Chapter 1.2 Games and Society

1. Chapter 1.2Games and Society

2. Why Do People Play Video Games? CS 4455

3. Audience and Demographics • What good are demographics? • Are they always accurate? • Recent survey: what stands out? CS 4455

4. Audience and Demographics: ESRB • EC (Early Childhood) • E (Everyone) • E10+ (Everyone 10+) • T (Teen) • M (Mature) • AO (Adults Only) • 32 different “Content Descriptors” CS 4455

5. Audience and Demographics: ESRB 2003 Statistics • 57% of games received an E rating • 32% of games received a T rating • 10% of games received an M rating • 1% received an EC rating CS 4455

6. Audience and Demographics: ESRB 2003 Statistics (2) • 70% of best-selling console games were E or T rated • 90% of best-selling PC games were E or T rated • Buying habits or development habits? CS 4455

7. Societal Reaction to Games • Misleading perception of games as being child’s play • Violence in video games drawing parental attention • Legal Issues (1992) • Night Trap • Mortal Kombat • Led to Senate Hearings (1993) CS 4455

8. Societal Reaction to Games • Legal Issues: Doom (1994) and the 1999 Columbine Massacre • Shooters were known to play Doom • Lawsuits were initiated against the industry, but eventually dropped CS 4455

9. Societal Reaction to Games • Legal Issues: Grand Theft Auto • GTA: Vice City • Haitian-American Rights Groups • GTA: San Andreas • “Hot Coffee” mod CS 4455

10. Societal Reaction to Games • Games and Youth Violence • Root of All Evil, or Good, Old-Fashioned Fun? CS 4455

11. Cultural Issues • Abuse of stereotypes (Shadow Warrior) • Foreign Diplomacy • Germany (The Index – List of banned games) • China, Japan (controversial elements) • Cultural Acceptance • Changing standards and thresholds CS 4455

12. Society Within Games:Online Behavior • The Good • Everquest Weddings • The Bad • Addictive properties • Online rivalries becoming offline rivalries • Can games contribute to erratic offline behaviors? • The Ugly • Disinhibition and deindividuation occur because of perceived anonymity. • Hate crimes CS 4455

13. Society Within Games • Tools • Moderators • Communication tools • Fan sites to discuss gameplay and community outside of the game CS 4455

14. The Upshot • Games are an immature medium CS 4455

15. Chapter 2.1Understanding Fun

16. What is Fun? • Dictionary: • Enjoyment, a source of amusement • Important to consider underlying reasons • “Funativity” – thinking about fun in terms of measurable cause and effect CS 4455

17. Getting a handle on fun/play … • Evolutionary roots popular • Johann Huizinga, Homo Ludens • But different ways to proceed • Play as basic desire? • Play as “evolutionary advantage”? • Crawford, Salen/Zimmerman, Koster, …. CS 4455

18. Evolutionary Roots • We must look to our distant past • Young mammals play to learn basic survival skills • Games are organized play • Human entertainment is also at its heart about learning how to survive • Mating and social rules also critical to us • Education == Entertainment • Fun is about practicing or learning new survival skills in a relatively safe setting CS 4455

19. Natural Funativity Theory • Basic concept is that all fun derives from practicing survival and social skills • Key skills relate to early human context, but often in modern guise • Three overlapping categories • Physical, Social, and Mental CS 4455

20. Definition of a Great Game • A great game is a series of interesting and meaningful choices made by the player in pursuit of a clear and compelling goal CS 4455

21. A Series of … Choices in Pursuit of a … Goal • Interactivity • Games = goals and rules? • Toys vs. games? • Interesting and Meaningful Choices • Meaningful choices are perceived by the player as having significant consequences • S/Z: meaningful play • Actions to outcomes are “descriptive and integrated” CS 4455

22. A Series of Choices • No choice CS 4455

23. A Series of Choices • Meaningless choices CS 4455

24. A Series of Choices • Infinite choices CS 4455

25. A Series of Choices • Choose wisely CS 4455

26. Classic Game Structure • Convexities • Other terms (e.g., Narrative spine) • Fractal nature CS 4455

27. A Series of Convexities • Popular structure • Some freedom, implementable CS 4455

28. The Concept of Flow • Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi • “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience” • Flow is a state of exhilaration, deep sense of enjoyment • Usually when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile CS 4455

29. The Flow Channel • Start with relatively low level of challenge to match starting skill levels • Gradually increase challenge • Fast enough to prevent boredom • Not so fast as to induce frustration CS 4455

30. The Flow Channel CS 4455

31. Difficulty Increase Varies CS 4455

32. Story and Character • Emotional association, strengthen reaction • Interactive story different than linear stories • Murray, Hamlet on the Holodeck • “Do, don’t show” • Don’t make choices for the player • Bring out character through action • Gameplay Trumps Story! CS 4455