Ever wonder why childrens playgrounds all over the world are like wastelands today ?

Its as if playgrounds have been labeled a ground zero warning sign! Whats so enticing at home to a kid ,I wonder ? Is it mommys fresh baked cookies ? Nah ! Is it the rigorous house chores that daddy has bestowed ? Nah ! I know what it is ! Its the gaming consoles connected to a 60 inch LED TV and a 5.1 theater surround sound system ; A kids wet dream. There has been a huge shift on gaming culture ; What was used to be reserved for nerds back in the old days ,is now open to everybody even the cool gang .So if you dont play games ,you will definitely be a social outcast in high school , true story from yours truly , me. Global interactive games industry is large and growing from PlayStations to Xbox to Nitendo Wii to Iphone to Internet to PC ,its no wonder innovations like this are generating 30 billions US dollars in revenue globally in the year 2006. There are two types of games .The standalone package which is connected to the tv or computer monitors and online multiplayer games which requires broadband connections. But with convergence ,gaming consoles now allow us to play games online and even playing them on the phone . Over the course of this essay ,I will argue how games offers consumers much greater choice in terms of both content and how that content is accessed, heralding the arrival of the term interactive media (Dizard,1997) through convergence. Now before I start discussing how games represent an archetypal example of convergence ,let me give you a brief idea on what the heck is convergence all about .Back in the 60s or 70s or 80s ,it was predicted by many experts once mankind reached the pinnacle of the 21st century ,flying cars will make cars on four wheels obsolete, time travelling to the past or future will be possible ,a burger or pizza or lagsana would come in the size of a pill .Lets take a look at the 21st century were living in now ; None of that happeneded at all ,but are we progressing slowly as a society with technology ? No! Being able to follow your friends every move on social media . Checked! Watching a 3D football match on your very own television screen . Checked! Sending out voice messages instead of text messages. Checked! A GPS that simultaneously becomes a music and video player (Iphone is way much better in that department). Checked! Welcome to convergence culture ,where old and new media collide,where grassroots and corporate media intersect ,where the power of the media producer and the power of the media consumer interact in unpredictable ways.(Jenkins,2006) Henry Jenkins defines convergence as a word that manages to describe technological,industrial,cultural and social changes depending on whos speaking and what they are talking about. So in other words , convergence can be interpreted in many different ways as there is no clear meaning bound to it. Gaming strives on convergence ; We started out with huge arcade machines,but take a look now ,you can play pinball or space invaders on your Iphone for free and you get to save yourself 2 bucks and the time needed to drive or cycle or walk to an arcade centre. Convergence is ,in that sense ,an old concept taking on new meanings.(Jenkins ,2006) Gaming has truly evolved throughout the years , when arcade games like PacMan, Space Invaders ,Mortal Kombat Mario Bros and etc-etc were around ,not much story telling was done as the storyline was visually unfolded on screen without the help of texts or diegetic sounds. For example every level you achieved on Marios Bros gets you closer to saving a princess who has been kidnapped by an evil dragon. The plot was that simple , kill the dragon and you

save the princess. Every action you dictate leads up to the same ending . There wasnt any butterfly effect and just like a film ,there are no multiple paths for a character to take ,just one. But fast forward to the games we play today