1. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?
UNDERSTANDING THE CONTENTIOUS(?) RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
VIDEOGAME PLAY AND VIDEOGAME NARRATIVE
ND Bowman
Indiana University
24 Jan 2014
Media and
Interaction Lab

2. ABSTRACT
Video games have enjoyed sustained economic and cultural success for
nearly four decades, with their success often attributed to their interactive
nature: passive audiences become active users with a vested stake in the
on-screen experience. However, as games continue their evolution from
singular challenge/skill puzzles to narrative-rich virtual worlds, the manner
in which we play and are affected by this play has been called into
question. Specifically, given that users do not have an unlimited ability
to process stimuli, one might challenge the implicit assumption that
gamers interact with and are influenced by all on-screen content in a
similar fashion. The following presentation outlines emerging theory and
research into the ways in which gamers attend to different on-screen
content, and how this implicit and explicit attention can impact the overall
entertainment experience.

3. Research Rant
PREAMBLE: S  O  R

4. SOR
Organism
Meaning is
created here!
Stimulus
Response

5. SOR
VIDEO games
• Narrative worlds
Video GAMES
• Ludic systems

6. SOR
• So, do we get to BE Batman, or do we get to
PLAY Batman? Can’t we do BOTH? [NO]

7. IU Guest Lecture
VIDEO GAMES

8. VIDEO GAMES
• Games = challenge + skill

9. VIDEO GAMES
• In video game, skill is
based on our ability to
control the interactivity
(form + content)
• One such control is
our cognitive
abilities
(a few) cognitive skills
found to correlate w/
game performance:
2D mental rotation
3D mental rotation
Moving targeting
Fixed targeting
Eye-hand coordination
Fine motor skill
Word completion

10. VIDEO GAMES
• Challenge/skill
balances are key to
understanding how
we engage activities

11. VIDEO GAMES
@JenovaChen
• We tap our skills
when we want to
attain or sustain a
state of flow…
• …but other “things”
can also impact skill

12. VIDEO GAMES
• Arousal can impact skill via drive: E = f (HxD)
• As drive increases, we respond with our
dominant (cognitive) skill

13. VIDEO GAMES
• Arousal from
Audience Presence!*
*At high levels of difficulty, audience
presence had no effect on performance
because drive was maximized by task
challenge!

14. VIDEO GAMES
• Arousal from
Task Demand!

15. VIDEO GAMES
• Interactivity is Demanding
– Cognitively demanding
– Behaviorally demanding
– Affectively demanding
– Socially demanding?
LC4MP

16. IU Guest Lecture
VIDEO GAMES

17. VIDEO GAMES
“…games have said goodbye to the tired
alien invasions and over-the-top fantasy
stories so often found in video games.
Instead, they peer into the dark reaches
of the very real human heart to deliver
stories that are thrilling, chilling and
utterly absorbing” ~ Winda Benedetti
@WindaBenedetti

18. VIDEO GAMES
@jesseschell
“Are we going to have
a Shakespeare of
games? A game that
was told so perfectly,
and so well, that 200
years later people will
insist we play it
exactly as it was?“ ~
Jesse Schell (2013)
@waltdwilliams
“When you‟re using action
as a tool, it’s easy to
disassociate from what
that action is…with a
shooter, that action is killing
another person.” ~ Walt
Williams (2013)

19. VIDEO GAMES
“Indeed, to say that one „„enjoyed‟‟ or was
„„entertained by‟‟ a film
such as Hotel Rwanda would seem decidedly
odd, at best” (Oliver & Raney, 2011).

20. VIDEO GAMES
You make a game
meaningful by
drawing us into the
emotion …
“72 percent of players who
started Heavy Rain finished it …
if you compare it to the industry
average completion rate, which is
20-25 percent, it's downright
astounding.” ~ Kristine Steimer
…but you have to
dial back to the
gameplay to do
this?
@steimer

21. VIDEO GAMES
• So, if we don’t enjoy these
media products, then what do
we do with them?
• Selection is driven by a
different set of motivations

22. VIDEO GAMES
Hey, this is really:
• Reflective
• Inspiring
• Expressive
• Meaningful
Hey, this is really:
• Arousing
• Exciting
• Pleasurable
• Diversionary

23. VIDEO GAMES
• 97.6% fun vs. 71.9%
meaningful
• “insight” as separate need
• “Pleasure of Control”
• “Pleasure of Cognition”

24. VIDEO GAMES
Enjoyment
Step 1: Controls
Gender
Age
∆R2
Step 2: Intrinsic Needs
Competence
Autonomy
Relatedness
Insight
∆R2
Step 3: CA
Identification
Suspension of Disbelief
Control
Responsibility
∆R2
Appreciation
-.05
-.09
.01
-.22***
-.10+
.06***
.47***
.13*
.01
-.05
.28***
-.02
.02
.36***
.58***
.69***
-.08
.00
.12*
-.08
.02+
-.01
.03
-.06+
.10**
.01+

25. VIDEO GAMES
• Implications

26. IU Guest Lecture
MOVING FORWARD

27. MOVING FORWARD
• Perspective Demand?
– Assumption is that “forced
perspective” drives presence,
driving up enjoyment
– Lots of (anecdotal) evidence
suggesting forced perspective
to be detrimental to fun (task
demanding?)

28. MOVING FORWARD
Performance
?
User Perspective
0 = 2D; 1 = 3D
+
+
R2 ~ 1.00
User Agency
0 = Yes, 1 = No
Task Demand
-
+
-
+
-
+
Presence
User experience drives
down task demand.
Enjoyment

29. MOVING FORWARD
• Recall Demand?
– Entertainment = Enjoyment +
Appreciation
– If you can’t process the
narrative, then you don’t have
anything to appreciate.

30. VIDEO GAMES (REMEMBER?)
Enjoyment
Step 1: Controls
Gender
Age
∆R2
Step 2: Intrinsic Needs
Competence
Autonomy
Relatedness
Insight
∆R2
Step 3: CA
Identification
Suspension of Disbelief
Control
Responsibility
∆R2
Appreciation
-.05
-.09
.01
-.22***
-.10+
.06***
.47***
.13*
.01
-.05
.28***
-.02
.02
.36***
.58***
.69***
-.08
.00
.12*
-.08
.02+
-.01
.03
-.06+
.10**
.01+

31. MOVING FORWARD
Enjoyment
- (?)
Task Demand
-
+
- (?)
R2 ~ 1.00
Narrative Recall
-
Evaluation
+
+
Appreciation

32. IU Guest Lecture
EPILOGUE

33. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?
• As we try to understand the psychology of the
video game experience, we have to
understand our capacity to play as well as
our capacity to reflect …
• …and our capacity period.

34. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?
• Not…
Unenjoyable
Very Enjoyable
Non-meaningful
Very Meaningful
• …but?
Very Enjoyable
Very Meaningful

35. FOR MORE INFORMATION
• Nick Bowman, Ph.D. [CV]
Twitter (@bowmanspartan)
Skype (nicholasdbowman)
nicholas.bowman@mail.wvu.edu
Media and
Interaction Lab
Need references
for cited materials?
Contact me!

36. COLLABORATORS AND
INSPIRATIONS
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Andrew Billings
Frank Biocca
Jennings Bryant
Mun-Yun Chung
Mary Beth Oliver
Art Raney
Ryan Rogers
•
•
•
•
•
•
John Sherry
Brett Sherrick
Ron Tamborini
Rene Weber
Julia Woolley
[everyone mentioned
via Twitter!]