GC Final: The Emotional Impact of Video Games

The Emotional Impact of Video Games

There is a reason we play video games. There is a reason that we devote so much of our time into these digital experiences. It could be for social reasons, playing a multiplayer game with a friend. It could be for solitary reasons, escaping into the story of a long RPG. What ever the reason, there is no doubt that video games have an emotional Impact on us. In this essay I would like to explore why that is by examining some research and surveys conducted on the emotional impact of video games. I will also play and summarize a few different games that are credited to have a huge emotional impact.

The emotional impact of video games is a field of study within the gaming world that is becoming increasingly popular. Bowen Research produced a very informative article about this topic. In this article the author Hugh Bowen, a former producer at activision conducts a national online survey with 535 gamers. The task of this survey is to find out how important the range of emotions is to the success of any particular video game. In the survey one-third of gamers felt that games are quite an emotional experience. 8% found them tremendously emotional and 29% found them quite a bit emotional (Bowen). The author then asked the gamers to rank what types of games then found emotionally powerful. RPGs came in first with 78% with first person shooters coming in second with 52%. MMOs which the author thought would have the most impact came in seventh trailing behind fighting and sports games (Bowen). As for individual titles the Final Fantasy series easily dominates all other games with 104 votes followed by the Resident Evil series with 27.

In the study gamers shared the reasons why they get caught up emotionally in video games and it seems to vary with each genre. One gamer states "action games can lead to a state of frustration, panic, exhaustion, exuberance and suspense. Then anger, spitefulness, relief and worry kick in" (Bowen). When gamers were asked about RPGs a whole different range of emotions were noted. One gamer states "You see life and death and magical things occur. Players get involved with the characters due to the depth of the story (that "rival novels"), cut scenes, sweeping musical scores and of course dozens and dozens of hours of play" (Bowen). First person shooters have there own set of emotions as one gamer describes it as "violent, get your rage and blood pumping. You feel the ruthlessness of being the hunter and the fear of being the hunted" (Bowen).

So with all of these different emotions the real question is how important is this to the gamer. According to Bowen Research it is very important with "Half of all gamers (saying that) emotion in games is extremely or somewhat important" (Bowen). The most startling fact that the author found was that "two -thirds of all gamers think that games exceed, could exceed or could equal the emotional richness of other major forms of art and entertainment" (Bowen).

In his article "Bringing emotions to video games the author Tom Loftus asks a simple question "Can games inspire feelings as well as fun" (Loftus). Loftus article begins with a comparison of the game industry to the film industry. He states that "before film became an art it was a spectacle." Loftus goes on to explain that it took decades for the film industry to begin utilizing techniques that would evoke emotion such as good story telling, camera angles editing and acting to the camera (Loftus). Neil Young, vice president at EA, states "When you think about where our medium is and if you could apply it to film, then games are still in the pre-'Citizen Kane' era" (Loftus). Statements such as these really give you a sense of how far games could go in evoking emotional responses. Loftus continues in his article that the gaming industry has had its "Birth of a Nation" moments with titles like the "Final Fantasy series and "The Sims" (Loftus).

In order to begin making games that have the emotional impact of mediums such as film and literature there needs to be a change in the game industry. Game Consultant David Freeman states "Most game designers started as programmers, testers and sometimes visual artist, so none of these people have a background in sophisticated story telling" (Loftus). Freeman continues "It's not just a matter of having a compelling story, it's a matter of having characters that you can identify with. It's a matter of having the player go on the emotional journey" (Loftus).

In Loftus article he explains some methods that game developers are using to bring more emotion into there games. Jon Sykes, a lecturer in Computer Game Design and Human-Computer Interaction asks the question "What if the emotions some of his test subjects felt could be channeled back into the simulation" (Loftus). He goes on to use the example of a haunted house game in which based on how the player feels about a certain situation could trigger the appearance of a ghost. Another experiment that they have attempted is a fighting game called "Zen Warrior." In order to preform a finishing move in this game you have to take on a "zen like" state. This is ultimately measured by the pressure you apply to the key pad (Loftus). The possibilities for emotional interaction with video games are endless and techniques like the ones stated are only beginning to scratch the surface of what can be accomplished.

Now that we have a better understanding of what types of games stimulate emotions, it is important to try and understand why. Author Aki Jarvinen attempts to explain this in the essay "Understanding Video Games as Emotional Experiences." The author goes on to explain that video games evoke such an emotional response because you are a participant. This along with imposed goals creates a sense of attachment to the game which naturally brings out emotion (Jarvinen). Jarvinen goes in depth with explaining the different types of emotions that are experienced through game-play. These could be prospect based emotions, basically action and outcomes. Fortune-of-Others Emotions which is based of of feelings towards someone. Also, Attraction emotions which mostly deal with the physical aspects of the game including graphics and design (Jarvinen).

Jarvinen also goes into detail about the different variables that affect intensities of emotions. These include, sense of reality which deals with if one believes the emotional event is real. Unexpectedness, which is how surprised the player is to an event. Arousal which deals with the players readiness to an emotional experience (Jarvinen). These among many other variables create the emotional responses that a player feels while playing a video game.

Video games are emotional to different users for different reasons. After reading many blogs and sources there are a few games that stand out as having a huge emotional impact. The first game I will be examining is Final Fantasy 7. This RPG from the Final Fantasy series is not just noted as being an emotional game with a deep story line, but is said by many gamers to have the most emotional moment in game history.

The story of Final Fantasy 7 centers on a mercenary named Cloud Strife, who joins with other mercenaries to stop the corporation Shinra from draining the planet of its life energy and ultimately destroying it (Final Fantasy). Each of the 9 playable characters are given rich and in depth back stories that could almost be read as a novel. The deep story combined with amazing graphics and game-play created a seamless experience that is still regarded as one of the best RPGs of all time and is still the best selling in the Final Fantasy series. There is one moment in particular that has a deep emotional impact on gamers. About halfway through the game one of the main characters, Aerith, is killed by the main antagonist Sephiroth (above image). Until this point Aerith is one of, if not, the main character in the game that is fully playable. Her death comes very unexpectedly and not only do you lose a character in the game but a character that the gamer has spent time upgrading and using in battle. After re-watching the death scene on you tube you can see how the game developers carefully used camera angles and music to really create a dramatic movie-like scene.

In Hugh Bowen survey he asked gamers about their most emotional gaming experience and here is what they said about Aerith's death scene in Final Fantasy 7. "The death of Aeries in Final Fantasy VII, where she's thrust through with a sword, appears to be a defining moment for our industry. It was mentioned in the study time and time again. Many cried, and couldn't forget it. People spent months trying to revive her, appealing to Square Enix for a reprieve" (Bowen). Other gamers wrote: "I couldn't play the game for like a week after that, because I was so depressed." "Friends still talk about their surprise, shock and denial when they reached that point in the game." A father was playing the game with his two young sons, and apparently Aeries' death was too much for them: "For months, we couldn't even listen to the musical theme … without one of the boys bursting into tears" (Bowen). To these gamers this moment represented something to them that is similar to a movie experience. It seems to go even further than that, gamers describe it almost like the death of a loved one. This example really shows how deep of an emotional impact a game can have.

The next game I want to examine is one that evokes emotions in a gamer but for entirely different reasons than a story driven RPG game. The Resident Evil series is a survival horror genre that really preys on the gamers fear emotions. In the series you are given limited amounts of ammo and have to solve tough puzzles while mutated zombies are strategically coming after you. After searching the web I found that most gamers had an emotional response to the first resident evil and more specifically the remake of it on Gamecube. In the game you play as a law enforcement task member that finds himself trapped in a mansion located deep in the woods which is filled with mutated zombies. Your only mission in the game is yo uncover the mysteries of the mansion and escape alive (Resident Evil). Resident evil is a game that thrives on atmosphere and you find yourself actually being shocked and scarred in many areas of the game. The remake expands on this by incorporating photo-realistic environments (above image). There is a real sense of danger throughout the entire game where zombies will suddenly break through windows or doors and you may or may not have the ammo to kill them.

In conclusion I feel that video games are just beginning to show the potential for the emotional impact that they can provide. I believe that video games will continue to advance not just graphically but also in the type of emotional experience that they can provide. This is a field worth looking into and it will be interesting to see how games will progress in the coming years.

Work Cited

Bowen, Hugh. Emotions in Videogames: Surprising Results from the New Bowen Research Survey. "about.com" 2009. Web.

Final Fantasy Online. 2009. Web. http://www.ffonline.com/ff7/

Jarvinen, Aki. Understanding Video Games as Emotional Experiences. "The Video Game Theory Reader 2". Routledge. New York. 2009. 85-108. Print.

Loftus, Tom. Bringing Emotions to Video Games. "MSNBC.com" 2009. Web.

Resident Evil Fan. 2009. Web. http://www.residentevilfan.com/

Gaming Journal #4: Movie to Game Adaptations

For my fourth and last Gaming Journal I wanted to look at a few different games all in the same category. The games I played this week are all film to game adaptations but they are all

distinctly different. I chose Harry Potter: And the Order of the Phoenix, a direct film to game adaptation; Lord of the Rings: Conquest, a game that follows the story in the film but gives you control of characters who were not and Batman: Arkham Asylum a game not directly based off of a film but set in the same world. While playing the three games I kept in mind Trevor Elkington's essay "Media Convergence and Self-Defeating Adaptations. The Key Ideas I want to focus on are: 1. Games based on films are often criticized due to the failure to translate the

medium effectively and 2. A statement in Trevor Elkington's essay " What video game consumers seek from adaptations is not a simple, interactive rehearsal of film events but in fact further expansion of a narrative world via an engaged relationship with an interactive

medium."

The first game I played was Harry Potter: And the Order of the Phoenix. I chose this game because it seemed like it would be a great example of a direct adaptation. The game opens up similar to the movie, panning over Hogwarts until it finally gives you control of Harry Potter. The first thing the game has you do is use your magic wand to lift things. Lifting and moving items is your only ability and all I was able to accomplish in the demo was lifting trophies back

on to a shelf. The game starts out with a lot of promise and it feels like it could be an open world exploration of Hogwarts (above image) but it is very linear. The game did surprise me by not following the story from the movie at all but it seemed to show what happened in-between events in the story which involves a lot of walking around and cleaning up trophies. The problem with the game really stems back to key concept #1 and the developers failure to translate a worth while Harry Potter experience.

The second game I played was Lord of the Rings: Conquest and I really had high hopes for this one. Before playing it I was hoping to use it as an example of what can be done right in a film to game adaptation. After playing the game I can say I had a more enjoyable experience cleaning up rooms in Harry Potter. The game starts out with the same cut scenes they show at the beginning of every Lord of the Rings game. After this you are given control of a warrior character and you have to follow other warrior characters who look exactly like you down a path. You are then locked into a circular area where orcs are coming at you and you can push one of three buttons to kill them. This is basically the entire game, you play through scenes from Lord of the Rings one enclosed area at a time. The only difference is you get to play as

background characters in the movie who have a few limited abilities and are similar to the main characters in the story but are definitely not as cool. In fact they all look exactly the same, it is hard to tell what class you are. If that's not bad enough everyone you fight in the game also looks exactly the same, it's just the same character model running after you over and over (above image). This game also relates to key concept #1 but almost worse. It is the same story from the film but with lame characters.

The third game I played was easily the best of the three and really relates to key concept #2. In Batman: Arkham Asylum you take the role of Batman in an original story that sends you chasing the Joker throughout Arkham Asylum. This game isn't directly based of any Batman film, comic, or TV show but rather takes elements from all of these and creates a really enjoyable experience. Even the art design is original in this game and all the characters look

familiar but different and more stylized (above image). This game really enriches the world of Batman by giving you a great, complete game and a story that adds to all of the characters in the Batman world. This game really showcases what can go right in the development of a film to game adaptation.

Gaming Journal #3: Second Life

The game I chose for my third gaming journal was Second Life. I picked this game for many reasons: 1, I have never played a game of this type before; 2, I felt that it would give me some deeper insite and understanding in some of the key concepts we discussed last week; and 3, I was curious.

After playing the game I really couldn't tell you "what it is about", so I had to do some research. The basic premise is that Second Life is an online 3-D virtual world imagined and designed by the players of the game. On the game's website there is an introduction video titled "What is Second Life." The video shows avatars chatting, shopping, working and doing amazing activities. The premise behind the game seems great and the idea that you can interact with friends from around the world is very innovative but something in Second Life goes terribly wrong. This leads me to the Key concepts I will be discussing. Key Concept 1: I want to take a look at Noise within the gameplay including Lag, Language and Lingo and Key Concept 2: I want to look at Second Life as a synthetic world that can be used as a social experiment.

When you first sign into Second Life you chose your name and are given the choice of about ten avatars. After this you are prompted to join "help island" where you can in theroy learn how to play Second Life. I immedietly noticed how crowded the interface is. There are tons of different buttons, menus, popups, options, etc. There is also just stuff everywhere most of it just being

advertisments for various things (above image).

Key Concept 1

The "noise" in Second Life really makes the game unenjoyable. It pretty much ruins the experience of the entire game. As soon as you teleport to a new area random objects begin popping up all around you and the lag makes it unplayable (above image). Eventually after the loading process people will begin popping up. These people are constantly chating in different lingos. This lingo really makes you feel distant from the game more as an observer than a player. There is also a language barrier within the game. Traveling to different rooms and areas I heard many different languages. This is great for the player that speaks these languages but can make other players feel distant within the game.

Key Concept 2

Second Life seems like a social experiment in itself. Players from all over the world are given the ability to do whatever they want in this synthetic world. What seems to happen is that the people playing the game manifest their imagination inside the game which can be very interesting. I teleported to an avatar staring center and in the middle of a town square there was a group of people chatting. This wasn't an ordinary group of people. I watched minature stick figures walk around casually, people dressed up as cats asking me if I need some new clothes, a midget holding a picketing sign and a safe box open up, reach out it's tounge swallow a girl and then rolled around on the ground (above image). This was the most interesting part of Second Life just seeing what people created.

Gaming Journal #2: Braid

The game I chose for my second gaming journal is Braid. It is a platforming puzzle game that gives you the unique ability to reverse time. This ability allows you to rethink and retry puzzles instantly as well as get you out of tough situations. I chose Braid because it has many good examples of Key Ideas discussed in the reading. The two Key Ideas I would like to explore are 1) Failure in general and more specifically failure serving a deeper function of making players readjust their perception of the game and 2) Games that succeed in involving the player inspire, elicit or support the player's "Ludic Attitude".

In Braid you play as a character named Tim who is on a journey to save a princess who left because of the many mistakes he made. The story seems open to interpretation and adds

another layer to an already great game. The first thing that struck me about Braid is the artwork. It is visually stunning and the water color backdrops are amazing. This along with the beautiful music and the solid gameplay immediately drew me into the world of Braid. At first the game feels like a simple platformer and with the ability to rewind time it almost seems to easy. After a few levels that feeling changed and I quickly found myself struggling to collect puzzle pieces and re-evauluating puzzles again and again. This brings me to my first key component failure.

Key Component #1

In Braid you will fail quite a bit and there is really no way around this. What makes Braid stand out is that you can immediately rewind time and instantly try a new approach or improve your timing. There is no way to actually die in the game and this is a welcomed approach to platforming , instead you will find your self failing over and over trying to perfectly time a jump to reach a ledge or a puzzle piece. In the image above I had to time a jump by jumping on a creatures head at the right moment to get to the other side. I failed multiple times before I finally made it across. The constant failing could be frustrating if not handled right, but the designers executed this perfectly. The image below demonstrates how impossible avoiding all of these objects would be without the ability to reverse time and retry. This system of failure really in-riches the game and makes what could be just another platformer that much more fun.

Key Component #2

When I'm playing a game deep down I know it's only a game but a good game will take me out of that frame of mind and submerge me entirely. This is a Bi-plannar experience (VGTR2 p.135) where I'm engrossed in the game even though I know it's only a game. Braid does a excellent job of engaging me in all aspects, from the amazing artwork to the enchanting music, The

physics and playability are done very well and it keeps me wanting to find more puzzle pieces and furthering the adventure. The image below shows some of the backdrop and beauty in the game. The designers did an excellent job of imposing a will-to-play causing me to carefully read the story and take my time to try and get all the puzzle pieces possible. Being able to adopt a "ludic attitude" during the gameplay added to the overall experience and helped me see Braid as more than a game during the entire run-through

Gaming Journal #1: Bioshock

The game I chose for my gaming journal is Bioshock. It is an impressive first person shooter that really draws you in from the first frame and takes you on a shocking and horrific ride through the underwater city of Rapture. The two Key components I will be focusing on are: 1. "A good game is a series of interesting choices" a quote from game designer Sid Meyer and 2. In philosophical games you have to think about what the game represents and simulates.

The presentation in Bioshock is amazing and the way the story unfolds seemlisly through the action is really well done. The game starts off with your plane crashing into the an ocean and you find yourself swimming through the water trying to make it to saftey. You finally come to a stone tower where the door is covenetly open and upon walking inside you find an elevator that takes you to the city of Rapture. The underwater sequence to Raputure shows the true scope a detail of the game (above image).

Key Component 1

At the beginning of the game your choices for the most part are limited but as you progress more and more options open up to you. The big moral descision in Bioshock is whether to harvest the "little sisters" for adam, a material that increases your power. This decision even changes the end of the game dramatically, so much so that it changes what kind of character you are and what your overall purpose in Rapture ultimatley is. Another set of choices that the developers gave you is how you can kill the enemies. There are tons of different guns with three types of ammunition each and many different plasmid abilities that you can upgrade and modify and This works really well and makes what would be just another shooter that much more engaging.

Key Component 2

I would definitley consider Bioshock to be a philosophical game, not only in the choices that you make but in what the game represents. The game is loosely based off of Ayn Rand's book Atlas Shrugged. The author went on to later develop the philosophy of Objectivism and these themes are brought up throughout the game. Playing the game with this in mind really adds to the over all experience and it gives you a purpose for being in Rapture. A purpose that you are still considering long after the game is turned off.