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Communication Technology and New Media Commons™
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Articles 1 - 4 of 4
Full-Text Articles in Communication Technology and New Media
Eliciting Behavior From Interactive Narratives: Isolating The Role Of Agency In Connecting With And Modeling Characters, Francesca R. Dillman, Ryan Rogers, Lisa Barnard
Eliciting Behavior From Interactive Narratives: Isolating The Role Of Agency In Connecting With And Modeling Characters, Francesca R. Dillman, Ryan Rogers, Lisa Barnard
Ryan Rogers
A key component differentiating interactive storytelling from non-interactive media is agency, or control over character choices. A series of experiments show that providing agency over a character increased the user-character connection, which then increased engagement in a character-consistent charitable act. Findings were observed in technologically simple online narratives that controlled for navigation/controller differences, graphics, sounds, lengthy play, and avatar customization. Effects emerged even though users did not practice these acts by making their character behave charitably. Findings were robust across happy and unfortunate endings and across first-, second-, and third-person narrative perspectives. Findings suggest promise for developing inexpensive ‘‘storygames’’ to …
Fun Versus Meaningful Video Game Experiences: A Qualitative Analysis Of User Responses, Ryan Rogers, Julia Woolley, Brett Sherrick, Nicholas David Bowman, Mary Beth Oliver
Fun Versus Meaningful Video Game Experiences: A Qualitative Analysis Of User Responses, Ryan Rogers, Julia Woolley, Brett Sherrick, Nicholas David Bowman, Mary Beth Oliver
Ryan Rogers
Emerging research on video games has suggested that feelings of both enjoyment and meaningfulness can be elicited from gameplay. Studies have shown enjoyment and meaningfulness evaluations to be associated with discrete elements of video games (ratings of gameplay and narrative, respectively), but have relied on closed-end data analysis. The current study analyzed participants’ open-ended reviews of either their “most fun” or “most meaningful” video game experience (N = 575, randomly assigned to either condition). Results demonstrated that “fun” games were explained in terms of gameplay mechanics, and “meaningful” games were explained in terms of connections with players and in-game characters.
Video Games As Meaningful Entertainment Experiences, Mary Beth Oliver, Nicholas David Bowman, Julia K. Woolley, Ryan Rogers, Brett I. Sherrick, Mun-Youn Chung
Video Games As Meaningful Entertainment Experiences, Mary Beth Oliver, Nicholas David Bowman, Julia K. Woolley, Ryan Rogers, Brett I. Sherrick, Mun-Youn Chung
Ryan Rogers
We conducted an experiment to examine individuals’ perceptions of enjoyable and meaningful video games and the game characteristics and dimensions of need satisfaction associated with enjoyment and appreciation. Participants (N = 512) were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 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 was high for both groups, though appreciation was higher in the meaningful- than fun-game condition. Further, enjoyment was most strongly associated with gameplay characteristics and satisfaction of needs related to competency …
It’S Not The Model That Doesn’T Fit, It’S The Controller! The Role Of Cognitive Skills In Understanding The Links Between Natural Mapping, Performance, And Enjoyment Of Console Video Games, Ryan Rogers, Nicholas David Bowman, Mary Beth Oliver
It’S Not The Model That Doesn’T Fit, It’S The Controller! The Role Of Cognitive Skills In Understanding The Links Between Natural Mapping, Performance, And Enjoyment Of Console Video Games, Ryan Rogers, Nicholas David Bowman, Mary Beth Oliver
Ryan Rogers
This study examines differences in performance, frustration, and game ratings of individuals playing first person shooter video games using two different controllers (motion controller and a traditional, pushbutton controller) in a within-subjects, randomized order design. Structural equation modeling was used to demonstrate that cognitive skills such as mental rotation ability and eye/hand coordination predicted performance for both controllers, but the motion control was significantly more frustrating. Moreover, increased performance was only related to game ratings for the traditional controller input. We interpret these data as evidence that, contrary to the assumption that motion controlled interfaces are more naturally mapped than …