Why Do People Play Games - Case Study Example

RUNNING HEAD: Learning Journal Learning Journal Why people play games? Type here Table of Contents Learning Journal Why people play games? 1 Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Literature Review 5 Definition of a game 5 Characteristics of Games 5 Factors that make games fun 6 Research & Methodology 10 Methodology of research 10 Results & Findings 13 The fun factor – Challenges, Puzzles, strategies 13 Summary 14 Appendix A 15 Table 1 15 References 15 Introduction Computers have taken over the World, whether they are our professional worlds or personal. A computer has become the integral part of a normal household of today. Similarly, computer games have also become a major source of fun for children and adults alike. The computer gaming market has grown with an annual rate of 8-9%, which is incredible. Both the sales of single user as well as multi-user games totaled up to 6.7 billion dollar in 1996 and the figures have increased remarkably in a decade (KESA, 1998). The reason behind the significance of video or computer games for companies and gamers are different. However, the most basic reason common for all is the fun factor of games. Anybody who has ever played a computer game has played them because they have fun while playing them and that is the sole reason for their popularity and existence. This is why, in order to keep the fun factor alive, we see new games entering the market almost every other day. Out of the many reasons behind the development of better computer games, one reason is the knowledge the game development technology brings with itself. One of the benefits is a better and high-speed video conferencing, which has become possible due to sound and graphic rendering capabilities, other similar benefits include virtual three-dimensional shopping interfaces along with animated movies. Besides the game being fun, financial profits are always one important aspect. Initially, before the expansion of the computer gaming industry, small software companies mostly manufactured games. However, the situation has changed completely due to the financial as well as other benefits offered due to investment in computer gaming technology. Now, we see a number of software giants entering the gaming market, with Microsoft joining the competition with Age of Empire. The attractiveness of the market is such that even industry giants cannot ignore the market. If we look at the current situation, the computer gaming industry that first took off in the mid 70s has now moved from being part of saturated markets to mass markets. The size of the industry in US in 2007 was $9.5 billion and in 2008 it reached $11.7 billion ( ). Advancements in the gaming industry is one of the major reason behind major innovations in sound cards, graphics cards, 3D graphic accelerators, CD ROM, CPUs. One major invention that came into being because of gaming was UNIX, which the programmers developed to play the space travelling game (Babcock, 2006). Sound cards were also developed for adding digital quality sound to games, which later evolved for music and audiophiles (Johnstone, 2009). Higher requirement of colors required the development of graphic cards, moreover, graphical user interfaces (GUI) and games also fuelled its requirements. If we talk about games with respect to PC configurations, we would see that the latest games are the ones requiring the higher PC configuration. Mostly, serious gamers buy the higher power latest machines to support their gaming needs. Thus, game develop is also responsible for stimulating the need of high power CPUs. Although, the industry is considered small, it has a significant impact on the economy evident from the sales of games such as Grand Theft Auto IV, sales of which reached US $500 million during its introduction week (Crecente, 2008). A comparison of the sales of the game with the movie Spider Man 3 reveals that the game was able to bring more returns. Moreover, Hiroshi Yamauchi became the third richest man of Japan because of the success of Nintendo (Minami, 2008). Hence, the gaming industry is not so small to be ignored, it has a lot of potential and it is still evolving day by day with more and more technologies coming in the market. We need to emphasize on a factor that sometimes gets ignored by programmers and game developers; what is the fun factor behind playing games? Or put in simpler terms, Why people play games? Finding out the answers to these questions is necessary because while developing games, they need to keep the factors in mind that make a game a fun experience. The main objective of this research is to investigate the factors that make a game fun. We would use research and articles, evidences from journals, etc. to reach on a conclusion of some major factors that contribute in making a game fun. Literature Review Definition of a game The definition of a game whether video or any other sort of physical game; involves activities with participants, objectives, rules, and a competition. Another more detailed and concise definition of a game is, “A game is a set of activities involving one or more players. It has goals, constraints, payoffs, and consequences. A game is rule-guided and artificial in some respects. Finally, a game involves some aspect of competition, even if that competition is with oneself”(Dempsey et al., 2002). We can describe computer games as those that are played using computers. Some theorists believe that playing games is “voluntary, non-productive, and separate from the real world” (Garris et al., 2002). However, for some people computer and video games are real and they are more close to reality and engaging (Jones, 1999). Several categories of computer games exist, such as adventure, simulation, competition, cooperative, programming, puzzle, and business management games (Hogle, 1996; Dempsey et al., 1993). Characteristics of Games Computer games have certain characteristics that make them good. Game give a fun filled experience and motivate the player. Moreover, they also have a challenge or a goal with unknown outcomes along with providing a clear feedback. It also fuels the curiosity, and fantasizing needs of players (Malone, 1980). Some types of games offer players options and allows them to control the features of the game making them motivated in playing (Malone & Lepper, 1987; Waal, 1995; Snider, 2003). Other features of the game that makes it motivating is that they interactive (Waal, 1995) and offer competition (Malone & Lepper, 1987; Vorderer & Hartmann, 2003; Vockell, 2004). Garris et al. (2002) summarizes the essential features of games as: vision, goals, motivating, challenging, uncertainty, and control. Moreover, games also impact the learning abilities enhancing them if designed with the learning perspective in mind. Factors that make games fun Previous research has indicated that one of the main features that involve the players and keep them engaged is the stimulation of curiosity and fantasy (Malone, 1980; Malone & Lepper, 1987; Waal, 1995; Garris et al., 2002). We are curious of things that we do not know about. The curiosity of players can be excited by making them think that the knowledge of the player is less or incomplete. Mysterious elements of a game could result in stimulating player curiosity. Fantasy could be described as situation, which is not actually present (Malone, & Lepper, 1987). Fantasy situations are attractive for anybody. Different people have different fantasies and it satisfies the needs of individuals. People feel satisfied in situation by fulfilling their needs that are not satisfied in reality, for example, the need of feeling powerful, successful, gaining fame, and various other sorts of fantasies. These are the fantasies that computer games satisfy (Malone & Lepper, 1987; Cordova, 1993). Computer games allow players to hide their identities and show their own values and desires in a virtual world. A player in the computer world might play the role of a risk taker and is very brave, however, in real life he might actually be the opposite. Therefore, it is necessary for game developers to understand the elements of fun that vary as fantasies of different players are different (Malone and Lepper, 1987). Some people believe that only the aspects of fantasy in a game cannot keep the players hooked to the game, it is the challenge or the outcome they want to achieve. However, fantasy element could help a player in deciding whether to play the game or not. Malone (1980) pointed out that those games that involve war, violence, intense competition are more attractive for the players than those games that involve emotional situations. However, even this attraction varies among the male and the female players with the fantasies of the females different from those of boys (Cassell & Jenkins, 1999). Besides a number of factors mentioned above, the presence of a goal is also an attractive factor that makes games fun. Moreover, developers could make simple games attractive by adding visual effects and compelling fantasies. The more a fantasy can personally relate to an individual playing the game, the more he would have fun playing it and more time he would spend with the game (Melone, 1980). If we look at the various definitions of fun all given by authentic encyclopedias, we would find that they describe fun as being enjoyment, pleasure, amusement, and ridicule. While having enjoyment, pleasure, and amusement are good, ridiculing someone or being ridiculed are all bad feelings. These are contradictions that would arise over and over again. Moreover, similar to the contradictory definition of fun, we see that it is difficult to define play as like fun, it is also abstract and unstructured in nature. There is a very thin line between play and games differentiating them from each other. Any form of organized play could be described as a game which could be further divided into noncompetitive and competitive games. There are six basic attributes in every game: “Rules Goals and objectives Outcomes & comments Competition, Conflict, Challenge, Opposition Interaction Basic Theme” We discuss each one with respect to their objective of fun. Rules – This is the most important aspect that differentiates play from game. As we have mentioned earlier, game is all about organized play and something wouldn’t be organized if there are no boundaries or limitations. These limitations are the rules of any game that the players must follow. One must question, if we are playing a game for fun, then there should be no rules. However, rules are important because they force the players to apply particular methods and take specific paths to reach a particular goal making the achievement of the objective all the more fun. The presence of rules in a game makes the player feel they are inside that virtual world by letting them know what they can and cannot do. Similarly, rules make the game more motivating and exciting. An objective – Another significant characteristic of games is that they have a particular objective. Some game developers believe that if a game does not have a particular goal then they are a toy rather than a game referring to computer games such as Sim City, Sims, or airline simulators, however, players playing these still call them games. A large amount of game developers believe that the trying to achieve the goal is what motivates players to keep on playing the game because it is what a player would measure himself against. Goals make a game fun because we are goal oriented by nature and we have the capability of visualizing the future and figuring ways for achieving them. Rules make goal achievement harder, increasing the satisfaction and fun of achieving the goal even more. Outcome & Feedback - Feedback is also an important characteristic as we want an analysis of our actions unless the analysis turns into praise. If it is criticism, we play the game again till we have achieved a certain level in the game. This makes them fun for players. Feedback makes the computer games extremely interactive as we immediately get the result of our actions. Game developers need to understand that giving feedback to players can be tricky because it could be too much or too little both resulting in frustrating the players. Competition/Conflict – A game is all about solving a problem. If finding out the solution to a particular conflict or problem seems appealing for the players, then that game would be fun for them. The problem does not necessarily always have to involve a competitor, it may just be a puzzle. The competition or a challenge is what stimulates the minds of the players making game play all the more fun. Majority of the people enjoy competition and especially in a scenario when we are allowed to choose the complexity and level of the competition or challenge. Game developers need to keep a relatively close match between the skills of the players and the level of competition to keep the interest of the game players alive. Another major relaxing quality about the challenges or a competition in video games is that they are not real, making the players feel relaxed and enjoying the competition more than they would if they knew they were endangering themselves. Interaction – Initially, interaction only the communication or the link between the computer and the player through feedback and outcome, however, as the gaming industry evolved and more and more games were developed, now interaction means social interaction as well. Computer games that involve multiple players all playing together have also become a major time pass for people while they hang out together. Interactive games are more fun as it allows you to compete with opponents that are known to you and it is much more satisfying to beat them. Theme – The theme of the game is the basic storyline around which the game evolves and it is important as the players would only decide on a game if they can relate to a storyline and the elements of fun exists for them in it. Research & Methodology It is important for game developers to understand the reasons or the factors that makes playing games a fun-filled experience. The research has been taken from a secondary source. Moreover, the study also wants to find out the emotions that games create and how they can have fun while playing when they fail almost 80% of the times. The study also wants to find out if emotional connections are necessary for playing a game. In order to find out the answer to the questions, the research studies 15 hardcore gamers, 15 casual games, and 15 non-players. The research focused on situations of what happened before, during, and after play. Methodology of research XEODesign Inc. conducted the research on the subject. It is a research and design firm researching on the experiences of players and working towards improving them. They have conducted researches for companies such as Sony, Leap Frog, Ubisoft, Broderbund, and Mattel. The company performed a study involving 30 adults who were required to shares their thoughts, feelings, and experiences while playing their favorite video game through any medium; PC, handhelds, internet games, etc. The players played in their usual locations where they normally played such as homes, workplaces, hostels, lounges. They played for 90 to 120 minutes, the time they normally would. Most of the video games were individually played, however, there were four console multiplayer sessions involving 3-6 players all playing in the same room. The study also involves the observation of two online PC multiplayer sessions over internet. Researchers observed the participants of the study during the game and a questionnaire was also distributed in the end. Moreover, in order to get a more holistic view the study also involved taking the views of 15 non-players who were friends or family of the players (Lazzaro, 2004). The research includes three types of data: graphical data, which was recording from video regarding what players said and did, questionnaire responses, and verbal and non-verbal gestures while playing. The video analysis involved 2000 observations from videos, facial gestures, questionnaires, and session notes that were sorted into affinity groups. The results from the study would not include statistical findings or causal relationships because of the limitations of the research. The games that were used to study the players are listed in Table 1 Appendix A. The results focus around what the players liked about the games, the emotions games stimulate (Lazzaro, 2004). Results & Findings The fun factor – Challenges, Puzzles, strategies Most of the players find fun in the fact that they overcoming problems, fun revolves in overcoming obstacles. The challenge in the games keeps the players glued to their computers and rewards create emotion. The research found that players check to see their level of competency. The research also found that the players had fun while playing the game because they played to beat the game; they had more than one game, the requirement of strategy. Moreover, the research also found that some of the players had fun in the activities of the game while since the games are mostly easy to concentrate on and that is why they enjoy in playing it. The involvement in the game arouses the curiosity of the players and keeps them involved while they have fun. The uncertainty, incompleteness, and the details combine to create a world that seems very real. The research found that the participants of the study had fun while playing the games because they liked to wander into new environments, meet different people, and live in an exciting and adventurous world. The players can have fun in exploring the story and relating to the characters and situations in the game. Another interesting finding of the research is that the participants said that one of the major reasons why they play the game is because of the emotions they feel inside while playing the game. For some participants, games acts as therapy and they had fun with the changes that they felt while playing the game. Hence, in this case the game helps the players in clearing their mind, they feel better about themselves, and helps them in avoiding boredom (Lazzaro, 2004). The research also found regarding the impact of games on the social and personal life of the players. This section of the research focused on those kind of games that players liked to play in groups. People like to play multiplayer games because they like the communication and the interaction. The participants played even those games that they didn’t like to play to spend time with their friends. Moreover, the players also enjoy the rivalry while playing multiplayer games. The research also focused on the non-players and tried to investigate the reasons behind not playing. Most non-playing participants did not play because of the responsibilities and families and that is why a number of participants identified that they were serious gamers but stopped playing because of responsibilities. A number of non-players did not play because they found games as meaningless or a waste of time. Some participants did not like games because they thought that the games were immoral, supported violent themes, and find them too addictive (Lazzaro, 2004). Summary The major finding from the study is that they played games to change or structure their internal experiences. The participants of the study had fun while their thoughts were filled with emotions, experiences that did not involve their usual everyday tensions regarding work, school, home, etc. Some participants had tremendous fun because they had the opportunity of testing their abilities. Moreover, games improve efficiency and order that they players would like to have in their own lives hence the fantasizing requirements are fulfilled. Playing video games is fun because they players like to live in a virtual world where they can shape things according to their requirements. Moreover, some like the game because they can escape social norms. Computer games are also enjoyable because it offers those challenges. Games also provide excitement and relaxation and help the players in calming them down after a difficult day of work. Hence, games tend to be fun because of the impact they have on the players emotionally as well as physically (Lazzaro, 2004). Appendix A Table 1 Fighting Racing Puzzle Sports & Strategy Other Brute Force™ APEX™ Atomica Back Yard Buzz Lightyear Counter-Strike™ Mario Kart® (N64) Collapse® I Baseball™ Action Game Conflict Desert Storm Mario Kart® Hearts & Black Jack NBA Street Dark Age of Tom Clancy’s Ghost Double Dash™ JT Blocks Top Spin™ Tennis Camelot™ Recon & Splinter Need for Speed™ MSN Crossword Civilization II Online Gambling Cell™ Underground Pop and Drop Heroes of Might and Grand Theft Auto MX2002 featuring Puzics Magic Vice City Ricky Carmichael Rampart Halo:Combat Evolved Snood Soul Calibur® II Tetris® Virtua Fighter 4™ Word Whomp (Lazzaro, 2004). References Origins and History of Unix (1969-1995). The Art of Unix Programming. Retrieved on December 19, 2010 from Babcock, Charles (2006). What’s the greatest software ever written? Information Week. Retrieved on December 19, 2010 from Johnstone, Bob (2009). Wave of the Future : The story of the next generation in sound technology. Wired. Wired Ventures. Retrieved on December 19, 2010 from . Crecente, Brian (2008). Take-Two Confirms GTAs Half a Billion Week. Kotaku.com. Retrieved on December 19, 2010 from Minami, Kiyoe (2008). Japans 40 Richest. Forbes.com. Retrieved on December 19, 2010 from Prensky, Marc (2001). Fun, Play and Games: What Makes Games Engaging. Digital Game-Based Learning. McGraw-Hill. Retrieved on December 20, 2010 from Lazzaro, Nicole (2004). Why We Play Games: Four Keys to More Emotion Without Story. Retrieved on December 21, 2010 from Dempsey, J. V., Haynes, L. L., Lucassen, B.A., Casey, M. S. (2002). Forty simple computer games and what they could mean to educators. Simulation & Gaming. 33(2), 157-168. Garris, R., Ahlers, R., & Driskell, J. E. (2002). Games, motivation, and learning: a research and practice model. Simulation & Gaming, 33(4), 441-467. Jones, M. G. (1999). What can we learn from computer games: Strategies for learner involvement. 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Vorderer, P., Hartmann, T. (2003) Explaining the enjoyment of playing video games: the role of competition. Proceedings of the second international conference on Entertainment computing, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2003. Vockell, E. (2004). Educational psychology: a practical approach. Retrieved on December 21, 2010 from Cordova, D. I. & Lepper, M. R. (1993). Intrinsic motivation and the process of learning: beneficial effects of contextualization, personalization, and choice. Journal of Educational Psychology. 88 (4) 715-730. Cassell, J. & Jenkins, H. (eds.) (1999). From Barbie to Mortal Kombat. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. Read More