Hamlet Appearance vs Reality Essay Example for Free

Hamlet Appearance vs Reality Essay Appearance vs. reality in Shakespeare’s, Hamlet, is a jaded yet common theme. This play is teeming with characters that play their roles behind a veil of duplicity. They often appear to be one way when they really are something entirely different. Things within the play appear to be true and honest but in reality are polluted with evil. Many of the characters within the play hide behind a mask of dishonesty. Four of the main characters that hid behind this mask are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Polonius, and King Claudius. From behind this mask they give the impression of a person who is sincere and true, in reality they are overwhelmed with lies and evil. One of the most obvious examples of appearance vs. reality in Hamlet is the character of Claudius. Claudius longed to be king, rule the land and crown his queen. He gave no regard to the feelings of the family. He was jealous and ruthless in pursuing his dream†¦ruthless to the point of murder. He pretends to be concerned and upset with the actions of Hamlet and his well being, when in reality he is frightened that Hamlet is aware of his deadly secret. It was as if he cast a spell on the whole kingdom for his own self-fulfilling interest. Our â€Å"innocent† Claudius even summons spies to investigate the origin of Hamlet’s madness†¦not for the good of Hamlet but for himself. He is indeed a jaded character, whose kind aura masks the face of a selfish murderer as he says â€Å"whose whisper o’er the world’s diameter, as levels as the cannon to his blank transports his poisoned shot, may miss our name and hit the woundless air. Oh come away! My soul is full of discord and dismay! †- Claudius, act 4 scene 1, lines 42-46. This quote demonstrates how Claudius seems to be worried about Hamlet and his actions when he is really fearful of him discovering the truth. In addition, the king’s royal associate, Polonius, appears to be a loyal and trustworthy servant to the kingdom throughout the play, willing to take on tasks and burdens requested by their majesties. However, in reality Polonius is an evil, greedy selfish man, who serves not his kingdom but himself. One example of this is how Polonius appears to be happy, concerned and supportive of his son, Laerte’s, journey to France. He seems to be supportive of his son until he sends Reynaldo as an emissary, in order to detect what sort of mischief he stumbles upon in France. In addition, Polonius, again, displays his devious characteristics when he spies on Hamlet and Ophelia in an attempt to analyze Hamlet’s madness. He soon orders Ophelia to stop seeing Hamlet, as he brainwashes her with lies about Hamlets motives, when in reality Hamlet is truly in love with Ophelia. Once again, Polonius proves his scheming behavior when he listens in on Hamlet and Gertrude’s conversation while in the bedchamber. Hamlet finally teaches him his lesson when he unexpectedly murders the â€Å"rat. † In reality Polonius is anything but a loving father watching out for his children, he uses everyone to his advantage and for his own purposes; this proves as evidence for his sneaky demeanor. Even two of Hamlet’s childhood friends are victims of the appearance vs. reality theme. They were sent and bribed by the king and queen to try and determine the cause of Hamlet’s insanity. They approach Hamlet as long-lost pals when they are really anything but. They were there not as friends but hired help for Hamlet’s condition. In act 2 scene 2 line 299, Guildenstern quotes â€Å"What should we say my lord? † Completely denying the fact that they were sent for by the king and queen. Hamlet quickly reveals the truth and says, Were you not sent for/ And there is a kind of confession in your looks, which your modesties have not craft in color. (Shakespeare 2:2:278) From these words he is demanding an answer from his schoolmates as to their unexplained arrival. At the end he tells them nothing. As the play continues his friends are asked again by the king to go to Hamlet and try again to find the real reason for Hamlet’s behavior. Hamlet insults them at every chance knowing that they are lying to him about their purpose of the visit, ’Tis as easy as lying: govern these ventages with you finger and thumb, give it breath with your mouth (Shakespeare 3:2:348) The twins show their appearance of being Hamlets friends but in truth they have a hidden reason for visiting with Hamlet. Both show that it will be very difficult for Hamlet to uncover the reliability hidden within the lies. Throughout the play, characters help to show the theme, which is appearance verses reality. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Polonius, and the king all appear to be good and honest. As Hamlet finds out, all contain lies and have hidden intentions within them. As each character is presented in the play all appear to be good and honest making it a hard for Hamlet to uncover the hidden truth about the nature of each character. Throughout the play everyone puts up a front so to speak, for different reasons. Hamlet believed that the world was corrupt and deceiving, this led him to become violently ambitious. Claudius was manipulative and cunning, and used his greed to achieve what he desired. Deception is a major theme of the play. Obviously throughout the play there are many discrepancies between appearance vs. reality. It seems everyone is jaded and full of deception or ulterior motives. With such controversial people in the kingdom, it is quite appropriate to state that there truly is something rotten in the state of Denmark.

American Television In The 1950s And 1960s

American Television In The 1950s And 1960s The televisual representation of black people had been a highly contested phenomenon since the television broadcast of Amos n Andy in June 1951. It is believed that Amos n Andy defined for the first time the side that television was to take in the postwar to represent Black people in America. In Amos n Andy, Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll created and fixed an image of blackness, black people believed, which made racist Americans fight against them more and more. The program lasted just two years and was cancelled in the midst of growing protest by the black community in 1953. Because The Jeffersons not only was the first TV programs which featured African-Americans in leading roles since the cancellation of the infamous Amos n Andy show in 1953, but also the first television program to feature black couples. Because it was the first time television showed a rich, successful African American family, many people believed that the appearance of The Jeffersons was the first positive image of a new role model of Black African American families on television. However, John D.H.  [1]  pointed out that this television show may have been just a typical of American television fare because media image of American of African descent have ranged from the blatantly to the latently racist. Father knows best was, the first white family television sitcom and popular around 1950s-1960s. Therefore, I would like to use both The Jefferson and father knows best as examples to examine how race was constructed by American televisual representation. Just a few years after the Second World War, how to attain and live the American dream became one of the most prominent themes of the 1950s .Therefore, for helping Americans rebuild their dream, television program in 1950s was made as a creation of American dream rather than a reflection of society.  [2]  The television producers believed when people conformed to the ideal of beneficial families bring those family audiences stand up to the same level and made people more enjoy the sitcom and their life.  [3]  According to Census, in 1950, families with both the head and his wife present, were apparently the norm, accounting for 87.1%. A non-couple household was counted for 3.6%. The figure of independent female household just was 9.3%. it mean, during that period, most Americans demanded to see a family television shows which defined a household in patriarchal and nuclear terms, with the centre assumed to be a male breadwinner heading a household of his dependent wife and chi ldren. Therefore by adopting that idea, in Father knows bests world Andersons family has an upper-class, white-collar fathers, a stay-at-home wives, and two or three children whom lived in suburban. The television show offered viewers a comforting unified vision of the American family. In most episodes of Father knows best the stories were all about how the father helped the family find out one or two beneficial social formations from their everyday life. Moreover, by showing a special episode the importance of a strong American democracy in school, churched, civic organization , United State Treasury Department promoted U.S. Saving Bones. Given the sitcom show title father who knows best, the television producers hoped that the way of lived in father who knows best would made the majority of Americans understood what real meaning of beneficial family was. Some contemporary historians argued, although the show suggested that the white-middle upper class nuclear family may be the most naturally beneficial for all,  [4]  many women in particular still experienced the detrimental aspects of and expressed a high level of frustration with this isolated, suburban nuclear unit.  [5]  Moreover, some other historians and sociologists made commented on how unfulfilling suburban life could be and how impossible its contradictory, gendered demands could seem. Early social scientist, Franklin Frazier  [6]  , unwittingly used the idea of beneficial family to argue a social perspective of Black families on legacy of slavery and he believed slavery culture had left many Black families weak and female-dominated. Later, his ideas had been highly developing by Senator Moynihan at the height of the civil rights movement, which became the most politically-charged Black family issue of the century. By the end of the 1960s some revisionist scholars  [7]  challenged the point of view from early social scientist on African American families. The revisionist believed this perspective was narrow and they reclaimed the cultural heritage of African Americans, and rejected that notion that viable families had to conform to the male/breadwinner-female/homemaker structure. They described the adaptive nature and functionality of Black families  [8]  and documented their strengths and survival strategies  [9]  . At the same time, revisionist historians analyzed archival data from large plantations and argued that enslaved Black families often enjoyed relatively vibrant and stable family lives, that men participated in and contributed to those families, and that Black people embraced the two-parent, patriarchal family ideal as much as they could  [10]  . People could found some reflections of revisionist scholars opinions in The Jeffersons . Because the show was the first television program which feature black couples and created by independent producers, Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin during the 1970s to early 1980s, it may helped people understand the real culture of African Americans. The Jeffersons did superficially seem very different from Father knows best in many ways. Meanwhile both Father knows best and The Jeffersons adapted the same idea of nuclear family and both set the story in upper-middle class families. Neither family was wealthy; neither family was threatened by poverty or the continuing financial problem. The two programs seemed to go beyond male solidarity to centrality and superiority. This could be seen in their titles, the title father knows best speaks for Paternity. The Jeffersons did not make the statement very clearly through the title, but giving the family name of the breadwinner. Different from Father knows best, the story lines of the Jeffersons more focused on the lives of George and his wife Louise Jefferson rather than their children. In The Jeffersons , George was a successful businessman, millionaire; however his wife -Louise just was a former maid who was attempting to adjust her life from poor to rich. When they moved to a ritzy penthouse apartment on Manhattans fashionable and moneyed East Side with their son, Lionel, they try to fill their house with expensive furnishings. For quickly adapt the rich life, they even hired their own black housekeeper, a wise-cracking maid named Florence. Compared to Jim Andersons kindness and politeness, George Jefferson was rude and selfish. He frequently called white people as honkies. and attempt to rebel against the rich upper-middle class which he was in. An article in Ebony magazine in 1979 referred to him as bombastic, frenetic, boastful, ill-mannered, prejudiced, and scheming. Even his wife, Louise, saw George as Wheezy and spent most of her time apologizing for him. Moreover, the funniest moments came with the repartee between George and his maid Florence. She always called him Shorty and humiliated George but did not miss a chance to put him in his place. This attitude was very hard to see in Father knows best. I may argue that this could be seen as fragment of idea of the patriarchal family in African American culture, because women still in dominate position in family as old time. From the title, people should see George not only was a millionaire businessman- breadwinner of the family, but also the centre attention of the family. However in the show he often positioned himself as the buffoon of everyones joke. No one, not even his maid took his words seriously. As the Ebony article described,  [11]  He was often the victim of his own acts: a put-down that backfires, a contrivance that goes astray, an ego-filled balloon suddenly deflated. Patricia Mellencamp  [12]  believed that the ideal of beneficial families in tradition sitcoms portrayed the comic containment of women in traditional domestic roles-the angel in the house. Margaret Anderson in Father knows best was in such role; she was always on duty, preparing meals, cleaning the house, attending to the childrens need. However, someday, the angel in the house in Father knows best could rebel against her role and take a day off. But the situation of The Jeffersons was different; Louise Jefferson was a housewife with maid. Although she did not need to do any housework, she demands to work as slavery. When I first time watched The Jeffersons, I was not sure why Georges behaviour in such rude manner and why Louise demand work as slavery. But the second time, I had a different opinion that this may be the slavery culture of African American. Morgan  [13]  argued that in order to understand such African American culture, one must procure more than a superficial understanding of American enslavement of Africans, as slavery was the birthplace of African American culture. Conrad  [14]  made the argument in The Invention of the Negro; he believed that in many respects, White Americans created what became known as African American culture. Researchers insist that those interested in understanding and addressing the challenges faced by African American communities today. It must investigate the origin of those African American communities. This investigation would necessarily begin in the era of American institutional slavery. Ogbu  [15]  made the argument more Profound. She suggests that African American culture is similar to that of other American minority subcultures; Jones  [16]  argued every subculture was different. African American culture was not similar to any other American subcultures. Jones emphasized that African American culture was the only minority culture in the United States that was founded and created in slavery. Sue  [17]  insisted that, Slavery was one of the most important factors that shaped the social, psychological, economic, educational, and political development of Black people. Van Deburg  [18]  maintained that the root cause of the present sociocultural differences in American society. However I believed the Slavery culture could be change by education. In later black family sitcom cowboy show, it was very hard to find any phenomenon of Slavery culture. The CBS took a conservative view in the black civil right movement to represent the black in 1970. As watching Amos n Andy twenty years ago, Americas black community remained divided in their assessment of this television program-even It brought a slight change in society . Many critics complain that The Jeffersons was too idealized and too exaggerated and failed to fully represent African American life. The television programs slightly changed the view of African American over the decades, but the way shot and fix images of African Americans had not progressed very far at all. Nevertheless the show was highly popular both in Black America audiences and white America audiences. It could be seem as not only the CBS want to representation of African Americans in general white American way; but also black community appeal to adapt the traditional white families value and crossed lines of class and gender. Word account: 1900

Intelligent Satire in Voltaires Candide Essay -- Candide essays

Intelligent Satire in Candide      Ã‚   In the story Candide, Voltaire uses the experiences of the character Candide and dialogue between characters to dispute the theory by other philosophers that "Everything is for the best in this best of all possible worlds" (Voltaire). Voltaire believed that the society that he lived in had many flaws, flaws which are illustrated throughout the story. Voltaire uses satire to take aim at the military, religion, and societies' emphasis of physical beauty, to illustrate that we do not live in the best of all possible worlds.    One institution that Voltaire takes aim at in Candide is the institution of the military. Voltaire attacks of the military using dialogue between Candide and Martin as they speak during their passage along the shores of England. On their journey they witness the execution of an admiral in the English army. Martin explains to Candide that this admiral was executed for not killing enough people in a battle with a rival French admiral. With this statement, Voltaire illustrates that the military has lost its sense of duty, becoming a machine of brutality instead of an institution to protect the lives of citizens. The manner in which the execution is carried out further illustrates the flaws within this particular society. Instead of secretly executing the admiral, the military made the admiral's execution a ceremony for the public. With this chapter of Candide, Voltaire creates a satirical and brutal view of the not only the military, but also of the citizens of England who come to watch . In most societies, citizens are appalled by such behavior, but in this instance the citizens are accepting of these actions and even condone the murder. All of these points are illu... ...splay what he considers to be the best of all possible worlds. In the story of Candide's travel to the land of Eldorado, Voltaire creates his view of a perfect society, one in which people are kind to one another, money and jewels have no real value to be exploited, and where government is honest. This section of Candide is different from all others, essentially the only positive section of Candide's travels. After analyzing the work, it seems as if the story was not written as a fictional work, but rather a commentary on the state of society throughout Europe.    Works Cited and Consulted: Frautschi, R.L. Barron's Simplified Approach to Voltaire: Candide. New York: Barron's Educational Series, Inc., 1968. Lowers, James K, ed. "Cliff Notes on Voltaire's Candide". Lincoln: Cliff Notes, Inc. 1995. Voltaire. Candide. New York: Viking Publishers, 1998.

Are There Philosophical Reasons To Promote Gifted Education In The Context Of A Democratic And Egal :: Philosophy Essays

Are There Philosophical Reasons To Promote Gifted Education In The Context Of A Democratic And Egalitarian Society? ABSTRACT: Despite the historical recognition of the importance of the development of individual human potentialities for the group, gifted individuals have not been treated equally. Three reasons are analyzed: (a) the primacy given to institutions over the individual, except those particular cases in which the individual is identified with the institution itself, or invested with the power of one institution; (b) the lack of recognition of the particular needs of gifted individuals; and (c) the assumption of egalitarian ideals inside specific societies. Despite arguments to the contrary, gifted education will be defended. Gifted individuals have special needs. I assume that Hope and Good Will provide enough justification for this public human task. Traditionally defined, education is the social enterprise that preserves the cultural gains of human groups, and transmits them to future generations. As a social tool, education is used to reach collective and individual objectives; it is a common tool that helps to satisfy the needs of both the society as a whole, and each individual in particular. It is also broadly acknowledged that educational endeavors are human efforts to trim, polish, and "improve" our human nature. From a historical perspective, we notice that human societies have provided unequal educational attention to their constituencies. Individuals coming from different socio-economical strata have had access to correspondingly different levels of attention. Usually, those individuals pertaining to a higher strata in the power structure have received the benefits of a major social investment, mainly for the sake of status, regardless of their real capabilities. At this point we need to make explicit the implicit assumption that individual capabilities --wit, talents, genius, temper, neuromusculoskeletal structure, and diverse chemical byproducts-are the historical result of randomly combined factors, including date and place of birth. There is another assumption that should be considered for a mixture of pragmatic and ideological reasons without ignoring that some of its implications convey some internal logical contradictions and, potentially, undesirable effects. Nevertheless, if we assume --for the sake of the argument-- that all human beings are equal, and all have the right to develop their potential to its maximum, then we have to say that fair and systematic attention is not found in the treatment given to the whole class of individuals genetically endowed with special needs --including the gifted ones. Some of them have been neglected in the frame of our highly socio-economical and politically stratified societies.

Politics and Stem Cell Research Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Argu

Politics and Stem Cell Research The President’s Council on Bioethics published â€Å"Monitoring Stem Cell Research† in 2004. This report was written in response to President Bush’s comments regarding research of human stem cells on August 9, 2001. President Bush announced that he was going to make federal funding available for research that involved existing lines of stem cells that came from embryos. He is the first president to provide any type of financial support for the research of human stem cells. A Council was created with people who are educated in the field of stem cells to help monitor the research and to recommend guidelines and consider the ethical consequences that this research could create. This report is an â€Å"update† given by the President’s Council in January of 2004 to make the public aware of the significant developments in the science and medical aspects of stem cell research. It also describes the ethical, legal and political implications that stem cell research may create. However, since the research is still in its beginning stages, this â€Å"update† does not describe a complete or definitive study of stem cells nor does it provide specific guidelines or regulations. This is a report that is suppose to help the President, Congress and general public make better-informed decisions as to the direction that we should go with stem cells. This report does a fairly comprehensive job on educating the public to the definition of stem cells, describing them as â€Å"a diverse group of remarkable multipotent cells that are relatively undifferentiated and unspecialized cells of the body.† Stem cells have the capacity for unlimited self-renewal and the possibility to produce differentiated descendant cell types. The main in... ...rstanding exactly how they function and what their potential may be. The Council neglects to discuss what the boundaries should be in regards to research and whether not it is ethically or morally right to use and destroy embryos for the sake of medical advancement. They also do not clearly state who should pay for the research on stem cells. Since President Bush appoints the Council, there has been criticism that the committee is bias towards his views. In general, the report is ambiguous and does not specifically come to any concrete conclusions, nor does it provide any new information. Sources: The President's Council on Bioethics, Washington, D.C. January 2004. www.bioethics.gov News Briefings. U.S. News Libraray http://www.usnews.com/usnews/briefings/stemcell0701.htm Russo, Eugene. The Scientist: No decision on stem cells. Daily News. January 16, 2004

Human Resource Case Study Essay

1. I think his request is reasonable. Nancy should have the time to address Mark’s request to develop an appropriate structure to deal with the growth of both companies. She will be able to present the possible strategies to overcome a shortage of employees. As well, she can discuss reasons why Family Distribution has experienced such a drastic fallout of staff over the past two years. Another topic she should have time to research are the complaints about the hiring practices at Family Manufacturing, whether they have genuine merit, and if so, what can be done to correct the situation. She should also be able to address the concerns of the vice president’s of both companies. . 2. I would not recommend one comprehensive plan for both companies because they are both experiencing different challenges that require separate action plans. Family Medical Distribution is making far less profit than it did at its peak in 1989 and has had to evolve into a specialty distributor of high end supplies just to stay afloat. Family Medical Manufacturing, on the other hand, is continuously exceeding its growth and profit projections yearly. They have the potential to grow the company even further but do not currently have the human resources to do so. . 3. Sam is a person who has been with the company for quite a long time. He has served in various positions and moved his way up the ranks, so he would have a good understanding about how the business is run. I think that Nancy should befriend him to understand his point of view and unique insights on how the company has evolved over time. . I think that Sam understands that a plan needs to be implemented to turn the company around. He has spent time and resources trying to evaluate his marketing department, sales, and operations. He’s even expressed that the staff need to work â€Å"smarter† not â€Å"harder†, but has given no specific direction on what could be done to make this a reality. His skepticism towards the value of HR seems to be based on the results of a department that has been running without a manager for the past 13 months. Even though the HR associate, Claire Jackson, has done a great job trying to keep things afloat, she simply does not have the time or expertise to run the entire department by herself. His judgment of the results is fair in the sense that HR is not particularly useful in its current incarnation, but he doesn’t seem to have the insight to understand how much it could accomplish if it were running smoothly with competent leadership. . Nancy should explain to Sam that the best way to make the company more efficient and to work â€Å"smarter† is by appreciating how important a structured, secure working environment is to people. In order to make the company more profitable, she needs to convince him that the most important thing to do right now is to sort out how best to utilize people to achieve quality performance while at the same time promoting a business plan that will encourage growth. . 4. One glaring challenge is that there are four past complaints about hiring practices. Trust among the employees for the hiring process has been diminished, and the damage has already been done. Even though Mark Olsen seems to understand the importance of a strategic HR program, he has made some critical mistakes and shown a lapse in judgment in three ways. . Firstly, he has shown a bias in hiring people from his former employer in all cases of formal complaints made against the company. It is doubtful that the interview and selection process for these positions was done in a fair, unbiased manner. . Secondly, he has ignored the resources he already had at his disposal by hiring employees externally. In all formal complaints the employees had the education and training do the job they were applying for. Most people want a sense of purpose and accomplishment from their careers, and ignoring that basic desire will only create discontent among the workforce. . Finally, he disregarded and disrespected the entire hiring process by promising a position to someone before the opening had even been posted. In my opinion, this type of favoritism is one of the fastest ways to demoralize people. . At the upcoming meeting for Nancy’s presentation of her human resource plans, she needs to address these mistakes and explain to Mark how important it is to follow procedure, respect the hiring process, and moreover to respect his own employees. . 2. When Nancy present’s her plan, she needs to explain the different challenges that both companies are dealing with. There are pressures and opportunities to be found in both cases. Family Medical Distribution is a well respected company but has undergone significant downsizing due to government cutbacks. The opportunity here is to create an efficient supplementary business that will complement its manufacturing counterpart. Family Medical Manufacturing has plenty of room to grow, but not enough qualified personnel to help develop its upcoming products. . Next, she should state what goals of the company are to get clear about where they want to be in a five year time frame and what it will take to get there. Mark has said that his goal is to enter the home nursing market, so the plan needs to account for what needs to be done to achieve this goal from a HR perspective. . I think the most important issue that both companies need help with is in utilizing the talents and skills of their workforce in a way that compliments the needs of both divisions. The best solution is to consider both companies as one working unit from a HR standpoint. The deficiencies in staffing at Manufacturing could feasibly be satisfied by transferring the appropriate staff from Distribution. This would be an elegant way of taking care of the staffing needs of both companies while at the same time improving employee relations with upper management, an important first step in regaining a sense of trust and security. Nancy should also suggest that some of the money and employee benefits invested in Manufacturing’s new facility be put into effect at Distribution’s plant. It’s important to show genuine equality to employees and this would help to impart the understanding that both businesses are important for continued success.

Video Game Industry Market Research Reports, Statistics and Analysis

Global Video Games Industry [pic] The world video gaming industry is predicted to record 9% yearly growth through 2013, to exceed $76 billion, according to Business Insights. Mobile and online gaming formats will fuel the market, with customers taking advantage of wider, faster and more mobile internet access. Console gaming, the market’s current segment leader, will see its rate of sales decelerate. Since the first video game was launched on the market around 45 years ago, the video game industry has taken a central place in entertainment culture for children and adults alike. Far from the solitary habit it may have been traditionally, online gaming involves communities and is based on interaction. Key Market Segments †¢ Climbing world demand for Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG) is expected to push the market to over $14 billion by 2015, according to  Global Industry Analysts. Technological developments along with faster, wider-reaching broadband connectivity are driving the market. †¢ The world social gaming market almost hit the $1. 5 billion mark in 2010, reports  Business Insights. The market is expected to reach close to $4 billion by 2015, with the US a leading region generating sales of $1. 2 billion, followed by Japan at $570 million. There are currently 600 million social gamers worldwide, with China representing close to 110 million, followed by the US at 95 million gamers. By 2015, it is predicted there will be close to 275 million gamers in China and 150 million in the US. Leading game companies include Playdom, CrowdStar, Synga, Digital Chocolate and EA. †¢ With consumers connecting to the internet with smartphones, gaming has become increasingly mobile. More than 27% of smartphone subscribers have installed one game or more, with close to 35% having installed at least five on their phones, according to  Visiongain. Mobile game makers, and phone and electronic device makers have been collaborating to capitalize on the trend towards mobile gaming. †¢ The world game console market is expected to reach almost $25 billion by 2014, according to  MarketLine, representing almost 13% growth in five years. The Americas represent almost 45% of the overall market. The three leading companies in the market are Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft. Regional Market Share †¢ India’s gaming market is predicted to grow by 30% by 2014, reports  Netscribes. The market is lead by mobile gaming, which represents close to 60% of the overall market. Gaming competitions, the creation of gaming zones and increasingly popular MMOGs will fuel the market. Service providers are likely to generate higher revenue, and 3D games will become increasingly popular. †¢ China’s games and accessories market is expected to continue recording strong growth. Peripherals and accessories represent a leading market segment, with increasing demand for auxiliary devices to keep up with gaming product innovation. †¢ The online game market in Korea reached a value of over $2 billion in 2011, reports  Pearl Research. Game companies in Korea continue to concentrate on international business, expanding in the US, the EU, China and Japan. Of the $585 million generated by leading game operator Nexon, the largest share came from business outside of Korea. Market Outlook The global gaming industry has seen consumer demand soar thanks to social networking, technological innovation favoring mobile gaming, and the popularity of cyber communities promoting collective online gaming. Marketing and distribution is being facilitated by social networking sites, which do much of the work of attracting an increasing numbers of gamers. As ever, IP protection and piracy remain major issues for the industry, which continues to lose revenues do to illegal downloading. Moving forward, the global gaming industry is likely to represent an ever-present contender for other media, including music and TV. As the cultural trend towards social networking and gaming continues, consumers are as likely to log in to play a leading game (like World of Warcraft) as they are to switch on the TV to watch a film. Leading Industry Associations †¢ American Gaming Association  www. americangaming. org †¢ Entertainment Software Association  www. theesa. com †¢ National Video Game Association  http://nvgaonline. com †¢ Interactive Software Federation of Europe  www. isfe. eu †¢ European Games Developer Federation  www. egdf. eu