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The Jennifer Ann Crecente Memorial Group, Inc., commonly known as "Jennifer Ann's Group", is a Code Section 501(c)(3) public charity based in Atlanta, Georgia, whose aims are to educate young people about the prevalence of teen dating violence, how to identify these relationships, and how to extricate themselves safely from such relationships.
The Jennifer Ann Crecente Memorial Group, Inc. received its corporate charter in the U.S. state of Georgia on June 23, 2006, [1] and its 501(c)(3) status from the IRS on September 26, 2006. [2] The stated goals of the organization are "[t]o keep Jennifer Crecente's memory alive through good works and by fighting Teen Dating Violence." [3] The organization's trade name is Jennifer Ann's Group and is named in memory of Jennifer Ann Crecente. The group was founded by Crecente's father after the murder of the 18-year-old high school honors student by her ex-boyfriend.
The charity focuses on preventing teen dating violence through awareness, education, and advocacy. Although the group has several programs, the program for which it is best known is Gaming Against Violence, a program which produces and publishes video games designed to prevent teen dating violence.
Since 2008 the organization has sponsored an annual game design competition, the Life.Love. Game Design Challenge, asking game developers "Can you create a video game about teen dating violence ... without using violence in the game itself?" [4] [5]
The winning video games are published and promoted to encourage students, parents, and teachers to learn about how to recognize and avoid abusive dating relationships. The winning video games represent a wide range of countries, with winning games coming from Argentina, Belgium, Canada, England, India, Ireland, Mexico, Sweden, Thailand, and the U.S. [6]
Jennifer Ann's Group's efforts to use video games to prevent teen dating violence has been presented to many groups including Games for Health conferences in Boston and Amsterdam, mHealth conferences, Game Developers Conference (GDC), SIEGE, and to the CDC.
The Games for Health Journal printed a Program Profile about the program: "Gaming Against Violence: A Grassroots Approach to Teen Dating Violence" in 2014. [6]
Recognized as a Top 10 Trailblazer by Break the Cycle for "innovative use of video games" to stop teen dating violence. [7] Its video game 'Rispek Danis' was recognized as a Finalist for Most Significant Impact by the 2019 Games for Change Awards. [8] Two video games produced by Jennifer Ann's Group and published in 2021, 'Culture Overlord' and 'Sea of Roses', were each finalists for the 2021 James Paul Gee Learning Games Award. [9]
Rispek Danis (the Respect Dance), a "culturally appropriate and enjoyable game about consent created for youth in Vanuatu" is a finalist for 'Most Significant Impact' at the 2019 Games for Change Awards. [10] The game is in Bislama and the game's dialogue, settings, characters, and music reflect ni-Vanuatu life. Rispek Danis is available to play online [11] or for Android devices from Google Play. [12] An English-language version is only available to play online. [13] Rispek Danis was developed through a collaboration between World Vision Vanuatu and Jennifer Ann's Group to "teach young people about the meaning and importance of consent" as part of the "It Takes a World Campaign" from World Vision International. [13]
ADRIFT, a serious game about consent developed by Quinn Crossley and Andrew Connell for Jennifer Ann's Group is part of the 2019 "Hedonism" exhibition at MOD. at the University of South Australia which features a life-size video game called F.A.B.L.E. (the Federated Association of Believers, Leaders, and Explorers) that is based on ADRIFT. [14] [15]
More of the winning video games from the organization's annual design competition are published online and/or for download to smartphones and tablets. A selection of the video games include: Grace's Diary, a game about dating violence and bystander awareness from 2010 developed by GPTouch; [16] Love in the Dumpster, a game about teen dating violence and its impact on all genders from 2013 developed by AnotherKind; [17] The Guardian, a game about abusive relationships and its impact on different age groups and genders from 2014 developed by 99UNO; [18] Another Chance, a "cute, sprite-based game" with "interesting mechanics and, yes, got a bit preachy" that "for a brief, razor-sharp moment I was confronted with a real issue in the world today: Teen Dating Violence" from 2015 developed by AnotherKind; [19] HONEYMOON, a game about healthy relationships from 2016 developed by SNDR; [20] Stuck in a Dark Place, a serious game about consent that "addresses many consent scenarios including sexual assault and rape" from 2017 developed by AnotherKind; [21] Citizen Witch, a game about bystander intervention from 2018 developed by Lucas Vially; [22] and Step Up, a game about bystander intervention from 2018 developed by Jc Games. [22]
The games are available through various app stores including App Store (iOS), [23] Google Play, [24] Amazon App Store, [25] Blackberry World, [26] and Amazon Alexa skills marketplace. [27] The organization's game portal JAGga.me [28] features a rotating selection of the video games as does its page on itch.io. [22] All games for online play and for download are free.
The Gaming Against Violence program and Jennifer Ann's Group's use of video games has been covered by a range of gaming and mainstream media outlets including Wired, [16] Huffington Post , [17] Kotaku , [29] Fast Co.Exist, [30] Polygon, [31] Gamasutra , [32] GamePolitics.com, [33] and NPR. [34]
Dating sims, or romance simulation games, are video game subgenre of simulation games with romantic elements.
The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) is the trade association of the video game industry in the United States. It was formed in April 1994 as the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA) and renamed on July 21, 2003. It is based in Washington, D.C. Most of the top publishers in the gaming world are members of the ESA, including Capcom, Electronic Arts, Konami, Microsoft, Bandai Namco Entertainment, Nintendo, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Square Enix, Take-Two Interactive, Ubisoft, and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) characters have been depicted in video games since the 1980s. In the history of video games, LGBT characters have been almost nonexistent for a long time, reflecting the overall heteronormativity of the medium. While there has been a trend towards greater representation of LGBT people in video games, they are frequently identified as LGBT in secondary material, such as comics, rather than in the games themselves. In 2018, Gamesradar’s Sam Greer pored through thousands of gaming titles and found 179 games with any LGBT representation: Of those 179 games, only 83 have queer characters who are playable characters. And of those, only eight feature a main character who is pre-written as queer as opposed to them being queer as an option.
Kotaku is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier.
Splatterhouse is a beat 'em up arcade game developed and published by Namco. It was the first in a series of games released in home console and personal computer formats. This game would later spawn the parody Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti, the sequels Splatterhouse 2, Splatterhouse 3, and the 2010 remake Splatterhouse, with the classic games being added to Namco Museum since 2017.
Dating abuse or dating violence is the perpetration or threat of an act of violence by at least one member of an unmarried couple on the other member in the context of dating or courtship. It also arises when one partner tries to maintain power and control over the other through abuse or violence, for example when a relationship has broken down. This abuse or violence can take a number of forms, such as sexual assault, sexual harassment, threats, physical violence, verbal, mental, or emotional abuse, social sabotage, and stalking. In extreme cases it may manifest in date rape. It can include psychological abuse, emotional blackmail, sexual abuse, physical abuse and psychological manipulation. Though most frequently the perpetrator of abuse is a male partner against a female partner, abuse by a female partner against a male also takes place.
Danny A. Ledonne is an American film director and former video game developer. From 2011 to 2014, he worked as a professor in Film and Media Arts at American University, served on the board of the Southern Colorado Film Commission, and became the director for the 2015 edition of the festival. He is known for the documentary Playing Columbine, about the controversy surrounding his 2005 video game Super Columbine Massacre RPG!.
Dating is a term coined in America to signify the stage of romantic relationships in which two individuals engage in an activity together, most often with the intention of evaluating each other's suitability as a partner in a future intimate relationship. It falls into the category of courtship, consisting of social events carried out by the couple either alone or with others.
Jennifer Ann Crecente, a victim of teen dating violence, was an 18-year-old high school student who was shot and killed in southwest Austin, Texas, by Justin Crabbe, boyfriend, on February 15, 2006. Crecente's murder was the first in Austin in 2006. In response to her murder, two charitable organizations have been formed, a memorial grant created in her name, and legislation passed in Texas to prevent teen dating violence.
Video game controversies refers to a wide range of debates on the social effects of video games on players and broader society, as well as debates within the video game industry. Since the early 2000s, advocates of video games have emphasized their use as an expressive medium, arguing for their protection under the laws governing freedom of speech and also as an educational tool. Detractors argue that video games are harmful and therefore should be subject to legislative oversight and restrictions. The positive and negative characteristics and effects of video games are the subject of scientific study. Academic research has examined the links between video games and addiction, aggression, violence, social development, and a variety of stereotyping and sexual morality issues.
Capcom Game Studio Vancouver, Inc., more commonly known as Capcom Vancouver, was a Canadian video game developer owned by Capcom with minority stake partnership by Microsoft Studios. As Blue Castle Games, the company was the creator of several successful baseball sports video games, including The Bigs, MLB Front Office Manager and The Bigs 2. They have also developed the Dead Rising series. Blue Castle Games was acquired by Capcom after the release of Dead Rising 2, and renamed Capcom Vancouver, where they continued to work on the Dead Rising series. Capcom announced the closure of the studio in September 2018, cancelling Dead Rising 5 and moving other development to their Japan-based studios.
Luke Michael Smith is an American writer. He is a staff member at the video game development company Bungie, and is a former video games journalist. Smith wrote for a college newspaper and weekly papers in Michigan before being hired as one of the first new freelance writers for Kotaku. At Kotaku, Smith developed his writing style but soon left the site for a staff position as 1Up.com's news editor. Smith made a name for himself at 1Up, particularly through an article he wrote focusing on problems with the game Halo 2.
Brian Crecente is an American journalist and columnist. He founded Kotaku, co-founded Polygon, previously served as video games editor at Variety, and was in charge of game coverage at Rolling Stone.
Psyop is a production studio with offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Berlin and Stuttgart.
The portrayal of men and women in video games, as in other media, is a subject of research in gender studies and is discussed in the context of sexism in video gaming.
Achievement Hunter is an American video gaming division of Rooster Teeth Productions. Founded by Geoff Ramsey and Jack Pattillo on July 6, 2008, the website is largely based on the achievement mechanic in video games. Since its founding, Achievement Hunter has grown to become a core component of Rooster Teeth, hosting a wide variety of videos related to video games. Alongside recurring guests and part-time members, Achievement Hunter videos are currently hosted by several full-time employees: Jack Pattillo, Gavin Free, Michael Jones, Lindsay Jones, Trevor Collins, Alfredo Diaz, Ky Cooke, BlackKrystel, and Joe Lee.
Video game journalism is a branch of journalism concerned with the reporting and discussion of video games, typically based on a core "reveal–preview–review" cycle. With the prevalence and rise of independent media online, online publications and blogs have grown.
The Game Awards is an annual awards ceremony honoring achievements in the video game industry. Established in 2014, the shows are produced and hosted by game journalist Geoff Keighley, who worked on its predecessor, the Spike Video Game Awards, for over ten years. In addition to the awards, The Game Awards features premieres of upcoming games and new information on previously-announced titles.
The study of religion and video games is a subfield of digital religion, which the American scholar of communication, Heidi Campbell, defines as "Religion that is constituted in new ways through digital media and cultures.". Video games once struggled for legitimacy as a cultural product, today, however, they are both business and art. Video games increasingly turn to religion not just as ornament but as core elements of their video game design and play. Games involve moral decision, rely on invented religions, and allow users to create and experience virtual religious spaces. As one of the newest forms of entertainment, however, there is often controversy and moral panic when video games engage religion, for instance, in Insomniac Games' use of the Manchester Cathedral in Resistance: Fall of Man. Concepts and elements of contemporary and ancient religions appear in video games in various ways: places of worship are a part of the gameplay of real-time strategy games like Age of Empires; narratively, games sometimes borrow themes from religious traditions like in Mass Effect 2.
The live streaming of video games is an activity where people broadcast themselves playing games to a live audience online. The practice became popular in the mid-2010s on the US-based site Twitch, before growing to YouTube, Facebook, China-based sites Huya Live, DouYu, and Bilibili, and other services. By 2014, Twitch streams had more traffic than HBO's online streaming service, HBO Go. Professional streamers often combine high-level play and entertaining commentary, and earn income from sponsors, subscriptions, ad revenue, and donations.
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