Uh oh, they're studying us now....

[Michlo]

http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/12/study-examines.html

 

In an effort to better understand what drives player interaction and engagement, EmSense -- a company that designs brain-monitoring and bio-sensing technology -- conducted a study that measures physiological responses to games.

The study, which centers around first- and third-person console shooters, is comprised of over 300 hours of data, centered around the first 90 minutes of a number of titles. The study's aim was to determine which design elements spark a compelling experience, and which fall flat.

EmSense has developed a headset that measures physiological responses to media, including brainwaves, heart activity, breathing and temperature -- variables which are used to calculate adrenaline levels, levels of engagement or interest, and emotional responses. For a blind, objective approach to the research, "event tags" are used to mark recurring instances between games (cutscenes, player deaths, etc), with the resulting data compared between titles.

While the titles included in the study are relatively old -- Gears of War, Call of Duty 3, and Halo 2 , among others -- the aim of the study is to examine game design, and not rate particular titles. The results aren't really surprising, but provide an interesting look at how successful titles are as entertaining as many players perceive them to be.

The study notes that a successful, engaging formula establishes frequent, intense action sequences, interspersed with brief periods of calm. Gears of War accomplished this "roller coaster" effect by tossing in radio conversations as you walked between firefights, which have the added bonus of filling players in on the narrative while they take a breather. Half-Life 2 takes a different approach by including the occasional puzzle, challenging a completely different skill set and adding a "reward feeling" between combat zones. In both cases, the calm complements the action sequences, tapering off the adrenaline rush so that next hit is so much sweeter.

Another successful tactic: close combat. Gears and Halo 2 excel here, with chainsaws and energy swords respectively, and the visceral nature of being in the proverbial trenches does wonders for adrenaline rushes. Gratuitous gore and the energized chatter of NPC allies doesn't hurt, either.

Designing the right weaponry plays a huge factor in how engaged players are. Extremely powerful weapons with predictable results generate a lull in excitement -- take Gears' Hammer of Dawn, or the nearly indestructible tank segments in Resistance: Fall of Man. But toss in a powerful, fragile vehicle like Halo's iconic Warthog, offering ludicrous amounts of speed coupled with player-recklessness, and you've got an instant recipe for a successful action sequence.

But what we don't like is lots of dialogue, or instances where the action dies down for extended periods of time. Once again, Gears takes top marks for doing away with all of the bothersome exposition, keeping most of the information limited to radio chatter, and seamlessly incorporating it's tutorial into the games first action sequences. Resistance and Halo 2, on the other hand, disengaged gamers by devoting a comparatively lengthy amount of time to filling us in on current events, usually by way of non-interactive cutscenes.

The data amassed will likely be invaluable to game developers, as knowing what makes us tick is a surefire way to keep our wallets at the ready. But I'd really be interested in knowing more about the sample group, and seeing how other genres, like fighters or platformers, would compare.

The cynic inside me in on full alert, however: if we do get closer to having an established formula for getting gamers all hot and bothered, what's to stop big-budget game developers from following the same assembly-line, designed-by-committee pit that defines the pop music industry?

 

 

 

 

Edit - Yeesh, I don't know why copying and pasting from Wired removes all the spacing. Sorry. :( Just use the link.

[XanAlderon]

I wonder who shall be the first to build "the perfect game"

[Michlo]

I wonder who shall be the first to build "the perfect game"

 

That'll be a computer, silly and of course it will enslave us all with it. :)

[myrmaad]

They should study a subgroup of women gamers and see if the results vary significantly. I think in some ways they would.

[Michlo]

They should study a subgroup of women gamers and see if the results vary significantly. I think in some ways they would.

 

That could be interesting, aye.

 

How do you think they might differ? I ask because I wonder if my results might be similar since I'm supposedly more in touch with my feminine side than most straight fellers. heh

[myrmaad]

They should study a subgroup of women gamers and see if the results vary significantly. I think in some ways they would.

 

That could be interesting, aye.

 

How do you think they might differ? I ask because I wonder if my results might be similar since I'm supposedly more in touch with my feminine side than most straight fellers. heh

 

 

Actually that occurred to me, a lot of my friends who play TR are gay, of course a lot aren't as well.

 

But the point is, in my experience it seems like the straight to hetero ratio of TR players is pretty even.

 

TR = Third person Action Shooter.

 

For women, we especially tend to fall for Tomb Raider because of the music. All the releases in the series from inception have devoted a lot of effort to including highly appealing music. but it's not a steady track, there are periods of "ambient silence" that effectively heighten the experience of feeling "alone in the world" in the classic games. The only reason why Oblivion rivals those old TR classics for me, is the new visual technology with the addition of the creative outlet of modding, as my friend mentioned just yesterday, Oblivion is our version of "Barbie". But that hasn't much to do with gameplay.

 

I don't like gratuitous gore. It very much turns me Off. I'm not into horror flicks whatsoever either, though I'll watch a gory thriller, if it's well written. I won't pollute myself with a slasher movie, I've actually witnessed horrific bloody violence in real life. So that actually takes away from my gaming experience.

 

For example, in the Shivering Isles, I had to make a choice of who to eliminate. I concocted a way for my character to have well-reasoned justification for what she did next, a reason so that justice was served. I went back to the chapel, and this is what she finds (see image below) and I'm like, What???????

 

No explanation I could figure for this. It still perturbs me. so no, I didn't appreciate it, I didn't think it was necessary the way I played the game, and you're put into a position by the game, where any path you choose is not one your character would have chosen given other options. So how does that make you necessarily evil. Not all Daedra gods are necessarily "evil", just different from the romanesque aedric gods. I'm not certain that all aedric gods are "good", on the other hand, but anyway... I digress.

 

 

http://www.tesnexus.com/imageshare/images/767450-1226832902.jpg