Friday 9 March 2007

Pleasure, Pain and Play

There are often many pleasures and pains of playing digital games. Therefore in the ever growing business of video games, they must be suitable for its audience. For example aesthetics can often be defined as "of or pertaining to sensuous perception received by the senses". (Oxford English Dictionary, 1989). Consequently a video game must be designed for its player to ensure they have the ultimate gaming experience. When looking at the idea of reward, many players continuously ask themselves why they decide to play some games over and over again? Or why they frustrate themselves with complicated strategic games? Lastly many will ask why they always have to win? Reward plays a key part in gaming. For example “Players who have enjoyable and productive learning experiences with a game will sustain positive attitudes about learning that subject". (2006, p.391) Therefore the reward is likely to be significant to the individual.

When looking at the game Pro Evo on the Play station, I began to wonder what sort of reward I was after. For example the game is a sporting game so I became very competitive. In Pro Evo I could choose my football team from a variety of teams. I then choose the location and to play against the computer. I could control my team by using one player at a time. At the beginning I found I wasn't very good, however through repetitious playing, I gradually got better. The need to win was gradually increasing. For example "Players must continually practice in order to develop the skill sets necessary to successfully survive or thrive in a game". (2006, p.189). In the end I discovered I wanted a reward of glory in this particular game. When looking at the game Fishy, you had to control a fish by moving up and down so you don't get eaten. It did become boring at times, however I kept playing in the need for a reward. Arguably you could say it was another glory reward. Lastly I looked at the game Tomb Raider on the play station. I had to complete levels set in different locations and gain new weapons. After playing this game I gained the rewards of facility. You can increase you status and enhance your abilities. The type of rewards which did not appear in these games was rewards of access and rewards of substance.



Bibliography:


Oxford English Dictionary (1989) Retrieved on 28th February from the World Wide Web:
http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50003631?single=1&query_type=word&queryword
=aesthetic&first=1&max_to_show=10


Vorderer, P., Bryant, J. (2006) Playing Video Games, United States of America: Lawerence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.


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