“Lugo: You’re f*cking kidding, right? That’s

white phosphorous!

Walker: Yeah I know what it is…

Lugo: You’ve seen what the sh*t does! You know

we can’t …

Adams: ...We might not have a choice Lugo…

Lugo: There’s always a

choice!”

Popular conceptualizations of videos games often tend to characterize this form of entertainment as a somewhat shallow or superficial diversion filled with adolescent fantasies of gladiator battles and zombie shootouts. Although these characterizations may aptly describe a sizable segment of available games, there seem to be notable exceptions to this general rule. Is the popular and critical success of Heavy Rain an exception that ultimately serves to prove the rule that games focus almost entirely on hedonic concerns? Or might games have the ability to address individuals’ needs for greater insight and meaning as well?

Video Games as Meaningful Entertainment Experiences Oliver, Bowman, Woolley, Rogers, Sherrick, Chung

Oliver, M. B., Bowman, N. D., Woolley, J. K., Rogers, R., Sherrick, B. I., & Chung, M-Y.(2013, June). Video Games as Meaningful

Entertainment Experiences. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Communication Association, London.

An experiment was conducted to examine individuals’ perceptions of their recall of enjoyable and meaningful video games, as well as the game characteristics and dimensions of need-satisfaction associated with experiences of enjoyment and appreciation. Participants (N = 512) were randomly assigned to one of two groups that asked them to recall a game that they found either particularly fun or particularly meaningful, and to then rate their perceptions of the game that they recalled. Enjoyment of the game was equally high for both groups, though appreciation was higher in the meaningful- than fun-game condition. Enjoyment of games was most strongly associated with gameplay characteristics and satisfaction of needs related to competency and autonomy, whereas appreciation of games was most strongly associated with story characteristics and satisfaction of needs related to insight and relatedness. Keywords: video games, enjoyment, meaningfulness, entertainment

Abstract______________

Research Questions_____ RQ1: Are individuals able to recall meaningful video game experiences at the same rate that they are able to recall enjoyable video game experiences? RQ2: Is there an additional non-hedonic gratification that is more characteristic of meaningful than fun game experiences? RQ3: How do game characteristics and need satisfaction work together in predicting both enjoyment and appreciation of games?

Background_______________________________

Released in 2010, Heavy Rain set an unprecedented

75% completion mark, selling over two million copies

worldwide as a “video game noir” – a game that

“[peers] into the dark reaches of the very real human

heart to deliver stories that are thrilling, chilling and

utterly absorbing” (Benedetti, 2010)

Enjoyment seems to stem from the satisfaction of

needs related to competence and autonomy

(Tamborini et al, 2010) …

…but what about other intrinsic needs, such as

relatedness or insight – what elements of games (if

any) might satisfy these needs?

Results___________________________________

Method_______________ Online survey (N = 512), with largely male (67.8%) respondents ranging in age from 18 to 56 years old (Median = 27, M = 28.98, SD = 7.44), with an average experience playing video games of M = 7.47 years (SD = 6.41). Participants entered into a raffle for one of 10 $50USD Amazon.com gift cards. Participants were randomly assigned to complete a survey about “a particularly fun (n = 249)” or “a particularly meaningful (n = 263)” video game, borrowing from Oliver and Hartmann (2010). Enjoyment and appreciation were measured using Oliver and Bartsch (2010), three items each. Affective responses included*: • Meaningful affect: touched, moved,

compassionate, inspired • Negative affect: angry, anxious, tense, negative • Positive affect: amused, humored, happy,

positive

Game characteristics were rated using a 0-100 scale for gameplay, story, and sound

Need satisfaction was measured using Tamborini et al, with the addition of unique “insight” items** *PCA with promax rotation; **validated with CFA

RQ1: 97.6% of “fun” participants could recall a fun game, while 71.9% of “meaningful” participants could recall a meaningful game, χ2 (N = 512, DF = 1) = 64.22, p < .001, Cramer’s V = .35. Fun gaming experiences are more frequently recalled than meaningful ones, but both are recalled by a majority of respondents. RQ2: CFA revealed “insight” to be a unique dimension of need satisfaction, and the satisfaction of “insight” was higher for “meaningful” participants than for “fun” participants. RQ3: Gameplay ratings are directly associated with enjoyment scores, and have an indirect association through their influence on the satisfaction of competence and autonomy needs. Story ratings are directly associated with apprecation scores, and have an indirect association through their influence on the satisfaction of relatedness and insight needs.