When we think of video games, what is the first thing we think of? Super Mario jumping over green colored pipes, collecting spinning coins and crushing goombas? Or maybe Call of Duty mindlessly shoots every enemy you see to advance to the next stage of the level? Regardless, video games were created through a set of processes designed to mimic an understanding of the world by connecting the technology used to create them with their designers. Games can produce a variety of societal structures, from opening doors to courting a partner; we are able to explore a wide variation of societal structures. In my essay, I will examine some video games and how action-based video games have changed from 1996 to today, taking a close look at the rise of first-person shooters, or FPS, and how they have changed since the World Trade Center attacks in 2001. I will examine the intent of game creators by analyzing their content and audience response to the games. I intend to show how cultural influences like those post-9/11 have influenced the video game industry and brought about a change in creation. In 1996, games sparked fear of scientific progress and environmental destruction and through 2005, video games changed to emulate post-9/11 culture. They have shown to achieve this by focusing more on the security of war through constant camaraderie, nesting or developing a living space that is constantly under attack, and protagonists fighting antagonists who have threatened to conquer the world, such as world conquerors or captivating scientists and enemies motivated by ignorance. These can be directly linked to video games as a medium with which technology, developers, and gamers all have common ties....... middle of paper ...... didn't give fun for players than in the political climate, but they were also capable of using the same technology used to destroy the world (Dyer-Witheford 2009). From then on, video games became popular from the late 70s to the mid 80s, and by 1984 they met their demise as they had become a fad due to overproduction and saturation. of the market (Aoyama 2003). This shift away allowed Japanese companies, like Sega Inc. and Nintendo, to expand and take control of the American video game industry without making the same mistakes. And after the American game industry was demolished, the Japanese game industry was able to create a new wave of games not based on war-obsessed video games like those made in the United States. These games were based on pre-established comics and animations already popular in Japanese culture (Consalvo 2012).