Digital Entertainment

There is evidence that human beings have found ways to amuse themselves since the beginning of times.Entertaining sports such as boxing and wrestling were practiced throughout the whole Aegean world,and Black-figures vases and amphorae indicates of the Greeks' love for those sports as well as others featured in ancient Olympic games.A variety of board games such as dog-and-jackal, and senet from old Egypt challenge contemporary people to discern what the rules might have been, whereas games such as chess,and others involving stone and glass dice are recognized by modern players in their earliest written forms from China and India.

In a world where we find ourselves constantly drawn to flashing screens and technology acceleration changes,it is worth redefining what makes entertainment engaging today? We know from history that the invention of portable tubes of paint in the nineteenth century encouraged artists to move their studios outdoors,contributing to the 'Impressionist''movement, which drew inspiration from the effects of natural sunlight and atmosphere,encouring crowd gatherings whenever an itinerant artist used his brush to turn an ordinary piece of canvas into some fine work of art.As technology extends its influence everywhere there's a growing emphasis on different aspects of entertainment than ever before,and much of this change requires the viewer to participate as well.With the multimedia and Internet convergence and the fusion of mobiles and wireless communications tools, a new kind of social entertainment has been created in the cyberspace.

Wireless Music

Music is the first form of wireless entertainment to be widely adopted around the world.More than 3,000 Web radio sites now stream jukebox channels and Web outlets of national and local radio stations.It remains an early stage market with only 10% of U.S.adults listening via their computer in a month.Internet radio will only become commercially viable when it is as accessible as today's terrestrial radio.Analysts state that transmission and hardware issues will be resolved in the next five years.A critical step is when wireless reaches the massive automobile market.The medium also competes with satellite radio and enhanced existing systems that let subscribers record and store radio-on-demand.In fact, media of Internet has become quite successful in trapping multifaceted entertainment factor.Downloading games for free, visiting chat rooms or just surfing the Web are some of the uses people have discovered.

Interactive TV

Interactive television is gaining popularity, as millions of viewers have logged into enhanced versions of popular shows and the 'Superbowl'.Industry leaders envision streaming entertainment across wireless devices in people's hands or cars,and screens at checkout counters, shopping malls and airports.Video e-mail and wireless games services are being introduced in a number of markets.Watching a movie on your IPod represent the latest step in the coming together of several streams of development in both technologies and ways of doing business.A study by Nokia predicts that up to a quarter of the entertainment consumed by people in five years time, will have been created, edited and shared within their peer circle rather than coming out of traditional media groups.People will have a genuine desire not only to create and share their own content, but also to remix it, and pass it on within their peer groups,it is also called ‘Circular Entertainment'. Whereas once the act of watching and hearing entertainment was passive,the consumer of today is active because of his human desire to compare , create and communicate.

Animation

'Walter Elias Disney' ,a classic hand-drawn animator in the early days of cinema and particularly known as innovator in the field of animation and multiple academy awards.In 1928 Disney Studios chief animator 'Ub Iwerks' ,developed a new character from a figure known as Mortimer Mouse, made its first debut in the cartoon 'Plane Crazy ',in which Mickey was impressing Minnie, dressed as an aviator. Following the success of the cartoons ,'Snow White and the seven dwarfs' , 'Cinderella' and 'Sleeping Beauty' expanded into action features animations films with electrifying successes.

At the same time, rivals to Disney's production came from the Fleischers Studios who were already making technical innovations that would revolutionize the art of animation. In 1917, 'Max Fleischer' invented the rotoscope, a device used to overlay drawings on live-action film and pioneering the use of 3-D animation landscapes.The studios also obtained the rights to the spinach-loving sailor 'Popeye' who first appeared on film alongside cartoon star 'Betty Boop' dancing the hula.The same year in September 1933, the first official Popeye cartoon,'I Yam What I Yam' was released , first in a long series of animated and very successful shorts.

Today , a huge industry is being built up around the idea of online personas ,identity and style, where virtual fashion designers, spas and make up artists are popping up.Obviously, the first industries to take notice and to make use of 'avatars' are the game and entertainment industries.Companies such as Sun, Autodesk, SGI, America On-line, Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Disney, and Crystal Dynamics are all working on technologies that incorporate 3-D chat rooms and have begun to offer virtual worlds.The fantasy characters and situations appealing to young imaginations provide an escape from everyday routine where most games can be played at a variety of skill levels so that every player can progress to higher ones.In the future, many hope that video games will encompass both entertainment and education.

Comic books , Japanese comics

Their first steps were set in the beginning of the twentieth Century, in search of new ways of graphic visual communication and humoristic expression.Three essential types, the science fiction, detective stories and jungle adventures spread their tentacles becoming part of the mass culture. Of particular interest is Belgic Hergé's 'Tintin',who practically created the clean line style, and had lots of followers. In the period 1940-1945 some four hundred super heroes were created, mostly based in 'Superman's' model,one of them deserve to be highlighted: 'Batman', created by Bob Kan . Another great story from the 50's, 'Peanuts', by Charles M. Schulz. 'Charlie Brown', the main character, a 6 year old boy who symbolizes the insecurity, an eternal hopper and his dog,'Snoopy',a philosophic beagle in the top of his red house.In Europe, by those days, was created one of the best comic books ever made, the French 'Astérix', by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, in Pilote magazine, in 1959. The stories of the inhabitants of a Gaul village, in 50 b.C., mixed adventure, jokes and caricatures of French personalities from the 60's and detailed backgrounds in an easy reading narrative.

Times changes, and so comic books ,the term 'AmeriManga' is sometimes used to refer to comics created by American artists in a 'Manga' style.Manga is often considered an artistic and storytelling genre that can also encompass non-Japanese works. 'Manwha' is the Korean equivalent of that idea.Part of Manga's popularity is that there is a title for anyone, no matter what his or her interests.Drawings are typically done in pen and ink, with an emphasis on clean lines,most characters have very large, almond-shaped eyes and other out-of-proportion body parts.Characters also show their emotions quite clearly, and sometimes comically.Manga is closely related to Japanese animation, it often plays upon assorted Asian myths, symbols, and the martial arts.While anime deals with serious issues, their are often humorous, and light-hearted moments in each series.By reflecting people's desire to depict their own stories and communicate with peers through these original manga, the comic market has rapidly expanded since 1975 to become a huge market.