News games, sometimes called news games or game news, are a very specific genre of online games which attempt to apply certain journalistic principles to their production. They can fall in a number of different categories, including trivia, current events, educational, investigative, simulations of real-life situations, and even puzzle and board games. In recent years the genre has seen an increase in popularity, due largely to the success of games like Fall Of Rome and Zynga’s Empires & Allies. This is perhaps unsurprising given the fact that most people tend to only pay attention to the news during major political events. However, the history of the news games and the way they have been playing out lends some interesting insights into the way we process information and how the news influences our actions in the world today.
The basis of the genre is a closely held belief which goes back to the earliest days of the Internet. Many Internet commentators believe that it was the emergent social networking websites which allowed gamers to develop a strong sense of shared responsibility for the virtual world that first broke the mould, giving birth to news games. These shared games were then regularly played by members of the communities they were associated with. Although there are no official statistics available, it seems that the younger generations of gamers are significantly more likely than their parents to be active participants in gaming communities. This is all the more significant when you consider that there is increasing evidence that younger people have less patience for difficult intellectual topics.
This is in line with current trends in the media, where journalists are often portrayed as stenographers for government or military officials and are routinely accused of “stacking” the facts to sensationalize news stories to make them more salable. Although there is a long tradition of criticism of journalists by those within the online gaming community, the use of wikis to facilitate gaming news is a relatively new phenomenon. This is perhaps unsurprising, given that the initial impetus for the development of such technologies was as a means of allowing gamers to communicate with each other. Today, the fact that journalists report news stories is seen as a serious problem which threatens the credibility of the entire media industry. It is this threat which underpins much of the anxiety surrounding gaming news and its proliferation on the World Wide Web.
If you want to get involved in the latest trends in video games, it’s a good idea to look at how and when to use news games as a vehicle. This can be done both with news games themselves and by learning how to create templates which can be used in other applications. To begin with, it is important to note that templates are easy to create in word processing software like Microsoft Word. Once you have loaded your template message in the text box of Microsoft Word, you can begin typing. Unlike with regular text messages, there is a quick way to make a template message appear as if it has been automatically written to the screen – all you have to do is press the Print button.
The next step is to design a message in the shape of a video game cartridge or the like. These are easily available on the Internet, although you might have a little trouble finding the exact ones you’re looking for. Once you have loaded the template in Microsoft Word, you can begin playing with it through Microsoft Xbox Live. (Be careful to turn off Xbox Live before attempting this tactic.)
For example, if there is a news story about new plans by Microsoft for a new version of the Surface, you can input the information into a news games application in your browser. When it comes to the specifics, just enter the date, the news story, and Microsoft’s name to create your own headline. Then you can use the on-screen keyboard to provide your own interpretation of the information. Other details like the event the announcement is related to, the people who are planning on attending, and the exact dates and times can also be input into the application.