A Study On The Development Of Sports Video Games In "Electronic Arts" From The Perspective Of Media Change

Sports video games have existed for more than half a century,and with the booming development of technology,sports video games have become an important medium for the dissemination of sports culture,occupying a pivotal position in the spiritual and cultural life of a certain group of people.However,the pace of academic research has not yet kept up with the development of the industry,and domestic media-centered sports culture research rarely takes video games as a research perspective.Although academic research exploring sports culture communication through sports newspapers,TV reports of sports events,sports documentary entertainment programs,sports movies and other media has been quite developed,the research related to sports culture communication has not fully grasped the emerging media of video games,and in comparison,the academic research on sports video games is still in an unbalanced and insufficient state.Therefore,the author focuses on the sports video games of Electronic Arts(hereinafter referred to as EA),which has a 40-year history of development,and pays attention to its development and changes under the perspective of media changes,aiming to clarify "what kind of representative sports game works emerged in the industry under what background? How did sports video games gradually move from"sports play simulation" to "physical sensory simulation",and what are the trajectories and dynamics of the changes? What are the trajectories and dynamics of the change?This dissertation compares the development of EA’s sports video games since the1980 s by means of literature,case study and data statistics,and divides the development of EA’s sports video games into the initial stage(1984-1993),the comprehensive expansion stage(1994-2000),and the golden development stage(2000).2000)phase,golden development phase(2001-2010),and stable development phase(2011-present).The starting stage(1984-1993): With the end of the golden age of arcade games and the emergence of home consoles and computer-based gaming mediums,EA emerged as a new developer and launched the representative sports video game John Madden Football.This period was driven by the creation of "sports mechanics mimicry" content.Comprehensive expansion stage(1994-2000): With fixed hardware configuration,better compatibility,multimedia graphics and 3D functions,game consoles became the main medium of the game industry.Soccer,NHL Hockey,etc.This period was the stage of occupying the game media market and being channel-driven.Golden development stage(2001-2010): With the popularity of Internet,EA further implemented the all-platform strategy and explored the online game and digital entertainment market by acquiring social game and mobile game media platforms for layout.This period is the stage of following the trend of socialization and mobileization.Stable development stage(2011 to present): Various media platforms such as console,PC and cell phone not only bring comprehensive and significant development for EA sports video games,but also the emergence of VR,AI and physical interaction technologies make sports video games gradually move from the realism of gameplay mechanism to the realism of sensory experience.In addition,sports video games gradually move towards the development path of tournament-oriented league-oriented professionalism.This period is the stage of diversification,scenario and integration.By summarizing EA sports video games in different media stages through time and combining with the common background of sports culture,business economy and electronic technology,we sort out the trajectory and logic behind the development of sports video games from the perspective of media change and draw the following conclusions.First,the media change of sports games resonates with the social change.The development of technology provides the basis for the media change;the economic development prepares the material and technical basis for the emergence and development of sports video games,and also prepares the consumption market for them;the development of sports culture maintains a synchronous evolutionary relationship with the development of sports games.Secondly,the evolutionary dynamics of sports games depends on the planning and layout of the actors.Due to the interest demands and the operation of commercial enterprises,sports games production subjects play and lay out among themselves,and they plan and lay out from developers,contents,channels and so on,which promote the evolution and development of their game products.Thirdly,sports games follow the trajectory of "toy-mirror-art" proposed by Paul Levinson,and this evolution reflects the trend of humanization.Finally,we discuss the problems faced by sports video games,such as homogenization under IP licensing of sports events,"unconventional" under cultural differences,and player loss due to difficult operation threshold,and put forward targeted suggestions.In terms of doctrine,it provides a certain historical research basis for the systematic study of sports video games from the perspective of media change,with a view to filling the gap in the study of media evolution of sports video games;in terms of practice,it has a certain practical reference value for the current domestic sports video game industry promotion,industry development,product development and how to better realize sports culture communication.