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Games Entertainment Science

Videogames Fill Psychological Needs for Players 143

Posted by Zonk from the all-about-the-deepseated-pinata-wants dept.
codegen writes "The CBC (among others) is reporting that researchers at the University of Rochester and Immersyve Inc. have released a study indicating that people enjoy video games because they satisfy a psychological need. The study showed that the interrelations between players in MMOGs were particularly important. From the article: 'Gamers said they felt the best about their experience when the games they played produced positive outcomes in scenarios related to the real world ... The researchers evaluated players' motivations in virtual worlds by asking four groups of people to play different games, including a genre known as massively multiplayer online (MMO) games, which some industry watchers regard as the future of video games.'"
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Videogames Fill Psychological Needs for Players More

Videogames Fill Psychological Needs for Players

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  • So wait, are all videogames MMOGs now? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by sottitron ( 923868 ) on Thursday December 28, 2006 @04:24PM (#17391438)
    I don't know about anyone else, but I play to escape, not to feel fulfilled about anything of the real world.

    • Re:So wait, are all videogames MMOGs now? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Maximum Prophet ( 716608 ) on Thursday December 28, 2006 @04:37PM (#17391586)
      You can, and some people do, escape by digging a hole in your back yard and moving in. (The deeper, the better the escape)

      Video games are more fulfilling than the hole. Better games are more fulfilling than not so good games, although we are seeing some MMOGs that are achieving a low-level, lizard-brain kind of fulfillment that is more adicting than good-for-you.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by petro6 ( 989039 )
      They tested other kinds of games too.
      Here's the abstract [metapress.com] It's kinda saying. Folks feel good when they play video games, rather, when they feel good, while a player's needs are met while they play a game, they are likely to enjoy it more, and play more. MMO games seem to fulfill more needs and that is why they are so addictive.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by idlemind ( 760102 )
        I'll expand a little on what need I think MMOs fill. MMO games fill a need that life does not. In the MMO your character always progresses forward. It's hard to 'fail' in an MMO and even if you do you can walk away. You can't really just walk away from failures in life.

        • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

          by O.W.M ( 884392 )
          You can't really just walk away from failures in life.

          Why not?

          Granted death is an exception, but that isn't as likely to happen very soon in real life as in a MMORPG. Other than that you really can walk away from most failures.

          I myself have some really serious failures behind me. Some by choice (we all make bad choices sometimes) and some more or less by accident. Sometimes there has been consequences, sometimes more than just a lost level, but I've always been able to walk away with a new lesson learned. S
    • perhaps the need to escape /is/ something needed in the real world?

      i personally feel a greater level of escape when i play with other people (MMO's or even just typical multiplayer). i think it makes it a more convincing experience =/

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dave562 ( 969951 )
        i personally feel a greater level of escape when i play with other people (MMO's or even just typical multiplayer). i think it makes it a more convincing experience

        I can only really speak about WoW, but Blizzard takes that to another level. Although you can play most of the game by yourself, it actually is better, and more emersive when you play with other people. The other classes are so complimentary. I'm thinking inparticular about the various buffs. Any class is more powerful with a fortitude buff.

    • It's not just MMOGs that have this fulfillment/achievement mechanic. Platformers, for years, have had "collect all 100 widgets in this level" goals. RPGs have tons of various side quests and extra missions you can do. Action and adventure games have completion scores, and the ability to replay the game under various difficulty settings.

      Every gamer I know becomes obsessed with at least one of mechanics, primarily for the genre they prefer. Just beating the game often isn't enough anymore.
    • Reminds me of one of the opening taglines on a Futurama episode:

      "Not a substitute for human interaction."

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
      Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Duh (Score:2, Troll)

    by 0racle ( 667029 )
    The need is called entertainment.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by moore.dustin ( 942289 )
      I dont play for "entertainment" as much as I am entertained by what the game offers. Competition, strategic thinking, social aspects (MMO), and others depending on the game. I go to a movie, read, or watch TV more for pure entertainment than I do with games. Games also offer some to escape reality for a while and "let loose", which is not simple entertainment. Sometime I like a good 20 minutes of fragging before sitting down to code something for example. I am playing to zone out, relax, and not worry about

      • Re:Duh (Score:5, Informative)

        by drinkypoo ( 153816 ) <drink@hyperlogos.org> on Thursday December 28, 2006 @05:02PM (#17391906) Homepage Journal
        I dont play for "entertainment" as much as I am entertained by what the game offers.

        I don't eat for "sustenance" as much as I am sustained by what food offers.

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by Lord Ender ( 156273 )
        What you want is called beer. It helps you relax, but it also tastes good and is good for your health. It doesn't need upgrading every nine months, either.

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by StikyPad ( 445176 )
        I too am entertained by what the game offers. Run around looking for "mines," gathering pelts, working on "trade skills," killing things repeatedly for hours on end. They really expect me to pay to do that? That's entertaining alright.

  • Doesn't it seems obvious to you? (Score:5, Informative)

    by partenon ( 749418 ) * on Thursday December 28, 2006 @04:26PM (#17391462) Homepage

    ... indicates that people enjoy video games because they are satisfying at a fundamental psychological level.

    ... but instead a sense of achievement, freedom and even social connectedness.

    The draw of video games "also can be experienced as enhancing psychological wellness, at least short-term," ...
    Everything in this article seems pretty obvious to me... Just put some researchers playing WoW for a week and I bet a better research would came out.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by TheChromaticOrb ( 931032 )
      Everything in this article seems pretty obvious to me... Just put some researchers playing WoW for a week and I bet a better research would came out.
      But that's what they did: this report was obviously written while waiting for a rezz.

    • Re:Doesn't it seems obvious to you? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by HappySqurriel ( 1010623 ) on Thursday December 28, 2006 @05:53PM (#17392474)
      Well, indirectly it says something which everyone knows yet doesn't say ...

      Gamers are looking for a sense of achievement meaning they don't actually have to achieve anthing to feel fulfilled with a game. I have noticed (personally) that when I am playing a MMORPG the game is a lot of fun until I get to the point where I see no worthwhile accomplishment left to complete; essentially, where the game has become mostly about grinding and nothing else.
    • The main point of the article is about the satisfaction or rewarding feeling people get after receiving an item or making a new online friend in MMORPGs, world of warcraft for example; and the psychological relationship to the 'real world'. The article is saying that the feelings you get when receiving an item for example in an mmorpgs such as wow is actually the driving force and motivation for playing it. The direction this research is going is actually intriguing from a more broad psychological sense bec

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Guppy06 ( 410832 )
      "Just put some researchers playing WoW for a week and I bet a better research would came out."

      Best. Thesis. Ever.

  • Damn it... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 28, 2006 @04:27PM (#17391478)
    How come when I sign up for trials I never get to play MMOGs. All they ever want to do is feed me something that might kill me or put things where there not supposed to go.

  • This just in (Score:5, Insightful)

    by indros13 ( 531405 ) * on Thursday December 28, 2006 @04:29PM (#17391496) Homepage Journal
    People also enjoy sunshine, sexual activity, and singing in the rain. Some of these are also enjoyed in a massively multiplayer environment.

  • I play videogames because... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Pojut ( 1027544 ) on Thursday December 28, 2006 @04:36PM (#17391574) Homepage
    ...well, for a few reasons I suppose.

    1. They can be damned fun.
    2. They continually make my brain keep working, continually trying out new tactics.
    3. Many a LAN party are included in my top 10 favorite memories of my entire life.
    4. There are parts of the gaming community that are fantastic and allow for great friendships to come about.
    5. They provide a fun alternative to the daily grind (much like drugs)
    6. They have the ABILITY to be educational
    7. They provide a safe place for the dark desires that dwell within all of us to be satiated. Afterall, would you rather someone be killing people on screen, or people on the street?

    As far as fulfilling some psychological need, I wouldn't put myself in that group...however, I don't dispute it either; I know many people who are anti-social, have anxiety, are overly shy, have aspergers, or various other things that prevent them from interacting properly face to face. Put them behind a WoW toon though, and suddenly they become open and talkative and friendly.

    Video games to me are a fantastic form of entertainment. They are similar to reading, the difference being instead of working your imagination, they work your reasoning and reaction. They require you to part with "daily reality", however, and embrace a different world. This is most definately not a bad thing when used in moderation.

    Last but not least, it serves for a way for me and my fiance to bond...granted, there are many lonely gamers out there, but for geeks and nerds who are lucky enough to have a spouse who is just as geeky and nerdy...well, playing video games with a spouse who not only wants to but EXPECTS to brings about some amazingly fun times.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by garcia ( 6573 )
      I don't need any psychoanalytical reason why, I simply play video games because they are fun to play.

      It's the same reason I'm involved with geocaching [mngca.org] and post "articles" and photos to my website...

      Slow news day.
    • ...
      7. They provide a safe place for the dark desires that dwell within all of us to be satiated. Afterall, would you rather someone be killing people on screen, or people on the street?
      ...
      Now turn that around for other "dark desires", like sex.

      Yup, I'd rather do that in person. Afterall, would anyone have the dark desire for having sex with an AIDS carrier?

  • The reason is obvious (Score:5, Insightful)

    by cy_a253 ( 713262 ) on Thursday December 28, 2006 @04:36PM (#17391578)
    We like videogames (and films and TV drama series) simply because we lead exceedingly boring lives, whether we realize it or not.

    Just take this simple test: would the last 24 hours of your life make for a good season of "24"? Would anyone watch it?

    • Re:The reason is obvious (Score:5, Funny)

      by Rob T Firefly ( 844560 ) on Thursday December 28, 2006 @04:46PM (#17391680) Homepage Journal
      Just take this simple test: would the last 24 hours of your life make for a good season of "24"?
      Not all of them, unlike Jack Bauer I occasionally excrete or sleep.
      Would anyone watch it?
      Maybe if I had big boobs.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by pregister ( 443318 )
      Thats not fair. The last season of "24" didn't make for a good season of "24". And they have writers. All I have is normal stupid encounters.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by seanadams.com ( 463190 ) *
      [...]because we lead exceedingly boring lives[...]

      Speak for yourself.... life would probably be less boring if you'd go out and do something instead of sitting playing a video game in the first place!

      Anyway, I'd suggest that they serve as not merely a passtime, but rather an outlet, or a release for things we can't do in waking life, because we are limited by physics, law, morals, etc. Hmmm... sound familiar? Freud believe that our dreams serve this purpose of "wish fulfillment" while we sleep. To me gami
    • > We like videogames (and films and TV drama series) simply
      > because we lead exceedingly boring lives, whether we
      > realize it or not.

      [camp]
      Speak for yourself, Ducky.
      [/camp]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by fotbr ( 855184 )
      Would anyone watch it?

      Well, guessing most people did visit the restroom at least once in the last 24 hours, yeah, I'd say there are people who would get off on that. For proof I offer webcam-for-pay sites. And german and japanese fetish porn.

      Personally, anyone who wants to watch my fatass get up and go to work, come back, fix dinner, and relax by working on one of about 20 projects scattered around my workshop and garage...needs to get off their ass and find a hobby or two. (or three, or four, or a dozen,

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by dyslexicbunny ( 940925 )
      Funny enough, some my friends and I were thinking about making a gag season of 24. It would pretty much be like a day off or normal day.

      People playing solitare at work, someone going to a baseball game, another playing WoW or something for 24 hours. General stuff like that. Perhaps some sleeping and some partying. Someone gets too drunk and blacks out.

      I suppose we'd have to find plot twists to make it not make sense if you skip a couple episodes to keep it in good faith with the original show.

  • The Opposite (Score:5, Funny)

    by gregtron ( 1009171 ) on Thursday December 28, 2006 @04:38PM (#17391606)
    On top of putting in 60+ hours a week, I try to fit in 4 or 5 hours of WoW. The problem I've noticed, though, is I grind all day at work (estimate this, meet this deadline, get this much money, get promoted), then go home and grind in the WoW (sell in the AH, complete this quest, get this much gold, gain a level). I wish someone would use all this MMOG press hype to find out how to make me like work more. Maybe they could call me an Undead Mage instead of an Idustrial Planner. And I could wear a mohawk.

    • On top of putting in 60+ hours a week, I try to fit in 4 or 5 hours of WoW. The problem I've noticed, though, is I grind all day at work (estimate this, meet this deadline, get this much money, get promoted), then go home and grind in the WoW (sell in the AH, complete this quest, get this much gold, gain a level). I wish someone would use all this MMOG press hype to find out how to make me like work more. Maybe they could call me an Undead Mage instead of an Idustrial Planner. And I could wear a mohawk.

      It's

    • Leveling (Score:5, Insightful)

      by MonkeyCookie ( 657433 ) on Thursday December 28, 2006 @05:33PM (#17392272)
      It's a lot more difficult to level up at work. You usually need an enormous amount of experience to level up. Some poor saps never level up at all, not even after 20 years of grinding. Others level up quickly, not because they have the necessary experience, but because they're good buddies with the guild leader. That makes it much more frustrating than WoW.

      If I got a pay raise after a week of grinding, I'd sure enjoy work a lot more.

    • Oh, come now. Work's not so far from your average D&D RPG. Most of your work colleagues will already have been slowed, with a duration of several days, and some may have been blinded or deafened as well. Your office will be under the effects of an ice storm for the first morning back. Your boss will still be an ogre several levels higher than you. But on the bright side, launching a fireball into his office will still be fun!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Tim C ( 15259 )
      I wish someone would use all this MMOG press hype to find out how to make me like work more.

      Work is just work - it's *you*, sat at *your* desk, in *your* office, in *your* world, doing *your* job.

      WoW (and any other game) is different - it's *you*, being *someone/thing else*, doing *something else*, in a *different* world.

      It's an escape. Me, I'd love to be living in an Elite/Freelancer/Eve/X kind of universe, travelling through space, seeing the universe, trading, fighting, having adventures. Of course if I
    • This is the reason I stopped playing WoW after a while, most players were simply interested in achieving higher levels or bigger stats, not actually role playing. Playing WoW I got the feeling that, after a while, all I was doing was hitting an addition button for hours on end. With paper RPG'ing I get social interaction with my peers, a rich story that I am a part of (rather than a bit player of) and we can play once a month without eating up too much time.

      Some players tell me that the real content is in t

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by chromatic ( 9471 )
        Playing WoW I got the feeling that, after a while, all I was doing was hitting an addition button for hours on end.

        Yes, but it's a pretty spreadsheet, with multiplayer. What's not to love about that?

      • I couldn't agree more, that's why I had to be the first one on my block to wake the sleeper [wikipedia.org]. Getting compared to Hitler within the next 45 seconds was an amazing feat, and instancing the zone would have cheapened the experience.

        The challenge I make for the WOW team (or any MMO maker) is to develop a game where players only get a single shot at an instanced zone to foreward their own adventuring. I mean, defeating a mighty dragon is an amazing feat, doing it 10 times in a row against the same dragon is v

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by demi ( 17616 )

        If you're interested in role-playing online, might I suggest any of hundreds of fantasy-themed MUSHes? MUSHes are usually very heavy on the roleplay and light on the hack and slash. Check out TMC [mudconnector.com], perhaps. And, they're usally all free.

    • But have you collected all four pieces of the Senior Manager quest yet?

  • Different games... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by sdaemon ( 25357 ) on Thursday December 28, 2006 @04:48PM (#17391722)
    Based on my own experiences, I would say that single player games offer escapes from reality, and multi-player games fulfill psychological needs.

    Reasoning? Pacman and space invaders are immersive escapes from reality. When you're sitting there controlling some pixels (or vectors if you're really old school) on a screen without interacting with anyone else around you, you have escaped our reality to enter another one for a time.

    But in Counter-Strike, you can fulfill your basic psychological need to shoot annoying teenagers in the face. When the game is multi-player, it's just a disguise, an extension of the reality we live in. You interact with other real people, and kill them, or sell them blue items for gold, or zerg their base and capture their flags. It's still reality, but minus the consequences one usually faces for equivalent actions.

    That's my take on it, at least.
  • In other news people drink water to stop being thirsty.

  • Of all the things I *COULD* be... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by HerculesMO ( 693085 ) on Thursday December 28, 2006 @04:56PM (#17391836)
    I'm a gamer.

    I could be an alcoholic. I could be abusive. I could be a prick. I could be an asshole. I could be any combination of the aforementioned, or even more that I haven't mentioned.

    All that said, I come home after work, turn in Counterstrike: Source (don't give me shit about 1.6!), and play for about an hour. After this my mind is at ease. I'm relaxed. I make dinner, clean the house, and a lot of the crap that I deal with during the day disappears.

    There is an obvious escape from reality, and the bonus is that when you are done playing, the reality you HAD is put in the back of your mind. You're fresh off a high from 20 kills straight, or you got the high score. Your mind is happy, and happy thoughts ensue.

    And the only thing I did was burn a little electricity and time. And I'm still not an asshole. Yet.
  • ... produced positive outcomes in scenarios related to the real world ...

    It's better to be the sniper than the snipee. Less discouraging that way.
  • I quit EQ2 when I realized I was getting a buzz not off of the fun gameplay, the fun community, and the fun world to explore, but rather from the Virtual Accomplishements that got dispensed to me at regular intervals like a fish biscuit for the clever caged bear.

    I'll go back to the genuinely fun game once I am no longer deficient in REAL accomplishments. ;-}

    I think it's definately safe to say that while there would be a market for MMORPGS if they didn't tap into people's psychological deficiencies for

    • Re:Synthetic Achievement (Score:4, Interesting)

      by adarn ( 582480 ) on Thursday December 28, 2006 @05:29PM (#17392222)
      I've gotta agree with this assessment. What I find dangerous about gaming, RPG's in specific is how I personally have experianced displacing *MY* personal growth with my *character's* personal growth. Humans have a need for change and development and when you can satisfy that need from a character that you are associating with yourself rather than actually doing something to develop your own life.... I don't think that's such a good thing.

      That being said, do with your lives whatever you see fit. It's none of my buisiness. I just personally have given up RPG's because of this realization.

      Adarn
      • So true. I wouldn't call myself addicted to WoW, it's just the best game I've ever played and I love playing it so much. Even now, after two years of playing it, many times in a day I realize that "Wow, this is an awesome game!" and so I tell my guild how amazing WoW is, in case they have forgotten. WoW gives me what I need, and I'm not talking about games. I, like everyone else, I suspect, have a very deep need to accomplish something, to get somewhere, to develop. WoW fulfills this desire, it gives me ve
        • I do worry about this sometimes, sometimes when I've played all day, even though I've had so much fun and I feel like I've accomplished so much, I realize that I haven't really gotten anywhere, only changed some entries in a database somewhere.
          I do worry about this sometimes. Sometimes when i worked all day, even when it was somewhat fun and i feel like i've accomplished much, i realize i really haven't gotten anywhere, only changed some entries in bank database.
  • "Along with this FREE trial CD comes a sample trial dose of Xanax (tm). Our quality AMA-approved representatives are standing by to take your subscription order!"
  • Ever since I met my S.O., my gaming habits have slipped through the cracks in favor of her. I've just lost the desire to play games. I'm not sure what psychological need there was before that she might be filling, but I've wondered for a while if the events are related. Of course, I met her in my first semester of college, so starting college might be responsible, too. But I didn't cease gaming entirely until my second semester...

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by myz24 ( 256948 )
      It'll come back. Same thing happened to me. I got married and then poof, 4 years later and I'm drooling over the new systems. I even managed to finally snag a Wii today. I've played more games in the last 4 months than I did in the 4 years prior to getting back into gaming.
    • I bought a Fender Telecaster, and now I don't play any video games at all, because the guitar is actually productive. I can play songs for myself, friends etc. It's a much better expenditure of cash to do something creative, instead of something passive like a game. Music will even help you unwind, and will stimulate new areas of your brain. I stopped playing my basses because I moved across the country and hadn't found anyone to play with, and so I entertained myself playing videogames. I realized that

  • I can pay $50 for a game that I can play for hundreds and even thousands of hours over years. Most of which I will enjoy... except for "teh h4X0rZ".

    or...
    I can pay $50 to go see a couple movies at the theatre.
    or...
    Buy 3 or 4 new CD's, most of which will be shite music anyways.

    No brainer!

  • Significant real world benefits of Mmorgs. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Maxo-Texas ( 864189 ) on Thursday December 28, 2006 @05:28PM (#17392206)
    1) greatly improved ability to "chit chat"
    2) greatly improved ability to flirt casually.
    3) managing a guild of 90 members made managing a team of 22 people at work easy.
    4) managing the logistics of a large guild's advancement made managing the logistics of large projects easier.
    5) greatly increased confidence
    6) greatly increased ability to let everyone bitch and stay above it (a "rare" quality commented on by senior management to me recently).
    7) greatly increased skill with alcohol that has lead to being able to hold interesting conversations about Port and other fine drinks with afficianados. (it was a drinking guild and we get together for annual boozy fun parties and that lead to my fall from near teetotaler status).
    8) led to RL buds that has led to two extra RL skiing trips (one in whistler) which lead to two 22 year old pretty blond australian girls dancing and flirting with me because I was a texan cowboy. which is funny since I'm in my 40's.

    There may be more.

    There were downsides.
    At the height of my addiction, I let my real personal life go to hell for about 24 months. It was pretty much - work 8 hours, play 8 hours, sleep/bathe/eat in the other 8 hours. It was a magical world that did fill all my needs and then one day in 2002ish I finally got full and got back on with life. I still play 7 to 15 hours a week.

    It definitely contributed to carpal tunnel (tho my job does that anyway).

    It lead me to be much less idealistic and much more realistic about how many people (80%) out there are users (some purposely- more subconciously).\
    It lead me to appreciate those people who are real (i'd say about 20%?).

    • Re: (Score:1, Troll)

      by drsquare ( 530038 )
      1) greatly improved ability to "chit chat"
      2) greatly improved ability to flirt casually.
      5) greatly increased confidence

      Empirical evidence says that does not translate into RL, so I'm not sure what use it is.
  • When a friend of mine failed to get into any of the grad schools he applied to, his Warcraft play time went waaaay up, like to 8 hrs a day. "It's terrible because it makes you feel like you're really accomplishing something." It's been my substitute for accomplishment at some sad times, too. As for the social aspect, did they have the subjects dungeon crawl for six hours with 2 kids whose conversation consists entirely of "lawlz" and 2 farmers who don't speak at all before having [Giant Wah-Wah of Power]
  • ...but I enjoy games that put me in scenarios I could never see in the real world, and most of which I would never want to. Scenarios that test my ability to think quickly and make complex tactical decisions.

    In other words, RTS (CoH is my current favorite) and tactical FPS.
    • I normally enjoy RTSs as well, but stopped playing after AoE3. I picked up the beta for Supreme commander... I'm not sure if I'm rusty or it is simply insanely difficult. Either way; I still haven't won a skirmish.
  • For the most part I find video games to be an excellent escape from reality, and even an increasingly rewarding social activity (xbox live), but there were two times in my life that video games began to take a negative psychological effect on me. The first was in middle school winning Metroid, and the second was a few years ago winning the original Halo in "legendary" mode. In both instances I began to dream as though I was in the game rather than playing it, which crossed a line for me. What is interest
    • I have done the "dreaming you are in the game" thing before. It's just the subconscious continuing to try to figure the game out while you are asleep. I've actually failed at a game in the past, slept on it, and dreamed the right strat to use. Been a while since it's happened, but it's been a while since I wasn't working 50+ hours a week, so...
  • "(MMO) games, which some industry watchers regard as the future of video games."

    If that's the case, the industry will lose this gamer. I don't have the time, energy or interest to even look at a MMOG. I played several MUDS while attending highschool and college, but they simply do note appeal to me any more. I think there will always be a place for MMOGs, but I doubt that they are the future. Maybe that's my inner geezer speaking.
  • We're all a bunch of gun toting serial killers at heart? May be they're right? If your twelve year old son is playing a Barbie dress up video game I wouldn't count on grand kids.
  • Give me the blue pill.
  • I play the game to be able to do things that I'd never be able to do in real life since they... practically never happen.

    You save some random schmoe in the game and get a reward.

    You can't do stuff like that reliably in real life.

    I don't play games to emulate what my life is - I play games to escape from the tedium of getting up at 7 to go to work or class. Is that too much to ask?
  • I wouldn't have thought a video game could have a need, although for a player I guess is something a game might need. The question is (perhaps I should have RTFA): how do they fill it? Some people fill their need for sex with ice cream.

    Certainly this is news for nerds! Had it been the players' needs being filled with video games, well, that wouldn't be very interesting would it?
  • Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to play DOAX2 as soon as I get done placing this pre-order for "THE IDOLM@STER."
  • This study is a joke! You can't just take such a small test set and make any sort of accurate judgement. I personally know gamers that range in age from 4 to 44. How was this range represented in the 1000 test cases??
  • I know this is OT, but I am trying to find games me and my friends can play lan together.

    Problem is they are not gamers, most of them have computers ~1ghz with graphics cards ~geforce 2-3. So the latest and greates games are pretty much off limits.
    • Games like diablo 2x was good for most of us. Though limit of 8 players was a damper and we have played that game to much.
    • Neverwinter nights was a desaster, I don't know how they call it multi-player. NWN2 would not be playable for anyone but me, and I doubt it
    • I have not played it, but I have heard that Gears of War has great co-op. So, if you have an Xbox 360, then get it!
    • Nothing topped Worms:Armageddon for me. It runs well on slower computers, it's easy to tailor the game length to the time you have to dedicate to it, and it's uproariously fun.
  • Videogames Fill Psychological Needs for Players

    That's obvious, of course (when people do things it's usually because they have a need ... duh) but it's true enough. I haven't had the time for some years now, but I used to play network games pretty heavily. Generally it was in my basement, I had a dozen machines down there at one point, and we'd play Duke Nukem 3D and Shadow Warrior and Rise of the Triad and Blood and others from dusk 'til dawn. And the psychological void those games filled, for me anyway
  • ... which bears an odd similarity to the "heathen hunting" game featured in the Simspons several years ago.

    If only all religions would go SCRATCH (ala Cowboy Bebop), so the rest of us reasonable individuals could regain control of the world before humanity destroys itself over some foolish religious idealogies.
  • Sorry folks, but cutting someone in half with a chainsaw in Gears of War is soooo satisfying.. As far as causing violence, my 6 year old knows his Marvel superheroes game is just that, a game. No, he doesn't play (or see/hear) Gears of War, not until he's at least 7... javaC_CM
  • Hey Zonk, from the stating-the-blindingly-obvious dept.
  • I'm willing to bet many of the players from that study (assuming it was done on site at U of R) were from Rochester Institute of Technology considering it's the third biggest online game college in the US, and a 15 minute drive away.

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