Unit 22 Assignment 1 – Impact of video games

Unit 22 Assignment 1 – Impact of video games

Games are now a part of a lot of young adults lives, gaming has grown and grown over the years and has now become almost if not as big as the film industry. Graphics have come on leaps and bounds and they now are looking more and more like real photos every day.

In this era computer games are growing and gaining more and more players each and every day, this is also increasingly high profile topic with parents worrying too many children are spending too much time playing computer games.

Playing computer games can have different impacts on different types of people; some of the effects can be the following:

• Societal Impact
• Individual Impact

Societal Impact

There are a few factors to look at when looking at the psychology of gaming, some of the factors I will be explaining are the following:

• Social Isolation
• Time spent playing games
• Expense
• Separating reality and the real world
• Educational benefits
• The future

Social Isolation

In previous generations of gaming, playing computer game involved a singular person sitting in front on of the computer in most cases alone; although there are games which are up to four local players sometimes these just wasn’t applicable. This would tend to mean a player would be sat on their own in their own home. Nowadays this isn’t the case as such, yes players are still playing at home but the online community within the gaming community has grown and this has had a big impact on the social isolation as although you may not be see the other players which you are playing with or against you are still able to talk to them and communicate with them. That being said it still means that the user is still sat alone at home with no physical human interaction.

Time spent playing games

The time spent playing games can be a problem depending on how the player manages their lifestyle, playing games too much could have an adverse effect on your health, for example your eyes could be strained if you played a game for too long, that being said all games will have disclaimers and they will inform the player that spending too much on the game it will be harmful of their health, it is the responsibility of the player themselves to take regular breaks and ensure they are taking the correct amount of time before reconvening. The time spent playing videos can have an effect on the amount of time a player is able to do other activities within the day for example the time spent playing games could be overeating on the time that should be sleeping or doing something such as coursework.

Expense

Playing games can be very expensive especially if you are a gamer who has to have the best of everything, for example when a console is released a player will buy it, when the next console is released they will want to buy the next one, a lot of these people can't afford if and can get themselves into debt and this can be catastrophic as it can stay with them forever and if it isn’t sorted can last for a lifetime. Micro transactions are also a very dangerous in the word of gaming, for example, people are able to buy either in game currency or in game items for real money these games tend to be pay to win but this is not always the case and opening a pack or crate with a random result for real money is very similar to gambling.

Separating reality and the real world

Many people relate crime to people playing computer games and not understanding the difference between real life and the games that they play, playing a game for a long length. In my personal opinion i do not think games are any more intensive than films and TV, if a user has watched films for too many hours may also give them the same reaction, it is down to the responsibility of the user to ensure that they are spending the correct amount of time no matter what activity they are partaking in, for example, having ample breaks to allow for resting of the eyes and allow limbs to rest for example hands to prevent RSI.

Educational benefits

When people talk about children playing computer games that instantly think of all of the bad points such as not socialising in the real world and not being able to concentrate, that being said if the child plays games in moderation then there are many benefits from children playing computer games. Some of the benefits i am going to be talking about are the following:

• Hand Eye Coordination
• Brain Training
• Thinking and Strategy Skills
• The Future Impact

Hand Eye Coordination

When a user plays a game they have to use high levels of concentration to ensure they are pressing the right buttons at the correct time. They more you do any activity the better you are going to get at that activity but in addition to that the skill in which you use are going to be developed to a higher standard to a person that doesn’t use that skill set.

Brain Training

There are a few games that are aimed to help improve a user's brain capabilities, it allows the player to concentrate on a certain number of games and uses different skills for each game, it will give you a score and tell you how you did whether the score was a good score or whether your score needs improving. There are a few games like this for the Nintendo DS.

Thinking and Strategy Skills

Games aren’t all bad some require precision and speed, making decisions in a very short space of time, knowing when to hold off and when to go out for an attack. There are many games that are strategy based for example: Halo Wars and a mobile and tablet game called Clash of Clans. The game entails the player to use a specific number of troops to attack and defeat the other player's stronghold, you will need to choose the right type of troops and ensure that you place them in the best possible place to see if they can win.

Future Impact

If games are played in moderation which a healthy lifestyle that games are not only relaxing but can also enhance a user's, hand and eye coordination it may make them think more strategically increasing and excelling in accuracy and precision.

From a personal experience i feel that it is all about the restraints a person puts in place for themselves, have set limits where enough is enough put the controller down and take a break but actually stick to it. Gaming is a way of relieving tension and frustration as well as just simple games which you can play to relax.

The Impact on Mainstream Development

Nowadays technology is moving forward at an accelerated pace, recently breakthroughs are being made for virtual and augmented reality and this attempting to change the way we look at games. Every year more and more inventions are made to ensure the user is able to have the best possible experience they can.
The graphics of games have changed dramatically over the years and they are still constantly trying to improve them again to make the experience for the players the best it can possibly be.
Certain gaming companies use a special software that can track users, heart beat, voice and eye reactions to be able to see where the user is looking how they are feeling and how they sound and take all of the information they gather and use it to improve the games in which they create.

Psychological Factors

• Use of sound
• High score league tables
• Competitiveness
• Peer pressure
• Fun
• Education value
• Expectations

Use of sound

When a developer is creating a video game they want the game to feel as aesthetic as possible this would, the user of sound does the very effectively and tries to set the ambience within a game, the music that is used tends to try and make the user feel some kind of feeling or emotion, whether it be sad, scared or happy. The music used if done right can really enhance the user's experience within the game, just like in films this at pivotal or powerful moment within the game the music will start.

The more intense the part of the game the higher intensity music will be used whereas if the part of the game was a sad storyline and a sad scene; slower peaceful sad music would be used. It is what users react to and it is very easy to get the “mood” across without have to show any pictures or the use of words.

The use of sound can be very effective through the use of games and can allow a user to feel genuine sadness, happiness or fear depending on which emotion they are aiming for.

“Amnesia's interactive use of sound not only feeds back to the player - telling them how close they are to insanity, for instance - but drives the overall experience of the game. It's worth noting from a psychological standpoint that a 2012 study at the University of Alberta hooked 12 students up to heart and respiration monitors while playing this game: heart and respiration rates increased by 20 bpm and 13 bpm respectively when audio was switched on.” [1]

High Score / League Tables

The games that tend to be played on big game machines have leader boards, once the user has paid they would be credited with a certain number of credits, once the credit has been depleted their score would get posted to a leaders board and this was be ranked with other users who have played the game. To get the best score the machine would coerce you into buying more credit to either buy a new set of lives or try again to attempt to beat the other people on the leader board.

Having leader boards in games it drives and motivates the player to be the best or just keep improving, a good game to demonstrate this would be the Guitar Hero franchise, all of their games will give you a score for each song depending on which difficulty you play on would depend how much score you would be able to get this would also force people to try and advance to the next difficulty to earn more points to try and get higher up the table.

Short term leader boards would be found on a plethora of games more often than not these will be first person shooter games pausing the game tends to bring up a menu in which you will be able to navigate to the scoreboard and can see your stats for the current game, this would be able to tell a user how well they are doing in that specific game.

On the other hand if you are lower in the list for example 450th out of 500 you may seem demotivated through looking at the number one high score.

“Relative leader boards try to solve this issue by showing a user's position relative to others of a similar rank.  So, whilst you may be 900^th out of 1000, you only see the 10 people above and below you on the leader board. This means that you don’t get the issue of feeling inadequate or that there is no hope of ever reaching the top – you are less aware of how far down the list you are!” [2]

People that see a score that is too high may become demotivated this is through psychologically they are never going to be able to beat that score in addition to this it explains only seeing a short list shows that you can aim to beat the players around you and then move on to face the players above this way the size of the task is much smaller and psychologically it makes the user much more relaxed.

Competitiveness

Competition is used in every walk of life people rivalling themselves against each other to see who is the better this is no different when it comes to gaming; almost every online game will have some form of PVP (Player vs. Player) where opponents are able to test their skills on one another and see who the victor is. Not only is this a good way to determine your skill level but it can also point out areas of your game which may need to be improved. Having worthy competition would force a player to either stay ahead of the game or raise their game to be able to beat the opponent.

There are competitive events that are ran for “elite” players these players are the best of the best and usually compete for a prize fund, that being said the amount of time the users will be playing may have adverse effects and make the user social reclusive.

“When video game players are capable of financially supporting themselves from their play, this matter becomes more complex. For example, how would one categorize a professional video game player who was making over $100,000 per year playing video games, but was also experiencing social difficulties as a result of excessive video game use?” [3]

Peer Pressure

Peer pressure can arise in different situations, for example it could be a fiend buying a game, exclaiming about how great it is or how they are in need of teammates, this would then in turn make people unhappy as they don't have the game, some people may not be able to afford it but would but it anyway and then be stuck in financial struggles.

Peer pressure within the gaming industry can be very dangerous, it is not always intentionally done but may be subliminally transferred to a gamer as more responsibilities are gained, for example when playing on online games, gamers to band together and join groups of people this could be as a tribe or a guild. Some gamers may take up upon themselves to put in extra hours for the team that they are in this can lead to playing too much and feeling like you would be letting the team down if you were not to continue player and put a certain amount of hours in, or contributing enough money or resources to the team, inadvertently this would cause peer pressure without any physical pressuring.

“ This is particularly important for so called “guilds”. Guilds are longer-lived player associations which are needed to achieve goals in WOW (Ducheneaut, Yee, Nickell & Moore, 2006), guilds also exist in other online games and multiplayer games. Seay, Jerome, Lee & Kraut (2004) reveal that highly committed players play more than others who feel less committed to their guild. Thus guilds put a sense of social pressure on their members (Ducheneaut, Yee, Nickell & Moore, 2006). Furthermore it can be concluded that these guilds have unwritten norms. Arrangements will be made between members of guilds so that the members have to be online at a certain time.” [4]

Fun

The main reason a lot of gamers play games is that they find them fun, intriguing and interesting, in addition to this there are a few different reason people may find a game fun; this could be due to cooperating with others, competitiveness with others, in depth well told storylines and the actual gameplay available to the gamer.

People tend to play games as a form of winding down and relaxing they aren’t “hard core” gamers and will just play a few hours a week when they have spare time. Games give a different experience than just watching a film, the game is more interactive in many instances the gamer can feel themselves in the player's shoes.

Educational Value

Many students learn in different ways, some through taking notes, some through being explained in a procedural and logical way and some can learn through the use of games. Education can be incorporated within games this is a great way of getting users to learn especially if they have an interest games and that style of game. Games can be used to help deliver a point or method, in addition to these games can be used as icebreakers and to attempt to try and get a group working together with a fun aspect.

“Some evidence suggests that important skills may be built or reinforced by videogames. For example, spatial visualization ability (i.e., mentally, rotating and manipulating two- and three-dimensional objects) improves with video game playing.9 Videogames were also more effective for children who started out with relatively poor skills.” [5]

Expectations

When a game is being developed masses of media is created to give gamers an idea of how the game looks and maybe some glimpses to the storyline. During the development process the developing team try to have some secrets that than have developed into the game for example a plot twist and a certain major character being killed. Again like the music this can put the audience into a certain “mood” and create some ambience, for example a character than has been present throughout the game has been a main part with an in depth storyline could be killed off and leave the audience in shock.

When expectations are drawn up they tend to be based on other games either previous in the franchise or games that may be similar to the game that is being developed. It is important to ensure you give the user a unique experience this would mean having a unique selling point (USP) this will make sure that your will be engraved in the minds of gamers by having something special.

Leveling

Leveling can have a big effect on the psychology of a player, for example the player will start off at the base level whether it just be level one or the retrospective level, it will give the player a purpose, the player will be able to gain expected and level up their character and gain new skills and abilities and obtaining rewards, this will keep a player interested and will continue to enjoy the game, once a player is top the top of the levelling system they tend to lose motivation that need something to continuously work towards.

Similar to the leader boards the players want to be the highest level, they want to have the most money and better items than all the other players this shows the player is significant in the game and help gives the player a feeling of belonging.

Bibliography

[1]Psychology of Sound - How sound in video games has evolved. 2016. Psychology of Sound - How sound in video games has evolved. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.amplifon.ie/resources/playing-with-your-mind/. [Accessed 07 November 2016].

[2] ANDRZEJ MARCZEWSKI. 2013. Gamification a Little on Leaderboards. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.gamified.uk/2013/01/21/gamification-a-little-on-leaderboards/. [Accessed 7 November 2016].

[3] Psychology Today. 2016. Psychology And Competitive Gaming | Psychology Today. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-excess/201512/psychology-and-competitive-gaming. [Accessed 07 November 2016]

[4] Ricarda-Marie Brox . 2011. The Influence of Social Factors on Gaming Behaviour. [ONLINE] Available at: http://essay.utwente.nl/60988/1/BSc_R_Brox.pdf. [Accessed 7 November 2016].

[5] Mark Griffiths. 2002. The educational benefits of videogames. [ONLINE] Available at: http://sheu.org.uk/sites/sheu.org.uk/files/imagepicker/1/eh203mg.pdf. [Accessed 7 November 2016]