Critically evaluate how the recent recession has been affecting Essay

Critically evaluate how the recent recession has been affecting strategic marketing management practices of Apple - Essay Example By 1980 as the sales of the company were experiencing a high the company also grew considerably in size, by the time the Apple III was launched, the company employed several thousand people and was conducting international business (apple-history, 2013). Lisa and Macintosh are hall mark products of the Apple Company. During the 1980’s the Mac II gave the windows a really tough time, taking it to the verge of a flop, due to its expandability and viability (apple-history, 2013). The release of power books in 1991 put Apple back in the race it was losing against windows 3.0, and advancements were being made at the same time towards the PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) (apple-history, 2013). Formerly known as Apple Computer; Apple Inc. is currently the biggest tech company in the world that employs more than 49,400 people and gross profit of more than $ 65 billion (Rodrigo, 2012). Competitors Apple’s competitors in the technology and computer industry are Microsoft, Dell, M otorola, LG, and Nokia. ... comes from its diverse line and range of products and the software and hardware integration of their range of products; which they have achieved over the years (Magee, 2011). Apple has led to the jointed manufacturing of computers and mobile devices, whereas this was previously done by separate companies (Magee, 2011). This allows for shared functioning and information processing, connectivity is the main feature giving these products a competitive edge (Magee, 2011). Impact of Recession The recession did not impact Apple Inc. as expected and rather than suffering massive losses like its counterparts it just received a jolt at its retail stores (MaCNN, 2009). The number of visitors per Apple retail store suffered a drop of 1.8%, and the revenues fell 17.4 percent (MaCnn, 2009). 2008 saw a drop for the company’s revenues by 0.6 percent in the last three month period (Oliver, 2009). Apple saw the revenue decrease on per store basis but as a whole the Mac sales increased year ove r year as compared to 2008 (Oliver, 2009). Apart from suffering a drop in terms of visitor per retail store the concept that Apple retail store follow, showed the success of the strategies employed by Apple (Oliver, 2009). According to Carl Howe, who is the director of consumer research for the Yankee Group said that the company is really tested during a recession, and for Apple, the ‘ think different’ motto appears to be working really well (cited in Rodrigo, 2012). Where economies, banks and companies have drastically suffered at the hands of the recession, Apple has maintained its record sales. Recession tests companies by better execution and Apple is achieving that (Howe, cited in Rodrigo, 2012). Apple’s share value doubled during 2008, the year the recession hit the hardest and

The Nightmare of the American Dream Essay Example for Free

The Nightmare of the American Dream Essay The â€Å"American Dream†, an idea that success, freedom and equality exists according to each mans capabilities regardless of social status and ethnicity, is one that appeals to every American from all walks of life. After the Great Depression, the importance of realizing success, freedom and equality became a priority in the lives of many, including the Native Americans. The belief in the â€Å"American Dream† was deeply embedded in their hearts in a quest to dispel stereotypes about their community such as being poverty- stricken and primitive warriors who belonged in the jungles as they began to assimilate into the urban culture of a white dominated society. However, as one examines the American society today, such stereotypes still exists and may have been influential in the opportunities presented to the Native American communities or the lack thereof. In the story â€Å"The Red Convertible†, Louise Erdrich employs images associated with freedom as ironies in order to argue that the â€Å"American Dream† is a farce as the stereotypes attached to individual communities, in this case, the Native American communities will never be broken and the believe in such dreams will eventually lead to life-altering and undesirable outcomes. Erdrich consistently uses the image of the convertible that the brothers bought which would usually represent freedom and status connected with the ownership of an automobile in an ironical manner to show that the brothers will never be free and revered in society as a result of their ethnicity. Its colour, â€Å"of course it was red† (1-2), is a reminder of how Native American communities have lived with the stigma of being call Red Indians for centuries thus suggesting they will never be free of such derogatory labels. The brothers bought the car â€Å"reposed, calm and gleaming† (34) just as they bought into the promising idea of equality in the â€Å"American Dream†. Paralleling the journey of the gleaming car to Henry who had to leave for the war as many Native Americans were drafted to fight on the frontline, Lyman â€Å"had it up on blocks in the yard or half taken apart, because the long trip did a hard job on it† just as light-hearted Henry returns from the war a broken man, needing â€Å"repairs†. The ultimate irony is in the tragic ending of the convertible sinking into the river, representing the crushed dreams of equality and success as Henry returns to the same poverty-stricken life of the reservation which he assumed would change at the end of the war. To further illustrate the irony of the â€Å"American Dream†, Erdrich compares Henry to the rabbit which is essentially an animal that exists freely in the wild but who exists to be preyed just as Native Americans believing that they were equals in society but were actually preyed upon the stereotype that they were brave, natural warriors who would have skills to fight ruthlessly in the war. When Henry came back from the war, he was â€Å"jumpy and mean† (123) and when he was still, â€Å"it was the kind of stillness that you see in a rabbit when it freezes before it will bolt† (128-130). Henry was used as a prey in the war based on a stereotype without any regard for his humanity, now would bolt to protect himself as he realizes that the dream of equality he believed in was a lie which exploited his ethnicity instead of protecting it. As Lyman narrated another stereotype of Native Indians in the story: â€Å"We liked to tease him that they really wanted him for his Indian nose† (91-92), has more truth to it as many Native Americans were made to fight in the front line during the war resulting in an alarming rate of deaths. Lastly, Erdrich ironically uses imagery of nature as embodiments of hope and new beginnings and juxtaposed them against the brothers dreams of a better life which was tragically crushed. Lyman describes of the day when Henry suggests to take the car out for a spin after he fixed it: It was spring. The sun was shining very bright. My only sister, Bonita, who was just eleven years old came out and made us stand together for a picture. (194-196) The imagery of springtime which symbolizes hope and life and the Sun which symbolizes a gleaming future is what the brothers had believed in as they bought into the idea of the â€Å"American Dream† as a means of escaping their poverty stricken lives in the reservations. However, after  Henry â€Å"squint against the glare† (212) of the Sun in the photo as he could no longer believe in the dream after being exploited in the war. As Lyman later examines the picture, he realizes that Henry â€Å"might have drawn back , because the shadows on his face are deep as holes† (214-215) suggests that Henry will never again be the person that he was even in the hopeful time of Spring, he will always be a victim of the war and stereotypes hence unable to pursue forward to achieve success as promised in the â€Å"American Dream† he had believed earlier. In the later part of the story, Erdrich uses the image of the sun again, only this time in a deference to the tragedy of Henrys drowning as he is unable to live the life of poverty and despair as well as to the failure of the American dream which did not deliver its promise of equality and freedom as â€Å"the sun is down†(294). The ironical use of images of freedom in â€Å"The Red Convertible† shows that the â€Å"American Dream† did not deliver its promise of equality regardless of social status and ethnicity as stereotypes regarding the Native Americans continue to exist and such stereotypes not only has the ability to hurt an individual but can also have tragic consequences such as deaths of Native Americans in alarming numbers in the war as well as the death of Henry as he no longer believed in the dream.

Workplace Violence Essay -- Workplace Health and Safety

Workplace Violence Workplace violence is a phenomenon that is now widely recognized as a social problem, which impacts all organizations. "According to Department of Justice statistics for 1995, 21% of all violent crime occurred while the victim was either at work or traveling to or from work. Workplace Violence accounted for more than two (2) million violent Crimes annually from 1992-1997" (Kaufer 1-2). In this research paper I will provide an overview of workplace violence and furnish Examples of the effect and costs, as it affect the workplace. Workplace violence can be devastating to business and present emotional impact on the employees involved (Ecis, 1). "Incidents of workplace violence were virtually unheard of until the 1970‘s. Since then it has more than tripled. As companies downsize, reorganize, re-engineer, and demand more of each employee, stress levels increase to the breaking point causing work-related violence to escalate (Mattman, 1). Obviously something must be done to protect employees from workplace violence. Employees not only deserve a safe workplace environment but several state mandates need to be considered. Three important questions deserve close examination. These include, why over the past years have there been evidenced an increase in workplace violence? What are the effects on the business economics when they are subjected to occupational violence on the work site? And finally, what can be done to avoid violence in the workplace? Workplace violence has shown itself to be a serious detriment to the ability of a company to be successful and productive. As you can see, it not only affects the workplace but places employees in emotional states, which are counterpro... ...erly, Age Works. Free Press 1999. Kaufer, Steven. The cost of workplace violence to American business. Source: www.workviolence.com Klein, Stuart. Workers Under stress. University Press of Kentucky: 1990. Source: CSUDH Library Mantell, Michael. Ticking bombs. Irwin Professional Publishing 1993. Source: Public Library of Long Beach. Unknown Author. Steps to combat workplace violence. Source: http://www.sentry~insurance.com/Wontvid.htm Unknown Author. Violence has no place in the workplace. M2 Communication Ltd. 1992. Unknown Author. Workplace violence policy. Internet. Source: http://www.2kumc.edu/hr/admin/wpv.html Vuong, Andy. Business discuss safety at workplace. Source: William, Waugh, L. and Lloyd, Nigro G. Workplace Violence: A Human resources perspective. Internet. Source: http://www.gsu.edu~purlgn/WPVAbstract.html

Race & Ethnicity in Our Society Essay

Race and ethnicity are important concepts and plays a great deal among our society. Very few of us are aware of the difference between race and ethnicity. Many of us assumed that is the same definition. In Sociology this terms have a very specific and different meaning. Race: Is your biological features this can include your skin color, eye and hair color, as well as a tendency toward developing certain diseases. Race can’t be changed or disguised. Race does not have customs or globally learned behaviors. In other words race refers to only your genetic history and identifiable physical characteristics that are separate and distinct from other races. For example Hispanics are always generalized as Puerto Rican. Skin color does not necessarily connect to your cultural background. Ethnicity: Is a concept referring to a shared culture and way of life. This can be reflected in language, religion, material culture such as clothing and food and cultural products such as art and music. Ethnicity is often a major source of social cohesion and social conflict. Ethnicity is not just a person’s race. For example the term Caucasian means white, but this term doesn’t describe a person’s ethnicity. We can have three white people from different parts of the world like Canada, Ireland, and England. Just by looking at them we can’t determine from what part of the world they are from. But, if we give them appropriate items from their culture, like religion, language, food preparation and preferences, then is easy to determine their origin. Ethnicity is about tradition, behaviors and customs. We can change our ethnicity but not our race. Ethnic groups have a consciousness of their common cultural bond. Ethnic groups doesn’t exist simply because of the common national or cultural origin of the group, they develop because of their unique historical and social experiences, which became the basis for the group’s ethnic identity. For example prior to immigration to the United States, any group of immigrants did not think of themselves as a distinct group with common interest and experiences. However, the process of immigration and the experiences they faced as a group in the United States, including discrimination, created a new identity for the group. Some examples of ethnic groups include Italian Americans, Polish Americans, Mexican Americans, and Irish Americans. Other ethnic groups are found in other societies such as in Afghanistan and Iraq, whose ethnicity is base on religious differences. Like ethnicity, race is a socially constructed category. A race is a group that is treated as distinct in society based on certain characteristics. Because of their biological or cultural characteristics, which are labeled as inferior by powerful groups in society, a race is often singled out for differential and unfair treatment. It is not the biological characteristics that define racial groups, but how they have been treated historically and socially. Society assigns people to racial categories such as blacks, whites, Hispanics etc. not because of science, logic or fact, but, because of opinion and social experience. Hispanics and blacks are perceived as minority group who share common characteristics like low status in society, there is more poverty among them, and low education standards. A minority group is any distinct group in society that shares common characteristics and is forced to occupy low status in society because of prejudice and discrimination. A group may be classified as minority on the basis of ethnicity, race, sexual preference, age, or class status. It is important to note that a minority group is not necessarily the minority in terms of numbers, but it is a group that holds a low status in relation to other groups in society. (Regardless of the size). The group that assigns a racial or ethnic group to subordinate status in society is called The Dominant group. One of the problems that have an impact on race and ethnicity is stereotypes. It is an oversimplified opinion and judgment about individuals of a social group. It is also a tendency where humans characterize a person of a race or ethnic group based on assumptions criticizing one’s appearance. Some examples of this are: Chinese and Indians are good in math and sciences, but are poor in English and humanities, White Americans are lazy, obese, and judgmental towards other races and are highly materialistic. Italians are always in a mob, Irish people are always drunk and African Americans are drug peddlers, thugs, good dancers, and good at athletics. Additionally, there are other forms of stereotypes such as: gender stereotypes that are based on an individual’s gender and some examples are: men make great business leaders and women make good homemakers, men are masculine and strong, women are good cooks, they want to have babies and make great nurses. Another stereotype is social class that is based on social status in society and some examples of this are: homeless people have behavioral problems, are into substance abuse, lazy and smelly, working class are naive and not street smart, and upper class are judged as being shallow, arrogant and untrustworthy There are several sociological theories about why prejudice, discrimination and racism exist. Prejudice and discrimination are two similar terms that deal with negative misjudgments and disrespect. Prejudice is unreasonable feelings and attitudes toward a social group based on preconceived preference without any knowledge or facts about that group’s race or ethnicity. There have been researches that state the origin of prejudice began from learning and observing manners from peers, parents, and the media. For example, if children imitate their parents complaining against another individual of a different nationality, then that child will mature and think negative ideas about those members of that culture. In the media, movies, magazines, books and newspapers depicted some nationalities in pessimistic images; for example, Japanese Americans were shown as sneaky and untrustworthy and American Indians were presented as scoundrels or submissive characters. As for discrimination, it is a behavior of contempt and insolence against members of a group rather than show consideration for an individual’s merit. An example of this is a landlord doesn’t rent an apartment to someone because that individual is mentally retarded and a property manager checks the credit records of all Hispanics and black applicants and sues small credit problems as an excuse to refuse to rent an apartment, but doesn’t always look at the records of white applicants and overlooks small credit problems in their records. Racism is a term where negative attitudes and behaviors are linked together and makes an individual belonging to a racial or ethnic group as intellectually, socially, and culturally inferior to one’s own group. Furthermore, there are many types of racism that exist in society such as: old-fashion racism, which deals with physical violence; aversive racism, is being stealthy or not interacting with someone of another race or ethnic; laissez-faire racism which occurred after the Second World War and during the 1950s , is a subtle but constant negative stereotyping of minorities, a tendency for whites to blame a racial group for gaps in socioeconomic standings, occupational achievement and educational achievement, and clear resistance to meaningful policy efforts designed to improve America’s racially oppressive social conditions and practices. The next racism is color-blindness because an individual affected by this type of racism prefers to ignore lawful racial, ethnic, cultural and other differences and insists that racial issues in America will go away if only race is ignored all together. Lastly, institutional racism is negative judgment and coercion of one racial or ethnic group by society’s existing institutions based on presumed inferiority of the oppressed group. An example of this is racial filing, where if an African American or Hispanic individual is arrested, they are considered to serve more sentence time than that of Whites and Asians. In fact, an African American or Hispanic who commits a crime, are more likely to get arrested than a White person committing the exact same crime. Yet, there are three types of sociological theories that study on the origins of racism, discrimination and prejudice. They are: functionalists, symbolic interaction and conflict. First, functionalist theory has its origins in the work of Emile Durkheim and it interprets each part of society as a whole. Meaning, that the different parts of society are organized to fill the different needs and each has particular consequences for the form and shape of society. Also, from this perspective, if there is disorganization in the system, such as deviant behavior, it will affect all other parts and create social problems, which later lead to social change. So, in order for society to maintain stability, racial and ethnic minorities must assimilate into society. Meaning, that this perspective assumes that in order for minority groups to be fully pledged members of society, they must adopt the culture of the dominant society and thus give up their own culture. But, assimilation stands in dissimilarity with pluralism, which is the maintenance and perseverance of one’s own culture, language, traits, practices, art, etc. Second, symbolic interaction theories have two types of issues addressing it: one, the role of social interaction in reducing racial and ethnic hostility and second, how race and ethnicities are socially constructed. So, contact theory, which it was originated with the psychologist Gordon Allport, argues that Whites and other minorities groups will reduce racism, discrimination and prejudice with each other, but only through these three conditions. First, the contact must be between individuals of equal status and both parties must interact on equal grounds. Second, the contacts between equals must be sustained; short-term contact will not decrease racism, discrimination and prejudice. Lastly, social norms favoring equality must be agreed upon by the participants. The third theory, conflict theory is based on class conflicts, which are inherent and fundamental part of society. Also, theorists argue that class inequality must be reduced to lessen racial and ethnic conflict in society. The current â€Å"class versus race† controversy has caused concerns of whether class or race is more important in explain inequality and its consequences of whether they are of equal importance. Those focused on class conflict, such as sociologist William Julius Wilson, have argued that class and changes in the economic structure are sometimes more important than race in improving the life chances for different groups. On the other hand, some sociologists such as Bonilla-Silva and Feagin argue the opposite. They say that race has been and is relatively more important than class – in explaining and accounting for inequality and conflict in society and that directly addressing the question of race forthrightly is the only way to solve the country’s race problems. Also, another perspective called intersection perspective refers to the interactive or combined effects of racism, classism and gender in the coercion of individuals. This perspective notes that not only are the effects of gender and race intertwined, but also both are intertwined with the effects of class. So, this is the reason why class, along with race and gender, are integral components of social structure, according to intersection perspective. Lastly, there have been individuals in history that have formed groups and organizations in order to attain ethnical and racial equality. These groups help show everyone that no matter what race or ethnicity someone belongs to, if individuals are willing to fight for civil rights and privileges, then they can make a change in society, no matter what consequences are in store. First, the civil rights movement was based on the passive resistance philosophy of Martin Luther King Jr., learned from the philosophy of Satyagraha of the East Indian Mahatma Mohandas Gandhi (meaning â€Å"leader†). This helped African Americans and black people to fight against segregation through nonviolent techniques, such as sit-ins, marches and appealing to human conscience in calls for brotherhood, justice and equality. Even though African Americans and black people fought for racial justice and civil rights before this movement, this movement brought greater civil rights under the law to many groups: women, disabled people, and the aged. In 1955, African American mistress and NAACP secretary Rosa Parks made an impact in history when she bravely refused to relinquish her seat in the â€Å"White only† section of the Montgomery bus. In addition, most of the bus drivers were African American and thanks to the action of Rosa Parks, the famous Montgomery bus boycott, led by Martin Luther King Jr. initiated. Impetus was given to the civil rights movement and the boycott due to the unspeakable death of Emmett Till in 1954. He was a black teenager who was killed in Mississippi only for whistling at a white woman in a store. So, a group of white individuals rousted Till from his bed at the home of a relative and beat him until he was dead and unrecognizable. Then, they tied a heavy cotton gin fan around his neck and dumped him in a river. Later on, Till’s mother allowed a picture of his misshapen son so that society could contemplate the horrific event that occurred and no one was prosecuted for till’s murder. The next movement known as La Raza Unida Party (The Race Party) was established on January 17, 1970 in Crystal City, Texas by Jose Gutierrez and Mario Compean. It centered on Chicano nationalism and in the 1970s, it campaign for better housing, work and educational opportunities for Mexican–Americans. It was originated by the Workmen of the World and it expanded to other states, such as California and Colorado. However, the novice city council did not implement the parties’ goals due to political and economic attacks from Anglo business, landowners in surrounding counties and political and economic attacks from Democratic and Republican parties. Still, La Raza Unida Party was still active and ran candidates for governor of Texas, Ramsey Muniz in 1972 and Mario Compean in 1974. But in 1972, they ran a candidate in a very competitive US Senate race in Colorado, Secundion Salazar, who received 1. 4% of votes. During the late 1970s, the party changed tactics to a more community based, grassroots, where Revolutionary Nationalist formations were seeking the unity of all Chicanos, Latinos and Native Americans in the southwestern of the United States by the proponents of the views of the Party, but not by non Chicanos, Latinos and Native Americans. Lastly, the American Indian Movement is a Native American activist organization in the United States, founded in 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by urban Native Americans. It agenda focuses on spirituality, leadership and sovereignty and its members in 1968 are: Dennis Banks, George Mitchell, Herb Powless, Clyde Bellecourt, Harold Goodsky, Eddie Benton-Banai, and a number of others in Minneapolis’ Native American community. The group was formed to address various issues concerning the Native American urban community in Minneapolis, including poverty housing, treaty issues and police harassment. In the decades since its founding, the movement had led protests advocating indigenous American interest, inspired cultural renewal, monitored police activity and coordinated employment programs in cities and rural reservation communities across the United States. In conclusion do not judge a book by its cover. Each race and ethnic group brings new learning experience to our lives. Each culture allows us to grow as human beings and this is what makes America a great nation.

A Study of Aesthetics in the Call of Duty Franchise

Different but the Same: An Analysis of Aesthetics in the Call of Duty Franchise First Person Shooters (FPS) is one of the most famous genres within the gaming industry. It started with titles like Doom, Counter Strike, and now Call of Duty. Nowadays, console and PC gaming is a billion dollar industry. Multiple corporate and independent developers are working day in and day out to supply the market with better, bigger games. However, there are some titles which stand out from the rest, titles that always seem to be churning out one more instalment.One of these stand-out titles is the Call of Duty Franchise. Call of Duty is a series of games that at present, have nine main instalments, and another nine â€Å"lesser† titles to which the only difference is the console on which they are played. By â€Å"main† instalment, this means that the game was released on multiple platforms, which primarily includes PC, Playstation and the Xbox. It all started in October 29, 2003 with the release of Call of Duty. Since then, there has been a Call of Duty release every year, with Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 being the most recent adaptation, which came out November 12, 2012.The researcher will limit the discussion to the Call of Duty franchise, on the PC platform. To be specific, the four most recent games which include: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Call of Duty: Black Ops, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. The researcher aims to answer the question: Is Call of Duty overrated as a franchise? To answer the question, the researcher will analyze each game on eight components of aesthetics which include: Sensation, Fantasy, Narrative, Challenge, Fellowship, Discovery, Expression and Submission (Hunicke, LeBlanc and Zubek).In answering the question: â€Å"Is Call of Duty overrated as a franchise†, the researcher aims to educate both himself and his reader(s) on the importance of proper video game analysis. Nowadays, it is common to s ee a game receive a large amount of hype, such that gamers, who expected so much from a game, get disappointed and end up feeling like they wasted their money. It happened to Diablo III, where a sequel was created for the highly successful Diablo II, twelve years after it was released. Many gamers ended up disappointed with Diablo III, where changes to the core aesthetics of the game changed the way the game was going to be layed. These kinds of mistakes by the game industry, although excusable, could have been avoided. Likewise, the researcher will use Call of Duty as an example for this method for proper video game analysis. Hopefully, this will shed light on the matter, allowing both gamers and game developers to better understand the manner by which games should be measured. By analyzing on the different components of aesthetics, it would be plausible to define the franchise as â€Å"overrated† if they do not significantly improve in any one aspect and at the same time, d eliver the same kind of performance in each instalment.Before going into the full â€Å"meat† of the analysis, the researcher would like to delve a little into the components of Aesthetics that will be used in the analysis later on. The researcher wishes to stress that most of the analysis on each aesthetic is based on his opinions, based on the fact that he is a dedicated gamer himself. The nature of the analysis of game design using the MDA format is that it considers both the perspectives of the game developer and the player. A key concept of MDA is that the developer and player perceive the game through opposite ends of the spectrum (Portnow).The player would first experience the aesthetics of the game, the general reason that they are playing it. The developer on the other hand, due to the nature of his work, sees the mechanics of the game, and how they influence the dynamics, and eventually the aesthetics. In understanding the definition of these mechanics, dynamics, an d aesthetics, it could be said that a game is overrated when it may be different in mechanics but deliver the same performance in aesthetics. The First Aesthetic: Game as Sense PleasureThe first aesthetic is defined as the game’s ability to stimulate the senses (Portnow). Be it sight, sound, touch, taste, or smell, as long as the game is able to stimulate the senses of the player, this could be considered an aesthetic. For Call of Duty, the senses that are (if at all) stimulated are sight and sound. As a breakdown of sight, the most important parts is the gun itself, the enemies and the â€Å"set† or location. A breakdown of sound would be the general tone, and sound effects. For all four instalments of the game included in the research, the graphics were generally the same.Advances in technology, greater processing power of consoles as well as computers allowed game developers to create richer, more detailed and crisp visuals for the game. However with this in mind, t he modelling and texture of Black Ops 2 with respect to Modern Warfare 2 is significant. However, visuals are much more than the quality of the image, and have more to do with content. Content wise, there is no difference. The gun itself and other equipment are the same. Why? Because they use guns that actually exist in real life, which means that there is no deviation in model and texture.Since all four instalments are set in around the same time frame, the guns present inside are the same. The enemies inside do not differ as well. Generally speaking, enemies are dressed up to characterize them. This is obvious, but this also means that most enemies will be the same. For example, there are multiple instances resent in all four games that require the player to kill people from the middle-east. Scarves, light clothing and the trademark AK47 have become the definition of the terrorist. Sound, also does not differ since it is highly unlikely for the â€Å"sound† of a certain gun to change, because they are based on real-life guns.In multiplayer, the element of music is not as present as in the single player option. In the single player, key plot points and tense moments are always supported by a musical score, and this helps to set the mood. Be it the sad death of an ally or the intense run-and-gun moments, there is the right music for the right time. This would be a reason for a gamer to enjoy the game, but it is hardly different from one instalment to another. Therefore, Call of Duty does not change in this aesthetic. This is in fact due to the basis on real-life elements which actually help the game perform in the next aesthetic.The Second Aesthetic: Game as Make-Believe The paper on MDA defines the second aesthetic as fantasy. That is, the ability of the game to immerse the player in a role that normally he/she would not be able to partake in (Portnow). Call of Duty excels in their performance under this aesthetic. The paper on MDA explains that good g ames would be able to deliver on maybe one or two â€Å"core aesthetics† while great games deliver on three or four. These â€Å"core aesthetics† can also be defined as the primary emotive reasons that a player would want to play a certain game. Fantasy, is one of those core aesthetics when it comes to Call of Duty.Whether it’s being a marine, being a stone-cold killer or a patriot, there is a role that the player is immersed in, and the experience is fed to them in pieces during the experience of play. How this changes from game to game, is another matter altogether. Call of Duty excels in the immersive aspect of play, because of the authenticity of the places, and items inside the â€Å"Call of Duty Universe† and because that the first person point-of-view. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 in itself is already very good at this immersive aspect, and the experience does not really change from one instalment to another.The game itself, and the developers of the game, seem to have found the magic formula for the immersive aspect. Some would argue that better graphics are part of the immersive aspect. Things that break the immersive aspect are things like bugs, or errors in shading. These break the player away from the experience, and remind him/her that they are only playing a game. In the opinion of the researcher, this is not true. Games predating Call of Duty prove that good graphics does not equal a complete immersive experience. They may help, but it is not the most important thing.Games like Counter Strike, Half Life, Halo, and even some Doom games manage to immerse the player in another role without â€Å"life-like† graphics. In terms of the second aesthetic, Call of Duty shines. Even in the multiplayer where the immersive aspect is not as great (due to the lack of context), the game play alone is enough to make the player feel like a soldier surrounded by enemies, armed only with his gun, and his skill. All in all, the ex perience remains the same. But since it has been said that graphics help marginally to improve it, each game could still be said to have been better than the last, even if it is just by millimetres.The Third Aesthetic: Game as Drama The third aesthetic is narrative. This means that the player is playing the game for the story. In the terms of Call of Duty this means one thing: the single player. Plot wise, the stories of all four instalments covered in this research are practically the same. A soldier is taken out of the â€Å"regular army† to join an elite, top secret team to undergo a save-the-world mission, against an extremist, usually Russian, or Middle-Eastern. That being said, narrative is not one of the core aesthetics of the Call of Duty franchise.However, it is interesting to say that narrative may be one of the reasons for the game developers to create another instalment. Just like movies, the story where the previous game left of, is picked up by the next game. Th e plot in itself is not great, however anyone who played the previous game could be interested in knowing how the story progresses. The narrative in the first three games, Modern Warfare 2, Modern Warfare 3, and Black Ops are player driven. In the game itself, the story will not progress until the player decides to move forward. Also, the game is linear and lacks depth.The player is given the â€Å"illusion of choice† through the tactical action of moment-to-moment decision, however in the end he/she has to kill their enemy to progress. Therefore, the player’s role as the main character is not to â€Å"make decisions† but to â€Å"stay alive†. This in my opinion can get old fast. A person who played Modern Warfare 2 and will play Modern Warfare 3 will know all they need to know, and have seen almost some variation of every part of the campaign. This however, changes in Black Ops 2. The campaign in Black Ops 2 is different from the first three games, and i s significantly better for doing so.Although still not having the â€Å"freedom of total choice† there are still moments in the game, subtle and otherwise, where the player is given the chance to change the plot. To go above ground or below, whether to spare a life or not, these are some of the examples of choice that the player will experience, and will feel a greater depth than ever found in the first three games. Having made an actual choice, a contribution to the plot, the player is excited to play on, anxious to see how his actions impacted the greater scheme of things. When it comes to narrative, the last game is improved significantly.The possibility of choice for the player is no small thing. With choice, came the aspect of â€Å"multiple endings†. In each ending, the player sees how he/she affected the world, and is given an overview of everything that has happened during the campaign. For this aesthetic, Black Ops 2 showed greater depth, and was better for do ing so. The Fourth Aesthetic: Game as Obstacle Course The fourth aesthetic is challenge. From the nature of the genre, First-Person Shooter, to the setting of the game, which are the Cold War and a fictional World War 3, it is obvious that the fourth aesthetic is a core aesthetic of the game.For the analysis of the fourth aesthetic, the researcher will divide the game into two categories: Single player and Multiplayer. This is because that the â€Å"enemy† of both is different, and highly changes the dynamic of play. First, the Single Player, where there is a focus on the one against many. The computer does not use tactically superior moves, but focuses on overwhelming the player with numbers. The â€Å"bad guys† hide in obviously tactical positions: behind the counter, around the corner, against the wall, always facing the player.This creates an obstacle course that the player has to go through, and although is a challenge, can get monotonous and repetitive. In the mu ltiplayer, there is more depth. Since other players online differ from one another, use different weapons and different tactics, this creates a dynamic that the player will require more skill to follow. The multiplayer in Call of Duty did not change much from game to game, if only in mechanics. In this way, it could be said that although challenge is a core aesthetic to the franchise, Call of Duty has already found its niche and no longer needs to change a large aspect of it.However it is still no progress, on the part of the developer. Insight would say that the challenge comes from the other players, and it would be logical to buy the new game if everyone is going to be playing it too. That being said, this is a special aesthetic where the game developer is not the one responsible for challenge, the player is. The Fifth Aesthetic: Game as Social Framework The fifth aesthetic, fellowship, is any game that allows the player to work cooperatively with others (Portnow). In the Call of Duty franchise, this is present in both the single and multiplayer.In the single player, the player is in a sense, part of the team. He/she may even form a connection toward other members, especially when the main character they are playing as holds them in high regard. The pair of Alex Mason and Frank Woods from the Black Ops series is comparable to a Han Solo and Chewbacca, and the player will cherish that bond. It is worth mentioning that the voice acting in Call of Duty is some of the best voice acting in the gaming industry, and this helps the player humanize the fictional characters in-game.In the multiplayer, as a flip side of the aesthetic challenge, bonds are formed in between team mates. Team work is always required for objective-based play, and for people with a good enough gaming set, people in game can talk to each other over the net. The players who experience this aesthetic most are people who enter the game as a group, and have friends with them to share the experie nce in. In this aspect, the game developer does not control much of it, and the players are responsible. For example, why would a person play Modern Warfare 3 when all of his/her friends are playing Black Ops 2?His/her friends are reason enough to but the new game. The Sixth Aesthetic: Game as Uncharted Territory The sixth aesthetic is discovery. Any player who plays the game to see what was previously unknown is a player who plays for discovery (Portnow). Again, this can be divided into the single and multiplayer, as the aspect of discovery is different for both. For the single player, discovery is not a large role to play. There aren’t many things to â€Å"unearth† and most things about the narrative are given to the player as a reward for beating the previous mission. This is true for the first three games, until Black Ops 2.With multiple endings, as well as the option to reset the story to a particular mission, the player was left with some sort of replay value: th e option to discover the alternate endings. This forced the player to do things differently to achieve them, and offered more depth. In the multiplayer, discovery comes through the form of a levelling system. Higher level players can use more things, and has access to more powerful guns and equipment. This made it so that the multiplayer experience was more of a journey than an arena, and kept the players interested longer.In a way, the multiplayer did not change from game to game. However, there is a significant improvement on the part of the single player in Black Ops 2. The Seventh Aesthetic: Game as Self-Discovery The seventh aesthetic is defined as expression, or the ability of the players to express themselves through the game. In Call of Duty, this is limited to the multiplayer. In the single player, the player is thrust into the shoes of a fictional character and therefore does not express himself. Expression in the multiplayer however, comes from the â€Å"Create your own Class† system. In other words, load out.The player gets to choose the primary weapon, secondary, as well as buffs to their character by way of â€Å"perks†. Whether the player is the run-and-gun type, or the silent sniper, these are all forms of expression. In terms of expression as an aesthetic, the game itself does not improve. Expression is something that is player driven, and can only be helped by more options for customization. As this game does not offer more customization from game to game, it could be said that it did not improve. The Eighth Aesthetic: Game as Past-time The eight aesthetic is called submission.This means that the player plays the game as a way to tune-out; much like reading a book or watching TV does (Portnow). It is difficult for the researcher to judge games on this aesthetic, seeing as the developers have no way to control this. People playing Black Ops 2 now, played Modern Warfare 2 before, and played Counter Strike even before that. Older g amers would be able to relate more games to their experience, and the researcher is speaking out of his own experience from playing first person shooters. Interestingly enough, the eighth aesthetic is aided not by the difference in games, but the similarity of them.People who have been playing the FPS as a genre for a long time would be able to enjoy this aesthetic more when the new games holds more similarities to old ones. In this way, developers are aiding their players by keeping the game relatively standard. In this, the game could be said to be the same for all four instalments, and does not improve. Of the eight aesthetics discussed, six are actually controlled by the developer. Of those six, the franchise as a whole has been seen to improve in three. That is half of those supposedly developer-induced aesthetics. Because of this, the game is judged to be not over rated.Small or big, there have been changes to the franchise with respect to the last four instalments with regard to the aesthetics. Whether these changes actually merit the game being â€Å"worthy† of being purchased, is in the opinion of the buyer. But as said before, there are another two aesthetics which are not developer-controlled. Which are the fourth and fifth. The players aid each other in these aesthetics by playing the game itself, and people seeking competition must go where competition lies. However, as said before, these games at most times changed marginally, and whether this deserves a $60 price tag is the player’s choice.As a researcher, the game is sound, and it is apparent that a lot of work went into the creation of these games. As a gamer, the researcher must implore other gamers to demand quality from their games. We as a culture, a society who enjoys this form of media have to be specific with what we want from the game developers. Do some small, arbitrary changes to the system deserve our money? If the next game is really the previous one with better graph ics, we should think about where we put our money and whether these games are worth buying. To conclude, Black Ops 2 picks up the slack of where the first three left off.Individually, these games deserve their standing, since all of them perform excellently in at least 4, maybe 5 aesthetics. As a whole, the franchise has found its niche. People are inherently intelligent, and will only buy when the price is right. It is the responsibility of the developers to improve, however their greatest responsibility will always be to satisfy the needs of the customers. Bibliography Ahearn, Nate. â€Å"Call of Duty: Black Ops Review. † 9 November 2010. IGN. 10 January 2013. Bozon, Mark. â€Å"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Review. † 10 November 2009. IGN. 0 January 2013. Gallegos, Anthony. â€Å"CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS 2 REVIEW. † 13 November 2012. IGN. 10 January 2013. —. â€Å"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Review. † 8 November 2011. IGN. 10 January 2013. Hu nicke, Robin, Marc LeBlanc and Robert Zubek. â€Å"MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research. † 2004. 3 January 2013. . Portnow, James. â€Å"Extra Credits: Aesthetics of Play. † 17 October 2012. Extra Credits. 3 January 2013. Ryckert, Dan. â€Å"Call of Duty: Black Ops II. † 13 November 2012. gameinformer. 10 January 2013. Sicart, Miguel. â€Å"Defining Game Mechanics. † December