Primary Research

(Observing two males aged 21-22, both regular games)
Both players became easily absorbed into the first game (Halo Reach), with players leaning in towards the screen, the game has all their focus. Playing against each other created a minimal amount of banter and all conversation is about the game, if talking they were speaking strategically. The comments made about game play are very sarcastic, especially towards each other when something works to either players favor. Sentences about anything unrelated to the game are very rare, mostly just swearing or insulting the other player and being offensive. Players also seemed so absorbed in the game that they rarely finished a full sentence and they seemed to forget what they were trying to say. Gamers had no other media form on at the same time, so they're minds were completely focused on the game being played. Having said that, player 2 regularly sang to himself singing songs related to the killing he was doing in the game at the time. However as his focus was elsewhere, he often forgot words and resulted to humming or creating new lyrics about the game. The strong focus on the game began to fade after 20minutes when players started to become bored, they then turned to finding the funniest way to kill each other. The conversation then turned humorous and constant with regular jokes and laughing.

This is similar to when the players began a racing game (Forza 3). They began by choosing cars seriously and racing to their best ability. However after around 15minutes, game play turned into having fun, crashing into each other purposefully, as well as racing the wrong way around the track and finding the worst cars possible. A lot more conversation is had when racing and it is always light hearted and jokey, compared to the abusive and insulting conversations during Halo.

When playing sport games such as Fifa 2011, both players are aggressive and easily irritated by the game. There is no real skill to the game and decisions made by the game itself (such as when a free kick should be given) are sometimes false which only aggravates players more. The anger is now directed to the game instead of each other and both players are being sarcastic towards each other as well as the game. Player 2 is speaking a lot more, however comments are half complete and not entirely relevant, he repeatedly yelled ‘Cillit Bang’ at one point.

In all games played, the player in the lead was cocky and sarcastic, whereas the player losing constantly swears and gets angry. This is mainly player 1 in the lead, however when player 2 does better he instantly becomes cocky and player 1 becomes angry. I think this shows how gaming brings out the competitive side of people. It also appeared that the more experienced player, who won the majority of the time, is able to laugh and joke when he is winning, however when he gets killed or is losing, makes an excuse as to why and becomes very easily agitated and swears. Less experienced players also get easily agitated however not as easily, and they seem to get a lot more enjoyment out of doing something well on the game.

Both players get very agitated after not smoking for a length of time. This is more obvious around the games they found more aggravating such as the football. However when playing Halo, which held their attention for longer, the need for a cigarette was less apparent. I think this is a prime example of how games can absorb you and completely influence your mood and feelings.

When playing individually, on role playing games, the player is very focused and drawn into the game. He is somewhat oblivious as to what is happening around him. I have to repeat his name a number of times before he listens to me. The gamer has a lot of patience for this genre of game, able to play on it for hours at a time without becoming tired or bored of it. This is such a contrast to when the player is gaming online against strangers. He easily gets fed up and uninterested in the game, becoming frustrated at the other players.

Despite the heavy use of the console, the gamer has not once used the Facebook or Twitter functions. He briefly scrolls through the market place but doesn’t give it his full attention, he seems to be looking through it just for something to do, not with any intent to use it properly. He rarely uses the radio or music player function, when asked about it, he said it distracted away from game play. Also the radio function became annoying as he doesn’t particularly like the radio anyway. Overall he uses the Xbox for gaming not for the ‘add on’s’.

From observing this gamer, even though the extra features on the consoles are constantly being improved, I don’t believe it will lead to an increase of gaming. The gamer doesn’t use the features and seems to dislike the fact they are there. Although this is only observing a select gamer, I believe that many others will feel this way. I think that as long as the original formats are available, people will favor those over those available on the console.

By observing these gamers, I realize just how controlling games can become, I watched as both players became easily absorbed into games which resulted in them barely speaking for an amount of time. Although the term ‘social depravation’ seems quite severe, I believe that gamers could become so infatuated with the console and gaming that they would loose social skills, such as the aggressive language, limited speech and quick mood changes.