Wednesday 11 April 2012

Video Game Research

When you play a video game you are entering a unique time and place. This is the basic idea behind all video game research that focuses on providing a unique and different game experience. However, is it truly all this theory that makes a game fun to play or is there something else involved? There are many factors to be considered, but first you have to realizes what the different theories are for videogame research. When you play a video game you enter a specific arena that incorporates the area around you and the people you playing with. Even when done online in a multiplayer setting, a videogame provides a sense of socialization. Therefore, videogame research has to focus on game play that allows players to interact together. Videogame research looks at two aspects, first the narration of the focus of the story and the characters in a game. Second, is the actual act of game play itself. The basic approach to game play is that you get stuck and then have to find a solution. Videogame research determines the best way for this to happen through three forms of analysis, the qualitative that deals with the puzzle itself, the sociological that deals with the point at which people become stuck in a game and the psychological in which how the player is rewarded for finding the solution and how gamers will respond to this. However, this information only allows videogame researchers to determine the best hooks to use to keep a player intrigued such as action, resources, strategies or time; what this doesn't teach a videogame researcher is how to make a game enjoyable for people. There are many things that make a game enjoyable including the interaction among players and the story itself. When it comes to videogame research it can go a long way to creating a fascinating and enjoyable game, but research can't really determine if a game will be fun for people to play. That is something that can't ever be learned through simple research.




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