Thesis (MA) - Cyprus International University. Institute of Graduate Studies and Research Communication and Media Studies Department

Includes bibliography (sheets 95-99)

ABSTRACT
The history of media has taken its shape as a result of existing media industries ranging from visual medium (photography, television, film etc.) to audio medium (radio, music, telephone etc.). These industries have all been examined by historians to determine the importance to human society. One industry that fuses these components (visual and audio) in a digitalized form is the video game industry. Sadly, the video game industry is jettisoned in the history of media especially because of its digitalized form. However, it is actually the case that the video game industry has contributed immensely to the development of media history as a result of its relationship with other media industries particularly by influencing the creation of contents in these industries; one of which is the film industry. Therefore, the aim of this academic research is to examine the interrelationship between the video game industry and the film industry, how both have positively affected one another in the production of gaming/filming contents as well as help each other to be sustained in the society. As a way of examining the interrelationship between the film and game industries in this thesis, the historical background of the video game industry shall be examined so as to understand the growth of the industry during different epoch and how it developed into becoming a popular culture in the society. Furthermore, the narrative structure of video games in relation to films as explained by game historians (the narratologists and ludologists) shall be discussed. The understanding of this narrative structure shall reveal how video games have been adapted into film production and vice versa and as such, generating huge revenue to both industries, as well as continuously drawing the attention of their consumers. Hence, the Mortal Kombat, Indiana Jones, Resident Evil and James Bond franchises which have all been adapted from video games into films and vice versa shall be critically discussed as case studies to show the dependence of both industries. Thus, the discussion on the research questions raised in this thesis shall be enough to prove that the video game industry has been unfairly marginalized in media history, as their relationship has not been limited to just the film industry but also with other modern media forms. This realization therefore should inspire more scholars to write/speak more about the video game industry positively in the discussions of media history.
Keywords: Film Industry, Interactive Media, Media History, Video Games, Video Game Industry.