Thesis: Proposal Part 2+3
Changes made to my proposal:
I played around with my topic and used mind maps, lists, and a lot of writing to finally figure out what direction I will be going in and what my project will be about.. After struggling to compare U.S. retro gaming with Japanese U.S. gaming, I've decided to narrow it down to only the retro gamers in the U.S. Below are images of my mind maps as well as some of the long pages of writing that came afterwards.
I apologize for the sloppy handwriting in some parts of these notes shown below. They were quickly written down quickly due to time constraints and I hope you all are able to somewhat read them. I wanted to include these to allow everyone to understand my process and how I think.
As seen above I wrote a couple proposal ideas throughout my notes but they just weren't narrowed down enough. After doing some initial research (refer to Thesis: Initial Research + Plan) I clarified what direction I would be going in which would be a sociology related, informative, and preservative direction.
The Narrowed Down Thesis Proposal:
(Is subject to be further clarified within the next week)
Thesis: Life of A Retro Gamer
Goal:
To reveal the truth of what it means to be a retro gamer in the contemporary United States and to preserve the culture’s current state of social interaction. It will provide the explanation of who these retro gamers are, what influences them, how they socialize, and the history of gaming which has a major role in the culture today. It will help people who are unfamiliar with the hidden details of this culture/community discover a better understanding of today's gaming subculture in the United States.
Statement:
Retro Gaming is considered to be any arcade game, console, or computer game that is 20+ years old and is either obsolete or discontinued. To clarify, most people think of the gaming consoles from the 1970s through 1990s such as Pong, Atari, and Nintendo 64 or even classic arcade games such as Pacman and Galaga. Retro Gaming is basically the preservation of a nostalgic era that only the people who lived in the 1970s through 1990s have a pure memory of. I feel it is important to preserve their current state because this subculture of gaming in the United States has become very popular once again these past few years and there has recently been a spike of interests by younger gamers. Retro gaming may not be the same 20 years from now due to the newer generation growing up with next gen consoles and games. The younger generations, such as myself, don't and will never have the same nostalgic experience as the people who grew up during this era. So how can one capture the essence of what it means to be a retro gamer for these younger generations? What part of this culture reflects these important details that could be used to explain the nostalgia of retro games? What is it about these details that should be passed on to the younger gamers who are interested in this culture?
It would be great if the retro gaming culture of the United States had something that captured the lives of its current gamers visually to share with newer generations. Through detailed research and analysis, I hope to reveal their current behaviors, language, and social interactions through social platforms to provide a documentation of what it means to be a retro gamer in the contemporary United States. Social interaction and the sharing of a common interest is how this nostalgia is being preserved. I want to learn more about the culture itself and what their main influences are as well as provide an opportunity for others to discover these details as well.
I hope through a visual representation of this I can provide younger and future generations a design that not only captures the essence of nostalgia and personality of retro gaming, but the information they will want to know about what it means to be a retro gamer.
Possible Areas of Design:
Data Visualization
Print Design
Interface Design
Area of Focus:
The sociology of retro gaming: The current state of the retro gamer culture in the United States. Who they are and how they preserve the essence of nostalgia. How this can inform and influence newer generations to continue the preservation of a nostalgic era.
Questions To Be Answered:
What does nostalgia mean and how do we feel it? What does it mean to be a retro gamer in the contemporary gaming era? Who are the retro gamers in the U.S.? Who are the newer generations or contemporary gamers in the U.S.? How can I relate this subculture to the larger contemporary gaming culture? What is the history of retro gaming? What kind of language do both cultures use (terms in conversations and in video games)? What are their interests? What kind of message will I be giving through design to expand the life of retro gaming? How will I visually explain this and capture attention?