While not a new technology, advances in stereoscopic video displays have attempted to make more translucent the divide between video games and their players. Modern video game systems now support native 3D display technology, as do many modern televisions. Indeed, the promise of 3D appears to be in line with the implicit promise of the video game: to allow the user a virtual space to escape, control, and challenge skills in an immersive fantasy environment. Assuming a complementarity between the goals of 3D displays and video games, we might assume 3D games by proxy to be more enjoyable and desired. Yet, one might also argue that the inclusion of a third dimension of attention may be a particularly taxing situation, especially for a video gamer already attending to the processing of complex narrative and control structures in many video games. Research has shown a curvilinear relationship between the cognitive load of a video game’s interface and both performance at and enjoyment of the game, and it remains open to empirical question whether the added cognitive load required to process a 3D environment would be beneficial or detrimental to performance and enjoyment when compared to a similarly-situated 2D environment. Moreover, as 3D games are designed with aesthetics as well as gameplay mechanics in mind, we wonder if audiences might enjoy the presentation as much as, if not more than, the players themselves – audiences not having to make the same cognitive resource commitment to gameplay as users. The current paper delineates arguments suggesting both positive and negative influences of 3D and proposes a series of experimental designs aimed at further understanding the relationship between agency, demand, and perspective on performance at, presence in and enjoyment of video games.

1. THREE DIMENSIONS OF VIDEO GAMES:
THE INFLUENCE AGENCY, DEMAND,
AND PERSPECTIVE ON PERFORMANCE
AT, PRESENCE IN, AND ENJOYMENT OF
VIDEO GAMES – A PROSPECTUS
Nicholas David Bowman, Ph.D.
Gregory Cranmer, M.A.

2. WHAT?
• Lots of research on
gaming, but let’s put (some
of) it together to explain
the phenomenology
• For us, the phenomenon
is fun

3. TECHNOLOGY PROGRESS
• The history of gaming has
been tied to advances in
tech
– Bit Wars
– Processor Wars
– Engagement Wars?

4. TECHNOLOGY PROGRESS
• Does progress always mean better?
– Jöckel & Bowman (2012) say no
• Usability > Graphics  Enjoyment
– Bowman & Tamborini (2012) say ‘meh’
• Game selection was curvilinear with task demand,
effects on enjoyment less clear
– Industry evidence suggesting 3D gaming is dying
• One claim is that is too demanding, disorienting

5. RESEARCH MODEL
Performance
- +
-
+
R2 ~ 1.00
User Perspective + Task Demand
User Agency
Enjoyment
0 = 2D; 1 = 3D 0 = Yes, 1 = No
- +
- +
Presence
-

6. CAUSES

7. TASK DEMAND
• We can look at the workload of a
given interface
– Bowman and Tamborini (2012)
found TLX to predict selective
exposure following mood
manipulations
– Link to enjoyment less clear

8. USER PERSPECTIVE
• Assumption is that “forced
perspective” drives presence,
driving up enjoyment
• Lots of (anecdotal?) evidence
suggesting forced perspective
to be detrimental to fun
(demanding?)

9. USER AGENCY
• Game are more fun when
played not watched…
– Pleasure of control
– Pleasure of presence
• But, watching can be fun
also; especially rich
visuals

10. EFFECTS

11. PERFORMANCE
• Bowman et al. (in press)
find (shockingly) that +
performance = +
enjoyment
• How might TLX interfere
with performance? Badly.

12. PRESENCE
• The sense of “being there”
in the virtual environment
is though to help boost
enjoyment…
• …but we can also be
disturbed by the
environment?

13. ENJOYMENT
• Enjoyment (hedonic) can be met by:
– Control of the game
– Performance at the game
– Feeling present in the game
So, why aren’t 3D games doing well?

14. RESEARCH MODEL (AGAIN)
NOTE: Time spent playing
might solve all of this! Performance
- +
-
+
R2 ~ 1.00
User Perspective + Task Demand
User Agency
Enjoyment
0 = 2D; 1 = 3D 0 = Yes, 1 = No
- +
- +
Presence
-

15. FOR MORE INFORMATION
PLEASE CONTACT:
Nicholas David Bowman, Ph.D.
Nicholas.Bowman@mail.wvu.edu
onmediatheory.blogspot.com
@bowmanspartan