[In this student thesis for Full Sail University, Joshua Kennedy outlines the "immature benefits" of the game industry, and offers several solutions to expand the business beyond pure entertainment.]

Abstract

In four decades, the video game industry has climbed to the height of popular entertainment. In addition, recent trends in video games offer benefits to society. However, due to negative social perception and a struggling economy, those benefits remain immature, as many barriers to content and industry development restrict developers.

This study examines digital divides, content regulations, and physiological effects in order to prove that games should be developed as digital tools for non-traditional markets. Once possible, unrestricted developers of such tools could then center on business solutions and economic recovery. By the end of this study, it will be shown that game developers should collaborate with non-traditional business markets, such as occupational training and therapy.

Introduction

Video games are a topic being discussed widely by both public consumers and industry professionals. More recently, gaming is being discussed among circles outside the traditional gamer market (Squire, 2003). However, such discussion is predominantly focused on negative aspects of content in video games. Meanwhile, insufficient attention is being focused on the positive aspects of video games, such as using gaming's attraction to encourage development and utilization of games as tools.

Within the professional and business (e.g. non-traditional) community, games are proving themselves as valuable tools for business development and training. Studies are currently being conducted on the application of video games in many industries and internal disciplines, such as the medical and educational fields (Brunner, et al., 2005). Nonetheless, the benefits of games and gaming are ignored, widely misunderstood, or not accepted in many areas of society.

This study sets out to investigate video games and their negatively perceived attributes, through their: 1) general social perception via common gamer stereotypes; 2) the digital divides observed in social populations; and, 3) threats of strict content regulation, concerning video game development. Furthermore, this study will discuss: one, 1) the benefits of video games; 2) why video games should enter non-traditional game markets (i.e., occupational training and therapy); and, 3) how developers and the public can work toward increased mutual economic benefits.

Background Research

The Modern Video Game

The story of the game industry is one that might be traced all the way back to the origins of play and interaction of participants in organized systems. 'Play' was used to entertain children, which would often be tailored to teach skills or knowledge in a desired manner and context. Marilyn Fleer discussed in the Science Education journal a study conducted of children that investigated the relationship of children and everyday development of concepts within a play-based context. Those findings led to the understanding of the ability to map the dynamics of thought processing during play. Moreover, the study linked development in 'play' and human potential. This is a central construct involved in the modern video game and supports that play (in all forms) can be designed to teach tangible and intangible skills (Fleer, 2009).

Through play, video games are an interactive experience involving the coordination of the participant(s)'s physical or auditory responses, for the completion of an objective or challenge via any medium familiar to the average person - such as internet, computer, console, software application, etc.

"Game mechanics today incorporate a wide variety of tasks and activities in the form of player puzzles and obstacles to be overcome, and usually require different types of behavior and action from a player to complete them." (Goodman, 2010, p. 3).

This means that objective and strategy are the foundations for the definition of video games or gaming.

Further definitions can be found in Mark Wolf's (2000) online report of 42 clearly defined game genres based on user interactivity. Each genre definition is followed with a note of similar genres and game examples (e.g., Utility - similar interactive genre of - Educational, with Mario Teaches Typing as example) (Wolf, 2000). The author's definitions for each game genre seem based on the existing game examples given. Such allowed flexibility (i.e., example-based classifications), in the development of future interactive game genres, provides potential application of a game(s) or game mechanic(s) across multiple genres. With previous definitions based on iconography the modern definition of video games can be based on interactive classification, allowing video games' interactivity to define their purpose.

So, what is a modern video game? As described in the book The Video Game Theory Reader: "The video game is now considered as everything from the ergodic (work) to the ludic (play); as narrative, simulation, performance, remediation, and art; a potential tool for education or an object of study for behavioral psychology; as a playground for social interaction; and, of course, as a toy and a medium of entertainment." (Routledge, 2003)

Essentially, the underlying definition of a video game is grounds to investigate games that have a strong relationship correlating them as tools. Because this is what video games are naturally evolving into, as a whole, modern video games are a form of play, a way to learn objectives and strategies, and a tool from which to gain knowledge and skills.

Negative Perception Research

Physiological Effects

Violence

Currently, there is a negative social view of modern video games as entertainment because games are perceived as having harmful effects resulting from extensive play of violent video game content. In a study on the effects of video games, author Randy Schroeder discusses the existence of concern for the growing popularity of violent material among many forms of entertainment media. Schroeder refers specifically to the competitive marketing methodologies employed by video game companies, of increasing the frequency and intensity of violence in video media despite market saturation, and video game players' ability to, "...distinguish between play violence and real violence" (Schroeder, 1996).

Moreover, a study done by Farrar, Kromar & Nowak (2006), investigated specific features that violent games sometimes possess, allowing the violent game content to be manipulated contextually in terms of violence intensity and frequency. This study's findings show that violence and aggression, through developing specific features for users to manipulate, have become of even greater public concern ten years later (from the first stated study), as they relate to mental models of media violence (Farrar, Krcmar, & Nowak, 2006). From this, as video games have grown in popularity over the decade, the concern for violence in games has escalated to common negative social perceptions.

Addiction

In the early years of gaming history, player inputs were limited to single button interface or more simply button-only interfacing -- there was very little physical movement required of players. This lead to two major concerns within the public forum, game-play addiction and physical/health changes by video game players.

Researchers Chin-Sheng Wan and Wen-Bin Chiou conducted a study of adolescent online game addicts' motivations, which investigated the intrinsic motivation of participants and the effects and potential influence gaming holds over players. The authors speak directly about the Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG) genre, which can be seen in extreme cases to cause in players, large declines in social skills and possible obsessions with game-play. Based on a "self-determination theory", the study suggested that addiction to (online) video games is based on intrinsic motivation (Wan & Chiou, 2007).

Essentially, those that are addicted to video games already have characteristics of addiction, which is heightened when reward-based motivation is in place. Although this study shows addiction to video games is based on the individual, social perception, for the most part, views video games in general as addicting due to the intrinsic reward-based characteristic of games.

Weight And Lifestyle

Coupled with violence and addiction is the negative social perception that excessive time spent playing video games can lead to behavioral trends with lasting physical effects, like unnecessary weight gain (obesity). A study that indirectly approaches this argument; researchers Wack and Tantleff (2009), "...investigated relationships between frequency of electronic game play and obesity, the social/emotional context of electronic game play, and academic performance among 219 college aged males"(p.1). Their findings reported over 900 hours of game play with ten (10) percent of students tested playing 35 hours on average per week. Despite such incredible numbers, no significant relationship between body mass index (BMI), and grade point average (GPA), and gaming habits could be found. The authors go on further, suggesting the potential for gaming, among college-aged men, to be a positive outlet for socialization, relaxation and coping (Wack & Tantleff-Dunn, 2009). Yet, similar to the social perception of game addiction, society continues to correlate extended video gaming, and thereby gamers, with obesity.