services in the United States, Tesco will continue to have the advantage in terms of the markets it has already entered; it also has a corporate culture that encourages the expansion and ervice of these areas. Another area in which the company’s business development practices have both impacted and been impacted by the corporate culture is the introduction of lines of natural, organic and free-range foods to its stores beginning in the 1990s, and continuing into its development of the Nature’s Choice sustainable production lines over the past few years (Tesco, 2010). These lines, which include organic fruits, vegetables, meats and other proteins, dairy products, free-range eggs and other responsibly produced goods, has increased its importance in recent years to the company’s bottom line due to growing awareness of environmental factors by customers. The provision of lifestyle ranges like those above is one of the core strategies of the Core UK strategic business unit (Tesco 2010), as it provides the opportunity to reach the greatest number of customers, particularly those who believe that the way in which food was produced is as important as the food itself. However, this provision is also mandated by the company’s corporate culture’s core ideals, particularly those of environmental responsibility and awareness. These ideals entered the corporate culture in the mid-1990s, at about the same time as the first environmentally aware lifestyle product range (that of free-range eggs) was introduced (Tesco 2010). Whether the shift in corporate culture inspired the change in development strategy or whether the shift in development strategy inspired the shift in corporate culture truly is a chicken and egg question!

Formative Role of Video Games

Formative Role of Video Games Introduction As a long time fan of computer games, Ive always wondered how video games have reached this point in time, I wanted to know how Nintendo became Nintendo, how games went from the arcades to home consoles and how games changed from two dimensions to three dimensions. The following was originally planned to be purely a discussion on the development of the games industry however once this project began I soon realised that video games owe most of its early years and breakthrough development to other entertainment industries, particularly film. After much research on the topic I altered my discussions focus away from purely the games industry to the broader entertainment industry, mainly because it is very difficult to separate the two, both now owe each other so much, in video games early years it took much from the entertainment industry but in the last few years things have changed, revolutionary techniques are being developed by the game industry and now are being adapted by the film industry, in this dissertation I wanted to see video games long term effect on the entertainment industry and whether it has been one of a negative or positive effect and my predictions for the future of both mediums. The Birth of the Computer Game The modern video game has evolved much from its very humble and almost accidental beginning in 1958 when William Higinotham a nuclear physicist while working on a small analogue computer in the purpose of describing various curves on a cathode-ray tube noticed the curved and bouncing effect reminded him of tennis(Brookhaven, 2009). He altered the amplifiers of the balls motion so bounding space on the screen could be controlled by the turning knobs on the machine. Higinotham designed the game from first conception in two hours and it took him only a brief few hours over a few days to alter the existing technology. The budget for first game known only as Tennis For Two was almost zero as it was made for existing parts. Too think of a modern game been designed in two hours or completed in a few days is just incomprehensible, not only would it be almost guaranteed to be a terrible game but making it functional to the player would be a impossible task, and the budget would be another imp assable road block. The current generation of video games if they are to be a success spend months in the design and concept phase and take anywhere from 16 months to over four years to finish and have a budget that matches Hollywood blockbusters. The 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IV(Rockstar, 2008) spent 6 years in development and the final expenses rose to over  £100 million. However the developers perceived the risk of financial failure if the product did not sell as a necessary risk in order to live up to the fans expectations, this game was a sequel in a long line of a series known for breaking sales records and having a fan base like none other. This game however is not the exception either, many recent games have had budgets of over  £100 million and spent years in production, these high expenses are expected to rise when every generation of consoles are releases not only because of the technology behind them but the players demand for more, including highly designed graphics, unique art design and realistic effects rendered to a quality of CGI films. Hollywood My research is discovering videos games effect on the entertainment industry but more specifically the film industry and the aspect of them competing against one another but also with the rare and generally unsuccessful case of the merger of film and games. When video games first began to sell successfully in the early 1970s film had already been established as the main attraction for visual entertainment with strings of great releases and new releases that broke viewer and financial records one after another, the 1970s seemed an unlikely time for another visual medium to develop however video game managed to do that, by the late 1970s video games seen the releases of many classic games such as Pong (Atari Inc, 1972), Asteroids (Atari Inc, 1979) and Space Invaders (Taito Corporation, 1978). At the time however these releases were still nothing to be recognised by the critics of the entertainment industry, they seen them as nothing but toys, not to be taking seriously. These classic g ames didnt even make a mark on the film industry in regards to financial success, however this was primarily because the home console didnt exist yet and games could only be played in arcades where the owner of the arcades took all profits with only the initial cost of the machine ever to be the income of the early game designer. In the early 1980s arcades changes, they werent now purely for the gaming youth, the non-gamer began to discover this alternate entertainment medium and it became a regular event for them to occasionally visit an arcade, this is when the time began known as the Golden Years particularly in the United States and Japan when teenagers and adults alike would enter the arcade and discover a game that would just entrap them, video games started to become a area to look into for potential designers as games beforehand where only created for the love of it but now as a designer you could now make a living out of designing games, this is mainly because the fans of t he early games where mostly diehard fans where they would enter quarter after quarter to finish the game. Brian Garside (2009) of RadicalHive Remembers putting quarter after quarter, hour after hours into arcade game, and it was for the same reasons as everyone else was there, a very simple attraction, The games were very loud and very bright, and brought one thing most gamers wanted, instant gratification the more quarters you had the longer you had to play, the difficulty level was extreme, there was no lives* or saves* you just tried to get to the finish before you ran out of quarters, and if you did then you became an elite member of the gaming public because you got to put your name on the screen, where it could be seen every day by every gamer, that was the main goal of the early gamer, to say you finished an arcade game, this was something rare because of the difficulty*. Arcades borrowed much from the film world in its early years including the cinema building layout itself, the general arcade includes, the games, popcorn machines, snack and hotdog bars and generally in the centre area would be pool tables, it represented a meeting place, the arcade became a place to hang out, friends would meet up at the arcade and not even play a game, it was almost a staging place, you would go there before heading to the movies or after a movie you would return there for a few minutes to let yourself lose, aside from the games the arcade became a place to just hang around and let loose. The Home Console It wasnt till the home console when games took a firm place in the entertainment industry, the development of the designed home console brought around games that were developed past the loud noises and ghastly lights, the home console brought around the era of the complex stories in games with gripping narratives, moving performances and of course the Pixelated hero*. Fairchild Channel F(Fairchild Semiconductor, 1976), a unknown games company who today if you mentioned them to a gamer most likely you would get a puzzled response and even in the early years of game development they where an unknown company however their games machine left a mark on the industry because they coined a phrase which is used by every single person in the games industry, Console*. Video games now had a place in the 1970s home but they still hadnt changed much form the arcade, bright lights and ghastly sounds where everywhere, game after game were effectively the same but with a different name. This slur of games eventually lead to the great video games crash*of 1983-84 triggered by a non-ending market of low quality games and by far too many overpriced consoles, another involving factor was that the market was considered to be at full saturation, the critically slammed game of the successful film E.T.(Atari, Inc, 1982) was the breaking point, the rising popularity of the home computer(PC) and the personnel computer also was deemed to be part responsible for the crash particular with their aggressive advertising campaigns such as this scrupulous ad by Microsoft Why buy your child a video game and distract them from school when you can buy them a home computer that will prepare them for college?(Global Oneness, 2009). This crash brought an abrupt end to the current generation of video games and almost crippled the new games industry particularly in north America, many games companies collapsed and with the few that survived none maintained any high level of success after the crash. It wasnt till the end of 1985 that the games industry started to recover and that was with the immediate success of the now legendary Nintendo Entertainment System(1985). The 8-bit* generation had begun with a bang with launch games consisting of ExciteBike (1985) and Super Mario Bros.( 1985), gamers could not resist but buy the NES even with doubts after the many years of terrible releases just preceding this new line up and generation. Aside from the games Nintendo also standardised many console features such as controller ports, gun controllers and the Quality seal of approval*. In the early 90s things started to heat up again in the games industry, Nintendo now had a fierce competitor in the industry, SEGA. SEGA (19 90) released its Mega Drive, which they hailed as the first 16-bit gaming console and it proved that by displaying graphics which were unheard of at this time. But Nintendo hit back by releasing their Record breaking Super Nintendo Entertainment System(1990). This fierce competition between the two drove developers to become better designers and it was proved as much with hugely successful and critically acclaimed hits been released for each console, this home console war ended any chance of the arcades recovering, gamers had finalised there move from the arcades back to their homes, the home console had become the core choice by the games and also by the developer. The 3D Generation Video games where successful in their early years but they were never hugely successful, they never get anywhere near close to the popularity of the film industry nor did the game releases of films get anywhere closer and in fact generally sold much worse. Designers made a profit but it was only a sustaining profit, enough to keep the company going, pay the staff and develop future games but they just didnt have the financial backing of the film industry, games were rarely advertised and certainly didnt have any sort of vast marketing displays and if there even was a marketing team at all it would consist of very few people and have a simple budget as can be seen by the low quality of games advertisement in the 1980s, the advertisement stood close to what the game was, bright lights and loud noises. It wasnt till the 5th generation of gaming consoles or the 3d generation as its also known did games reach a level of popularity that could not quite yet match the film industries figures but certainly put a mark against it, their where many success stories but also many failures in this generation, it saw the fall of Atari, the 3DO, SEGA and the rise of Sony with the Playstation(1994). Nintendo where the only existing company to the enter the 3D generation and continue to be successful. Not much changed with the Nintendo strategy and it didnt need to, they released once again hit after hit until the end of this generation when in 1995 the disc based Sony Playstation overtook the Nintendo 64(1996) in terms of sales and it began to build a strong fan base including taking a good portion of Nintendos key market. The Playstation was the first home console to sell more than 100,000 million units worldwide, this is now the time the games industry started to be compared to the film industry in terms of sales and success. Aside from commercial success, the Playstation also changed the console development plan, the success of the disc was the final nail in the coffin on the old cartridge system previously used by Nintendo. The stability of the disc medium, cheap manufacturing expenses in using disc based games where the main reasons for its success. At the end of this gener ation SEGA fans had lost faith in their beloved console with few games being released on the console mainly because developers jumped ship to the more successful Nintendo and Sony and while there was still yet to be another SEGA console in the form of the SEGA Dreamcast(1999), this was the turning point in SEGAs decline and their eventual retreat from console development. Even with the great success of the Playstation, neither Nintendo or Sony ever seemed to publicly announce or display a challenge for financial success against the rest of the entertainment industry, advertisement still stayed low budget and was purely aimed at making existing gamers aware of future products rather than attracting new potential game players. The Changing Generation The following Generation displayed much of the same as the previous generation, The Sony Playstation 2(2000) was effectively the same as the first one just much more advanced with a few new features, the same can be said for the Nintendo GameCube(2001) except now Nintendo had adopted disc based technology. There was a new entry in the market place now, Microsoft seeing the potential of the games industry entered the market in 2001 with the Xbox. The Xbox didnt design its games or console any differently to Nintendo and Sonys consoles however it did add one thing, it is possible the most important new feature to games design since the 3D era took hold, the Xbox introduced online multiplayer through a service known as Xbox LIVE*. This new feature was the only thing that kept the console from complete failure as the games that accompanied the console where of a lower quality and Microsoft struggled to attract a strong fanbase, however though XBOX LIVE proved so successful that online mu ltiplayer is a standard now for most modern games. While this was going on, in the background Nintendo where busy working with the handheld market, before now everyone considered this market purely for kids and only a gimmick at best, Nintendo wanted to change that and they did with the Game Boy Advance(2001). They did this by developing games of a standard of the home consoles and Marketing the device as a independent handheld console separate to that of the home consoles. Because of the new advanced graphics available to developers, a completely realistic game could be made but this lead to huge criticism of the games with releases of ultra graphic Mortal Kombat(Midway Games, multiple) and the portrayal of criminal behaviour seen in Grand Theft Auto series(Rockstar Games, Multiple). These controversial games aloud non-gaming public to become much more aware of the games industry, although this was potentially dangerous criticism against the games industry, it is seen as exactly wh at the games industry was looking for. Sony particularly began marketing mature games for mature audiences, with advertising campaigns aimed purely for the an age group of 18 and above. The content in these games led to the ESRB and PEGI age rating system to inform parents that there are games available in the market that are unsuitable for their children. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time(Nintendo, 1998), Grand Theft Auto 3(, Rockstar Games, 2001), and Halo: Combat Evolved(Bungie, 2001) were the first game in the industry to be marketed in the way of a summer blockbuster, they all sold hugely successful and these games are seen by many as the turning point where games left the old mentality behind of being just for the arcade gamer and now was at a position to enter the next generation as a strong competitor to Hollywood, by the end of this generation in 2006 total film sales reached an estimated $16.6 billion in North America for the film industry compared to the games industries $13.5 Billion (Breckon, 2007). Entering the late 2000s, the still young games industry is nearly as valuable as over 100 year old film industry. The Next-Generation. The 7th Generation seen many advancements, Blu-Ray disc technology, Massively multiplayer games(MMOs), High Definition technology and motion tracking as seen by the Nintendo Wii(2006). Microsofts Xbox 360 launched first into this generation in 2005 and it proved a success, aside from being first into this new generation it fully launched Xbox LIVE and multiplayer as a standard throughout the industry. The Xbox 360 now stands firmly second place in between Sonys Playstation 3(2006) and Nintendos Wii in the console battle. It has a strong game to console attach rate*, with loyal fans and marketing team any Company would want, these factors will guarantee its success into the next console generation. The Sony Playstation 3 launched a full year after the Xbox 360 and some believe this to be the main reason it had poor launch figures as well as the fact that there were a limited supply of Blu-ray diodes for the consoles main feature. The console to date has still struggled to compete with its competition with many of its games selling poorly, Xboxs leading exclusive game Halo 3(2008) sold over 10 million copies as for Sonys PS3 most successful exclusive game Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots(2008) sold only a little over 4 million copies, however it has grounded itself, it is now financially a success and has guaranteed a place in the next generation line up. Nintendo on the other hand are on a completely different level compared to its rivals, it sales have been record breaking since its launch two weeks after the PS3. The Wii has sold almost more than both the Xbox 360 and PS3 combined with current sales figures at 52.29 Million units sold for the Nintendo Wii, 31.30 Million units sold for the Xbox 360 and 23.16 Million units sold for the PS3 (VGchartz, 2009). The key to the success of the Wii is the widening of the demographics, Nintendo completely changed their approach to selling and developing games, in previous generation Nintendo only developed games for the hardcore gamer(strict loyal fan) but now they are developing for a mixture of hardcore games and casual games(general public). Nintendos main aim for the Wii was not to beat its rivals but to get new people playing games, Satoru Iwata stated in(2006) at a Press conference in Tokyo that were not thinking about fighting Sony, but about how many people we can get to play games.. This is reflected in Nintendos Advertisement campaigns throughout the world, Nintendo dramatically changed their method of advertising to new much more successful methods such as featuring celebrities and even the advertisement developed by academy award winning directors. Their audience grew hugely with this advertising strategy including a varied assortment of game players including, children, adults and g randparents, their campaign is aimed at people of all ages. The success of these ads can be seen in the wide audience, a 103 year old pensioner was reported to be regularly playing the Wii, the Queen of England is was even reported to have a Nintendo Wii(Rousewell, 2008). With the games industry going from strength to strength it is hard not to see the games industries eventual overtaking of the film industry as the leading section of the entertainment industry. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillermot (2007) expects the games industry to grow an additional 50% in the next four year, casual gaming and the newly introduced in-game advertisement are expected to be the key factors to gamings take over. The gaming industry is also growing in other parts of the world, The Asian market alone is expected to reach $28.8 billion in sales by 2011 with a total sales for the games industry at $65(Breckon, 2007). By then the film industry is only predicted to grow to a total sales of $25.8 billion in sales, less than half of the predicted games sales. However High definition is now becoming a standard in the film industry as well as the re-introduction 3D films, both advancements could bring a new lease of life to the film industry, it can also be considered that at â‚ ¬60 a game compared to the film industries â‚ ¬10 cinema admission or â‚ ¬25-â‚ ¬40 for DVD/Blu-ray income might make up impressive figures however as for the individual customer using each medium the actual numbers of people still lean greatly towards the film industry. It could be questioned why are they seen as competition and not simply compared as separate mediums in the entertainment industry, many game adaptations of films and vice versa have been released mostly with only slight success but all have been critically slammed, ever year the two industries become closer and closer and with that will be massive financial gain, James Camerons Avatar: The Game(Ubisoft, 2009) and film (Cameron, 2009) is seen as the first step towards bringing these two entertainment industries together. Chapter 2: Literature review What is a game? This is a very common question and it is a very important one, I wish to make it clear that the great success of video games in the last few years have mainly due to the changes behind in the design room and in the studios not just in the way games are now being marketed, the general games design theory is seen as a factor in the success. Defining what a game is or a theory behind it is one that you can spend a great deal of time arguing over and even with a set of results it still is a open question. The definition will in general influence how one decides to design a game, so it is critical when designing a game that you completely understand the purpose for it. There are multiple ways we could define a game, with varying ranges of features. Greg Costikyan (1994) states A game is a form of art in which participants, teamed players, make decisions in order to manage resources through game tokens in the pursuit of a goal. This meaning is questionable, it may of defined what a game wa s back in the early years but because of the constant technology advancements if a designer was to define what a game was it would be more like, a game is a form of art in which participants single or multiple make decisions according to the narrative design in order to resolve game world situations and finish the game as the ultimate goal, this would be my definition of defining the modern computer game. The essential problem with defining a game is that depending on the era a definition will make sense in one decade but not the next because of the rapid growth of the gaming medium. This rapid growth is changing the industry, MIT Professor Henry Jenkins(2008) stated that video games have converged different entertainment platforms that allowed producers of these content to exercise new ways of stretching the viability of their intellectual properties. A single general theory only works when one looks at a genre of game type or who the player of the game will be, at the core reasoning for games, they only exist to be played, it is an interactive medium the only kind which is visual, audibly, interactive and within that a multiplayer component which allows many people to play at once and with the internet the numbers are almost infinite depending on the game. As with the genre and medium some are considered entertaining and some are considered a task, challenge is however a general the me with games design. As with every industry, once games design was established as a valuable medium, competition quickly arose as seen at Quakecon(Nok, 2009) and in a new medium players want quickly to become the best at it or be the first to finish it, to design a game to suit this want is a challenge and that is the general reason a games design theory was sought after in early game development. As the basis of games design is that every game or most games have a beginning, middle and an end, the game starts and ends at your own discretion and with a set of rules for you to manipulate or use to at your means. Playing the game is down to the player, but if there is a desire to understand games and game design, we must first clearly establish the purpose of it. We must determine the characteristics of all games, but discovering that outlines and establish a set of attribute for each game genre rather than what characterised games as a whole. Hoffman (2008) believes that outside of computer games, playing a game in general is an important part of life. I wish to discover does game design need a theory? Other medium generally have some sort of theory behind them but they are much more closely related in their genres as game design is very diverse and has a interactive aspect in design and game playing, what people want, and the level of scale and longevity are maybe too diverse for a game design theory to exist. Changes in games design: For the Better or worse? Defining games design is still widely regarded as a difficult task, what a game is though differs constantly and when it enters production depending on the type of game the design methods behind it are much different from a racing game to a action game. That is the first problem, it is complex to place the games design program in any one meaning. The actual study of engine design, physics and application of games design is much more closely connected to mathematics rather than traditional design practices, if this study was literally taken into practice than it would be a great oversight, designing a game using only mathematics and programmers instead of a blend with designers would only lead to failure. Ideally, a games design studio should be as interdisciplined as any other large field, it should consist of, programmers, designers, artists and engineers. Richard Rouse III(2005) states that the game design is what determines the form of the gameplay, however that is not always so a s seen by top-down or bottom-up design*. The features set in game design determines what choices players will be able to make in the game-world and what consequences those choices will have on the rest of the game. Bernd Kreimeier(2002) states that Games design like any other profession requires a means to document, discuss and plan. In the last few years with the advent of the growing online design community, a designer could refer to the growing online library of previously released games for general ideas and quick inspiration. In the early days of games design, designers generally referred to board games for their inspiration as there was no other means to compare work, without some sort of comparison it would of been very risky to release a game without any sort of knowledge of whether a similar product has been successful in the past. Hoffman (2008) believes that the main problem with game design is deciding where to place it, creating a game through a subset of sociology or a dedicated studio and these decisions are what make defining a game so complex. However while knowledge about games has grown rapidly, it could be said even more so than any other media industry, little progress has been made to document individual experiences to interweave into design practices and theories. Kreimeier (2002) states that on the base line of design theory, games design needs a related library to name the modelling assets been created, designing and a set of rules to express how these design techniques fit together, a case for design patterns could exist. Help from Hollywood? Games design is uniquely many thing, but at the basis of design it comes down to a few little things, coming up with the initial idea through thought and discussing, the idea to see it is not only a workable product but is it actually a good idea and from that point heavily expanding on the original idea until any team of designers could implement the design and achieve a expected result. Evidently if that was all designers had to go on it was be extremely difficult for anything to be created. Since the beginning of games design, games designers have worked around these initial problems by relying on design techniques and theories adapted from other media such as film and storytelling. Noah Falstein (1997) writes that part of the problem with encounters of people from Hollywood was their lack of respect. This problem though has been rid away with over the years but it was a huge problem back in the 1970s and 1980s when young game companies searched for aid in development from Hollywo od studios but received little help. Games are not only a interactive medium but they are a visual medium and game designers have been increasingly relying on design techniques developed from film such as motion capture however this is not to be taken as a side of weakness from game designer and should not question that games are the same as film but the film practices are investigated in an effort to identify methods which are suited in favour of games. Nevertheless this was not always enough, games design theories started to develop solely to do with games and without influence from other medium, Kreimeier (2002) also believes that games as an individual medium needs its own practices and if borrowed techniques were enough then there be no need to develop any practices specific to games design theories. These collective theories are individual but there has been much discussion on them and it could be probable that these individual theories could be developed into one universal ga mes design theory although the most likely result would be a flawed design theory. The open use of gaming terms promotes an over perceived meaning of our own belief of what games are, The academic public overly ignore the uniquely and complexity of game design. Junior designers whose own skill are limited generally embark upon designing games with no further research than their own experience as game players, this methodology is sure to fail, the desire to success, what people in reality like to play can be much different than what the designer actually likes, this is unfortunately a common problem in traditional game design, this is a problem Pederson (2003) states as critical for lead game designers. Those who overrate their own understanding will undercut their own potential from learning and further more it will lead to the same result as failure. Ambiguity and ambiguity of play are a important aspect of design brought up by Smith (1997), applying the principle and concepts to gaming have watered down the original medium and meanings, there is no longer a clear focus to the ideology of game design we desire to understand. This watered effect is creating genres, levels of design, innovativeness, expenses and lastly the technology are effecting this medium more than any other, price ranges in not only the technology but the actual developing of the game can be astronomical, the latest version of Grand Theft Auto(Rockstar Games, 2008) a sandbox* style game cost over $100 million to design and develop included over 1,000 members of staff and took of three years to finish(Linde, 2008). If you were to look for game design theory in this game, after much search you would result with a unanswered question, putting aside the budget and expenses to develop this game the sure scale of this project is enough to put a stop to the idea of needing or there ever existing an underlying games design theory. The style of game for the GTA series is not alone, other genre such as first person shooters(FPS), action based and role playing games(RPG) are also pu t in this bracket, it would be hard pressed to find a game theory where each of these genres could fit in, meet there goals and be overall a success. A Common Design Theory? There are a few genres of games where there is potentially a underlying game design theory that could be developed for any new game yet to be developed and this could exist in the racing genre, it is this genre where the same practices of desig Formative Role of Video Games Formative Role of Video Games Introduction As a long time fan of computer games, Ive always wondered how video games have reached this point in time, I wanted to know how Nintendo became Nintendo, how games went from the arcades to home consoles and how games changed from two dimensions to three dimensions. The following was originally planned to be purely a discussion on the development of the games industry however once this project began I soon realised that video games owe most of its early years and breakthrough development to other entertainment industries, particularly film. After much research on the topic I altered my discussions focus away from purely the games industry to the broader entertainment industry, mainly because it is very difficult to separate the two, both now owe each other so much, in video games early years it took much from the entertainment industry but in the last few years things have changed, revolutionary techniques are being developed by the game industry and now are being adapted by the film industry, in this dissertation I wanted to see video games long term effect on the entertainment industry and whether it has been one of a negative or positive effect and my predictions for the future of both mediums. The Birth of the Computer Game The modern video game has evolved much from its very humble and almost accidental beginning in 1958 when William Higinotham a nuclear physicist while working on a small analogue computer in the purpose of describing various curves on a cathode-ray tube noticed the curved and bouncing effect reminded him of tennis(Brookhaven, 2009). He altered the amplifiers of the balls motion so bounding space on the screen could be controlled by the turning knobs on the machine. Higinotham designed the game from first conception in two hours and it took him only a brief few hours over a few days to alter the existing technology. The budget for first game known only as Tennis For Two was almost zero as it was made for existing parts. Too think of a modern game been designed in two hours or completed in a few days is just incomprehensible, not only would it be almost guaranteed to be a terrible game but making it functional to the player would be a impossible task, and the budget would be another imp assable road block. The current generation of video games if they are to be a success spend months in the design and concept phase and take anywhere from 16 months to over four years to finish and have a budget that matches Hollywood blockbusters. The 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IV(Rockstar, 2008) spent 6 years in development and the final expenses rose to over  £100 million. However the developers perceived the risk of financial failure if the product did not sell as a necessary risk in order to live up to the fans expectations, this game was a sequel in a long line of a series known for breaking sales records and having a fan base like none other. This game however is not the exception either, many recent games have had budgets of over  £100 million and spent years in production, these high expenses are expected to rise when every generation of consoles are releases not only because of the technology behind them but the players demand for more, including highly designed graphics, unique art design and realistic effects rendered to a quality of CGI films. Hollywood My research is discovering videos games effect on the entertainment industry but more specifically the film industry and the aspect of them competing against one another but also with the rare and generally unsuccessful case of the merger of film and games. When video games first began to sell successfully in the early 1970s film had already been established as the main attraction for visual entertainment with strings of great releases and new releases that broke viewer and financial records one after another, the 1970s seemed an unlikely time for another visual medium to develop however video game managed to do that, by the late 1970s video games seen the releases of many classic games such as Pong (Atari Inc, 1972), Asteroids (Atari Inc, 1979) and Space Invaders (Taito Corporation, 1978). At the time however these releases were still nothing to be recognised by the critics of the entertainment industry, they seen them as nothing but toys, not to be taking seriously. These classic g ames didnt even make a mark on the film industry in regards to financial success, however this was primarily because the home console didnt exist yet and games could only be played in arcades where the owner of the arcades took all profits with only the initial cost of the machine ever to be the income of the early game designer. In the early 1980s arcades changes, they werent now purely for the gaming youth, the non-gamer began to discover this alternate entertainment medium and it became a regular event for them to occasionally visit an arcade, this is when the time began known as the Golden Years particularly in the United States and Japan when teenagers and adults alike would enter the arcade and discover a game that would just entrap them, video games started to become a area to look into for potential designers as games beforehand where only created for the love of it but now as a designer you could now make a living out of designing games, this is mainly because the fans of t he early games where mostly diehard fans where they would enter quarter after quarter to finish the game. Brian Garside (2009) of RadicalHive Remembers putting quarter after quarter, hour after hours into arcade game, and it was for the same reasons as everyone else was there, a very simple attraction, The games were very loud and very bright, and brought one thing most gamers wanted, instant gratification the more quarters you had the longer you had to play, the difficulty level was extreme, there was no lives* or saves* you just tried to get to the finish before you ran out of quarters, and if you did then you became an elite member of the gaming public because you got to put your name on the screen, where it could be seen every day by every gamer, that was the main goal of the early gamer, to say you finished an arcade game, this was something rare because of the difficulty*. Arcades borrowed much from the film world in its early years including the cinema building layout itself, the general arcade includes, the games, popcorn machines, snack and hotdog bars and generally in the centre area would be pool tables, it represented a meeting place, the arcade became a place to hang out, friends would meet up at the arcade and not even play a game, it was almost a staging place, you would go there before heading to the movies or after a movie you would return there for a few minutes to let yourself lose, aside from the games the arcade became a place to just hang around and let loose. The Home Console It wasnt till the home console when games took a firm place in the entertainment industry, the development of the designed home console brought around games that were developed past the loud noises and ghastly lights, the home console brought around the era of the complex stories in games with gripping narratives, moving performances and of course the Pixelated hero*. Fairchild Channel F(Fairchild Semiconductor, 1976), a unknown games company who today if you mentioned them to a gamer most likely you would get a puzzled response and even in the early years of game development they where an unknown company however their games machine left a mark on the industry because they coined a phrase which is used by every single person in the games industry, Console*. Video games now had a place in the 1970s home but they still hadnt changed much form the arcade, bright lights and ghastly sounds where everywhere, game after game were effectively the same but with a different name. This slur of games eventually lead to the great video games crash*of 1983-84 triggered by a non-ending market of low quality games and by far too many overpriced consoles, another involving factor was that the market was considered to be at full saturation, the critically slammed game of the successful film E.T.(Atari, Inc, 1982) was the breaking point, the rising popularity of the home computer(PC) and the personnel computer also was deemed to be part responsible for the crash particular with their aggressive advertising campaigns such as this scrupulous ad by Microsoft Why buy your child a video game and distract them from school when you can buy them a home computer that will prepare them for college?(Global Oneness, 2009). This crash brought an abrupt end to the current generation of video games and almost crippled the new games industry particularly in north America, many games companies collapsed and with the few that survived none maintained any high level of success after the crash. It wasnt till the end of 1985 that the games industry started to recover and that was with the immediate success of the now legendary Nintendo Entertainment System(1985). The 8-bit* generation had begun with a bang with launch games consisting of ExciteBike (1985) and Super Mario Bros.( 1985), gamers could not resist but buy the NES even with doubts after the many years of terrible releases just preceding this new line up and generation. Aside from the games Nintendo also standardised many console features such as controller ports, gun controllers and the Quality seal of approval*. In the early 90s things started to heat up again in the games industry, Nintendo now had a fierce competitor in the industry, SEGA. SEGA (19 90) released its Mega Drive, which they hailed as the first 16-bit gaming console and it proved that by displaying graphics which were unheard of at this time. But Nintendo hit back by releasing their Record breaking Super Nintendo Entertainment System(1990). This fierce competition between the two drove developers to become better designers and it was proved as much with hugely successful and critically acclaimed hits been released for each console, this home console war ended any chance of the arcades recovering, gamers had finalised there move from the arcades back to their homes, the home console had become the core choice by the games and also by the developer. The 3D Generation Video games where successful in their early years but they were never hugely successful, they never get anywhere near close to the popularity of the film industry nor did the game releases of films get anywhere closer and in fact generally sold much worse. Designers made a profit but it was only a sustaining profit, enough to keep the company going, pay the staff and develop future games but they just didnt have the financial backing of the film industry, games were rarely advertised and certainly didnt have any sort of vast marketing displays and if there even was a marketing team at all it would consist of very few people and have a simple budget as can be seen by the low quality of games advertisement in the 1980s, the advertisement stood close to what the game was, bright lights and loud noises. It wasnt till the 5th generation of gaming consoles or the 3d generation as its also known did games reach a level of popularity that could not quite yet match the film industries figures but certainly put a mark against it, their where many success stories but also many failures in this generation, it saw the fall of Atari, the 3DO, SEGA and the rise of Sony with the Playstation(1994). Nintendo where the only existing company to the enter the 3D generation and continue to be successful. Not much changed with the Nintendo strategy and it didnt need to, they released once again hit after hit until the end of this generation when in 1995 the disc based Sony Playstation overtook the Nintendo 64(1996) in terms of sales and it began to build a strong fan base including taking a good portion of Nintendos key market. The Playstation was the first home console to sell more than 100,000 million units worldwide, this is now the time the games industry started to be compared to the film industry in terms of sales and success. Aside from commercial success, the Playstation also changed the console development plan, the success of the disc was the final nail in the coffin on the old cartridge system previously used by Nintendo. The stability of the disc medium, cheap manufacturing expenses in using disc based games where the main reasons for its success. At the end of this gener ation SEGA fans had lost faith in their beloved console with few games being released on the console mainly because developers jumped ship to the more successful Nintendo and Sony and while there was still yet to be another SEGA console in the form of the SEGA Dreamcast(1999), this was the turning point in SEGAs decline and their eventual retreat from console development. Even with the great success of the Playstation, neither Nintendo or Sony ever seemed to publicly announce or display a challenge for financial success against the rest of the entertainment industry, advertisement still stayed low budget and was purely aimed at making existing gamers aware of future products rather than attracting new potential game players. The Changing Generation The following Generation displayed much of the same as the previous generation, The Sony Playstation 2(2000) was effectively the same as the first one just much more advanced with a few new features, the same can be said for the Nintendo GameCube(2001) except now Nintendo had adopted disc based technology. There was a new entry in the market place now, Microsoft seeing the potential of the games industry entered the market in 2001 with the Xbox. The Xbox didnt design its games or console any differently to Nintendo and Sonys consoles however it did add one thing, it is possible the most important new feature to games design since the 3D era took hold, the Xbox introduced online multiplayer through a service known as Xbox LIVE*. This new feature was the only thing that kept the console from complete failure as the games that accompanied the console where of a lower quality and Microsoft struggled to attract a strong fanbase, however though XBOX LIVE proved so successful that online mu ltiplayer is a standard now for most modern games. While this was going on, in the background Nintendo where busy working with the handheld market, before now everyone considered this market purely for kids and only a gimmick at best, Nintendo wanted to change that and they did with the Game Boy Advance(2001). They did this by developing games of a standard of the home consoles and Marketing the device as a independent handheld console separate to that of the home consoles. Because of the new advanced graphics available to developers, a completely realistic game could be made but this lead to huge criticism of the games with releases of ultra graphic Mortal Kombat(Midway Games, multiple) and the portrayal of criminal behaviour seen in Grand Theft Auto series(Rockstar Games, Multiple). These controversial games aloud non-gaming public to become much more aware of the games industry, although this was potentially dangerous criticism against the games industry, it is seen as exactly wh at the games industry was looking for. Sony particularly began marketing mature games for mature audiences, with advertising campaigns aimed purely for the an age group of 18 and above. The content in these games led to the ESRB and PEGI age rating system to inform parents that there are games available in the market that are unsuitable for their children. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time(Nintendo, 1998), Grand Theft Auto 3(, Rockstar Games, 2001), and Halo: Combat Evolved(Bungie, 2001) were the first game in the industry to be marketed in the way of a summer blockbuster, they all sold hugely successful and these games are seen by many as the turning point where games left the old mentality behind of being just for the arcade gamer and now was at a position to enter the next generation as a strong competitor to Hollywood, by the end of this generation in 2006 total film sales reached an estimated $16.6 billion in North America for the film industry compared to the games industries $13.5 Billion (Breckon, 2007). Entering the late 2000s, the still young games industry is nearly as valuable as over 100 year old film industry. The Next-Generation. The 7th Generation seen many advancements, Blu-Ray disc technology, Massively multiplayer games(MMOs), High Definition technology and motion tracking as seen by the Nintendo Wii(2006). Microsofts Xbox 360 launched first into this generation in 2005 and it proved a success, aside from being first into this new generation it fully launched Xbox LIVE and multiplayer as a standard throughout the industry. The Xbox 360 now stands firmly second place in between Sonys Playstation 3(2006) and Nintendos Wii in the console battle. It has a strong game to console attach rate*, with loyal fans and marketing team any Company would want, these factors will guarantee its success into the next console generation. The Sony Playstation 3 launched a full year after the Xbox 360 and some believe this to be the main reason it had poor launch figures as well as the fact that there were a limited supply of Blu-ray diodes for the consoles main feature. The console to date has still struggled to compete with its competition with many of its games selling poorly, Xboxs leading exclusive game Halo 3(2008) sold over 10 million copies as for Sonys PS3 most successful exclusive game Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots(2008) sold only a little over 4 million copies, however it has grounded itself, it is now financially a success and has guaranteed a place in the next generation line up. Nintendo on the other hand are on a completely different level compared to its rivals, it sales have been record breaking since its launch two weeks after the PS3. The Wii has sold almost more than both the Xbox 360 and PS3 combined with current sales figures at 52.29 Million units sold for the Nintendo Wii, 31.30 Million units sold for the Xbox 360 and 23.16 Million units sold for the PS3 (VGchartz, 2009). The key to the success of the Wii is the widening of the demographics, Nintendo completely changed their approach to selling and developing games, in previous generation Nintendo only developed games for the hardcore gamer(strict loyal fan) but now they are developing for a mixture of hardcore games and casual games(general public). Nintendos main aim for the Wii was not to beat its rivals but to get new people playing games, Satoru Iwata stated in(2006) at a Press conference in Tokyo that were not thinking about fighting Sony, but about how many people we can get to play games.. This is reflected in Nintendos Advertisement campaigns throughout the world, Nintendo dramatically changed their method of advertising to new much more successful methods such as featuring celebrities and even the advertisement developed by academy award winning directors. Their audience grew hugely with this advertising strategy including a varied assortment of game players including, children, adults and g randparents, their campaign is aimed at people of all ages. The success of these ads can be seen in the wide audience, a 103 year old pensioner was reported to be regularly playing the Wii, the Queen of England is was even reported to have a Nintendo Wii(Rousewell, 2008). With the games industry going from strength to strength it is hard not to see the games industries eventual overtaking of the film industry as the leading section of the entertainment industry. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillermot (2007) expects the games industry to grow an additional 50% in the next four year, casual gaming and the newly introduced in-game advertisement are expected to be the key factors to gamings take over. The gaming industry is also growing in other parts of the world, The Asian market alone is expected to reach $28.8 billion in sales by 2011 with a total sales for the games industry at $65(Breckon, 2007). By then the film industry is only predicted to grow to a total sales of $25.8 billion in sales, less than half of the predicted games sales. However High definition is now becoming a standard in the film industry as well as the re-introduction 3D films, both advancements could bring a new lease of life to the film industry, it can also be considered that at â‚ ¬60 a game compared to the film industries â‚ ¬10 cinema admission or â‚ ¬25-â‚ ¬40 for DVD/Blu-ray income might make up impressive figures however as for the individual customer using each medium the actual numbers of people still lean greatly towards the film industry. It could be questioned why are they seen as competition and not simply compared as separate mediums in the entertainment industry, many game adaptations of films and vice versa have been released mostly with only slight success but all have been critically slammed, ever year the two industries become closer and closer and with that will be massive financial gain, James Camerons Avatar: The Game(Ubisoft, 2009) and film (Cameron, 2009) is seen as the first step towards bringing these two entertainment industries together. Chapter 2: Literature review What is a game? This is a very common question and it is a very important one, I wish to make it clear that the great success of video games in the last few years have mainly due to the changes behind in the design room and in the studios not just in the way games are now being marketed, the general games design theory is seen as a factor in the success. Defining what a game is or a theory behind it is one that you can spend a great deal of time arguing over and even with a set of results it still is a open question. The definition will in general influence how one decides to design a game, so it is critical when designing a game that you completely understand the purpose for it. There are multiple ways we could define a game, with varying ranges of features. Greg Costikyan (1994) states A game is a form of art in which participants, teamed players, make decisions in order to manage resources through game tokens in the pursuit of a goal. This meaning is questionable, it may of defined what a game wa s back in the early years but because of the constant technology advancements if a designer was to define what a game was it would be more like, a game is a form of art in which participants single or multiple make decisions according to the narrative design in order to resolve game world situations and finish the game as the ultimate goal, this would be my definition of defining the modern computer game. The essential problem with defining a game is that depending on the era a definition will make sense in one decade but not the next because of the rapid growth of the gaming medium. This rapid growth is changing the industry, MIT Professor Henry Jenkins(2008) stated that video games have converged different entertainment platforms that allowed producers of these content to exercise new ways of stretching the viability of their intellectual properties. A single general theory only works when one looks at a genre of game type or who the player of the game will be, at the core reasoning for games, they only exist to be played, it is an interactive medium the only kind which is visual, audibly, interactive and within that a multiplayer component which allows many people to play at once and with the internet the numbers are almost infinite depending on the game. As with the genre and medium some are considered entertaining and some are considered a task, challenge is however a general the me with games design. As with every industry, once games design was established as a valuable medium, competition quickly arose as seen at Quakecon(Nok, 2009) and in a new medium players want quickly to become the best at it or be the first to finish it, to design a game to suit this want is a challenge and that is the general reason a games design theory was sought after in early game development. As the basis of games design is that every game or most games have a beginning, middle and an end, the game starts and ends at your own discretion and with a set of rules for you to manipulate or use to at your means. Playing the game is down to the player, but if there is a desire to understand games and game design, we must first clearly establish the purpose of it. We must determine the characteristics of all games, but discovering that outlines and establish a set of attribute for each game genre rather than what characterised games as a whole. Hoffman (2008) believes that outside of computer games, playing a game in general is an important part of life. I wish to discover does game design need a theory? Other medium generally have some sort of theory behind them but they are much more closely related in their genres as game design is very diverse and has a interactive aspect in design and game playing, what people want, and the level of scale and longevity are maybe too diverse for a game design theory to exist. Changes in games design: For the Better or worse? Defining games design is still widely regarded as a difficult task, what a game is though differs constantly and when it enters production depending on the type of game the design methods behind it are much different from a racing game to a action game. That is the first problem, it is complex to place the games design program in any one meaning. The actual study of engine design, physics and application of games design is much more closely connected to mathematics rather than traditional design practices, if this study was literally taken into practice than it would be a great oversight, designing a game using only mathematics and programmers instead of a blend with designers would only lead to failure. Ideally, a games design studio should be as interdisciplined as any other large field, it should consist of, programmers, designers, artists and engineers. Richard Rouse III(2005) states that the game design is what determines the form of the gameplay, however that is not always so a s seen by top-down or bottom-up design*. The features set in game design determines what choices players will be able to make in the game-world and what consequences those choices will have on the rest of the game. Bernd Kreimeier(2002) states that Games design like any other profession requires a means to document, discuss and plan. In the last few years with the advent of the growing online design community, a designer could refer to the growing online library of previously released games for general ideas and quick inspiration. In the early days of games design, designers generally referred to board games for their inspiration as there was no other means to compare work, without some sort of comparison it would of been very risky to release a game without any sort of knowledge of whether a similar product has been successful in the past. Hoffman (2008) believes that the main problem with game design is deciding where to place it, creating a game through a subset of sociology or a dedicated studio and these decisions are what make defining a game so complex. However while knowledge about games has grown rapidly, it could be said even more so than any other media industry, little progress has been made to document individual experiences to interweave into design practices and theories. Kreimeier (2002) states that on the base line of design theory, games design needs a related library to name the modelling assets been created, designing and a set of rules to express how these design techniques fit together, a case for design patterns could exist. Help from Hollywood? Games design is uniquely many thing, but at the basis of design it comes down to a few little things, coming up with the initial idea through thought and discussing, the idea to see it is not only a workable product but is it actually a good idea and from that point heavily expanding on the original idea until any team of designers could implement the design and achieve a expected result. Evidently if that was all designers had to go on it was be extremely difficult for anything to be created. Since the beginning of games design, games designers have worked around these initial problems by relying on design techniques and theories adapted from other media such as film and storytelling. Noah Falstein (1997) writes that part of the problem with encounters of people from Hollywood was their lack of respect. This problem though has been rid away with over the years but it was a huge problem back in the 1970s and 1980s when young game companies searched for aid in development from Hollywo od studios but received little help. Games are not only a interactive medium but they are a visual medium and game designers have been increasingly relying on design techniques developed from film such as motion capture however this is not to be taken as a side of weakness from game designer and should not question that games are the same as film but the film practices are investigated in an effort to identify methods which are suited in favour of games. Nevertheless this was not always enough, games design theories started to develop solely to do with games and without influence from other medium, Kreimeier (2002) also believes that games as an individual medium needs its own practices and if borrowed techniques were enough then there be no need to develop any practices specific to games design theories. These collective theories are individual but there has been much discussion on them and it could be probable that these individual theories could be developed into one universal ga mes design theory although the most likely result would be a flawed design theory. The open use of gaming terms promotes an over perceived meaning of our own belief of what games are, The academic public overly ignore the uniquely and complexity of game design. Junior designers whose own skill are limited generally embark upon designing games with no further research than their own experience as game players, this methodology is sure to fail, the desire to success, what people in reality like to play can be much different than what the designer actually likes, this is unfortunately a common problem in traditional game design, this is a problem Pederson (2003) states as critical for lead game designers. Those who overrate their own understanding will undercut their own potential from learning and further more it will lead to the same result as failure. Ambiguity and ambiguity of play are a important aspect of design brought up by Smith (1997), applying the principle and concepts to gaming have watered down the original medium and meanings, there is no longer a clear focus to the ideology of game design we desire to understand. This watered effect is creating genres, levels of design, innovativeness, expenses and lastly the technology are effecting this medium more than any other, price ranges in not only the technology but the actual developing of the game can be astronomical, the latest version of Grand Theft Auto(Rockstar Games, 2008) a sandbox* style game cost over $100 million to design and develop included over 1,000 members of staff and took of three years to finish(Linde, 2008). If you were to look for game design theory in this game, after much search you would result with a unanswered question, putting aside the budget and expenses to develop this game the sure scale of this project is enough to put a stop to the idea of needing or there ever existing an underlying games design theory. The style of game for the GTA series is not alone, other genre such as first person shooters(FPS), action based and role playing games(RPG) are also pu t in this bracket, it would be hard pressed to find a game theory where each of these genres could fit in, meet there goals and be overall a success. A Common Design Theory? There are a few genres of games where there is potentially a underlying game design theory that could be developed for any new game yet to be developed and this could exist in the racing genre, it is this genre where the same practices of desig