qualitative research about video games

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Shannon L. Farrell is Natural Resources Librarian in the Natural Resources Library at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities; e-mail: [email protected] . Amy E. Neeser is Assistant Librarian, Library Research—Science and Engineering in the University Library at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; e-mail: [email protected] . Carolyn Bishoff is Physics, Astronomy, and Earth Sciences Librarian in the Walter Library at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities; e-mail: [email protected] ).

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Academic Uses of Video Games: A Qualitative Assessment of Research and Teaching Needs at a Large Research University

Shannon L. Farrell, Amy E. Neeser, and Carolyn Bishoff *

Academic libraries develop collections and services for scholars who use video games in teaching and research. However, there are no assessments of related information and technology needs. The authors conducted 30 semistructured interviews to gather data about these needs and understand how the University of Minnesota Libraries can facilitate access to games and technology. A total of 28 interviewees used games in research, and 23 used games in teaching. We identified a variety of information and technology needs; many showed strong disciplinary trends. The findings can inform needs-based multidisciplinary strategies to develop video game services and collections relevant to unique academic communities.

Introduction

Recent studies show that video games are ingrained in American culture and, increasingly, higher education. A 2015 Pew Research Center survey found that 49 percent of American adults and 67 percent of adults ages 18–29 play video games. 1 The New Media Consortium reported that games and gamification have several applications in higher education, as educational technology and components of blended learning. 2 A search for “video games” in major article indices finds game technology used in diverse research areas.

College and research libraries share a vision of exceptional services to motivate and facilitate cutting-edge research and student learning 3 and have proactively supported scholars using and experimenting with video games. Librarians frequently collaborate with faculty and students to create game collections and interactive spaces for research, teaching, game development, and play. Despite this, there are currently no multidisciplinary assessments that provide an overview of the information and technology needs required by scholars working with video games. Some disciplinary-specific needs are understood, such as the needs of game design programs and curricula, but most information on needs is based on anecdotal evidence.

The University of Minnesota (UMN) is a large, doctoral-granting research university. The Twin Cities campus includes more than 4,000 faculty and 52,000 students, 16 colleges, and more than 300 research, education, and outreach centers and institutes. There is no video game design program or department, but there are a number of research faculty, teaching faculty, and students who use video games for academic purposes. To understand the diverse uses of video games across disciplines, we conducted semistructured narrative interviews of faculty, staff, and graduate students who use games or gaming technology in their work. This paper explores the information and technology needs of scholars who use video games on the UMN campus, similarities and differences by discipline, and how college and research libraries can incorporate disciplinary needs into a strategic approach to video game services and collections.

Literature Review

Many academic libraries recognize that scholars using video games for research and instruction have unique information and technology needs. In 2008, Smith 4 called for a better understanding of game scholars’ information needs, research methods, and types of materials they require, but there are three challenges to understanding those needs on a large scale: lack of information on conducting a comprehensive needs assessment of academic video game users, scarce information about research and teaching needs related to video games, and little information about how unique disciplinary or institutional needs affect a game-related collection or service.

Most library literature on games focuses on recommended genres and equipment 5 or the specifics of acquiring, cataloging, and circulating games. 6 Descriptions of video game collections and services often include a process to gather input; but none of these articles go into detail about the methods or findings, nor do they share a specific plan for how faculty and students would be consulted as technology, research, and classroom needs change.

Laskowski and Ward provide the most thorough overview of classroom and research needs and areas the library can support. 7 They note three primary needs for game-related classes at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC): access to labs with high-powered PCs, availability of course reserves, and access to discontinued games. They propose a variety of needs for game design classes and surmise that those classes would benefit from close liaison partnerships. The research needs they identify all relate to analyses of gameplay, and they propose archiving gameplay videos with player commentary. Since then, game technology has evolved and these recommendations are worth updating.

Many academic libraries have new game collections since the publication of these foundational articles, and descriptions of these collections provide the most up-to-date understanding of the evolving academic uses of video games. It is well recognized that researchers and instructors who use games come from many different disciplines, including education, economics, and the humanities. 8 Some libraries developed partnerships with one department or discipline, such as education 9 or the arts. 10 Librarians managing the game collection at the University of Chicago (UChicago) intend to serve a wide population, from music to media studies to computer science. 11 UChicago also has strong faculty advocates who identified many potential users on campus. 12 Game collections at the University of Michigan 13 and Carleton University 14 likewise support a range of courses and research interests from the sciences to the humanities.

Despite the variety of potential users, there is less documentation about how a library game collection reflects the disciplinary or departmental information and technology needs at a particular institution. The information available shows a surprising amount of consistency across academic game collections: most libraries collect commercially successful games to play on consoles, such as the Playstation 3 or XBox 360. UIUC, 15 the University of Michigan, 16 and the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) 17 have vintage games and game systems available. Though personal computer (PC) games are recognized as an important genre to collect, 18 it was difficult to determine if any academic libraries collected PC games or provided hardware to play them. Carleton University is one of the few that does. 19

There are similarities among the themes of many game collections. Collections at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), 20 UChicago, 21 and the University of Michigan 22 all represent the history of video game development and the evolution of games through time. Many academic game collections also focus on acquiring current releases. 23

Some libraries have unique aspects to their collections. For example, VCU collects games specifically for users in the arts. The arts librarian looks for “games that have certain aesthetics … have significant artistic direction, unique narrative or cerebral gameplay.” 24 Some libraries plan to expand beyond console games, including UChicago; a faculty member from English hopes that “computer and mobile games” are eventually added to the collection. 25 At least two libraries make game development software available: the University of Calgary game resources include “six high performance (liquid cooled) gaming PCs” with software packages including Unity and several Autodesk products; 26 and Carleton University had requests for software including Poser Pro. 27

As affordable game technology evolves, libraries take steps to stay up-to-date with new research and teaching applications. Commonly, academic libraries rely on subject librarians to stay aware of research and instruction trends, and that is no different when video games are involved. 28 Another strategy involves direct faculty and student input, which often happens during the initial development of video game collections. 29 However, some collections are built from donations and gifts like at the University of Calgary; 30 a for those, the relationship between the collection and local research and teaching needs is less clear. Some collections accept donations for a particular purpose: the University of Michigan Computer and Video Game Archive (CVGA) accepts donations and purchases games to create the most comprehensive collection possible, while also collecting in targeted ways to support faculty and student activities. 31

No literature to date provides a comprehensive overview of the information and technology needs of academic video game users. Many universities rely on a handful of faculty advisors to understand needs on campus; UIUC consulted a faculty member and hosted a game night for students to gather input; 32 Carleton University similarly “crowd-sourced” input for their game collection from faculty, students, and library staff, though they did not describe their methods. 33 At UChicago, faculty advocates assisted directly with the development of the collection. 34 The University of Michigan LibGuide for the CVGA provides the most comprehensive list of courses, research, and faculty who have used the CVGA on their campus, but the list is intended to inform students and potential users, not provide an overview of trends about research and teaching needs or inform collection and service development. 35

This paper explores the information and technology needs of games scholars at UMN Twin Cities and how libraries can accommodate disciplinary needs and help overcome barriers to academic work related to video games.

We formulated the following research questions:

• Which disciplines are represented among UMN scholars who use video games?
• Do UMN scholars who use video games collaborate outside their disciplines?
• What are the information and technology needs for game-related research and teaching at UMN?
• Are there similarities in the information and technology needs of researchers and instructors using video games, despite disciplinary differences?
• If obstacles are identified, how can libraries help researchers and instructors overcome them and enhance their work?

To answer these questions, we identified scholars at UMN who work with video games or video game technology. This was defined broadly and ranged from using games as an object of study to using the technology to study a separate problem. We excluded researchers studying “game theory” (a mathematical concept) or studying analog games such as board games or logic puzzles because our interest was in needs related to video game technology.

We used a number of methods to identify a population of faculty, staff, and students. SciVal Experts, a research profile system used at UMN, identified 62 people who had published on video games. The SciVal Experts system does not include all UMN scholars, and the database best represents disciplines that use journal articles as their primary means of scholarly communication, so we also conducted searches of the UMN website to find mentions of video games in biographies, research statements, or classes. Word-of-mouth also played an important role: we asked librarians at the UMN for recommendations and used snowball sampling to find additional names from those we interviewed. Through these combined methods, we obtained 92 total names, which we considered an exhaustive list.

A qualitative approach was most appropriate, as opposed to a survey, since it allowed participants to drive the conversation and focus on topics important to them. Since we did not have personal connections to those doing video game–related work at UMN, interviews had the additional advantage of building new relationships. We sent invitations to conduct hour-long, semistructured interviews to our sample of faculty, staff, and graduate students. Those who responded were interviewed at a location of their choice. Those who did not respond were sent a follow-up invitation two weeks later. Of the 92 names in the original population, 30 people agreed to be interviewed, 20 declined, and 42 did not respond.

Each interview was attended by two members of the research team and was audio recorded with the interviewee’s permission. We asked guiding questions, but the interviewee led the conversation. Instead of transcribing each interview, we used a Google form to code data from the audio (see appendix for codes and definitions). We used a controlled vocabulary to code most topics and captured quotes and observations with free-text responses. To make sure that different coders maintained a level of consistency, we reviewed the audio from the first 15 interviews in tandem and resolved disputes with the codes and analysis methodology. We then assigned a single reviewer to the final 15 subjects.

We took measures to ensure participants’ anonymity by assigning each participant a random number, coding participants by discipline instead of department, and using generic titles (such as untenured faculty) in place of official positions. These methods were approved by the UMN Institutional Review Board on October 17, 2014.

We identified 92 people from four broad disciplinary groups: arts and humanities, social sciences, science/technology/engineering/math (STEM), and health sciences (see table 1). We interviewed 30 people from this population, an overall response rate of 33 percent. The interview sample overrepresented the STEM population, which had a 52 percent response rate, and underrepresented health sciences, which had a 19 percent response rate (see figure 1). It also overrepresented graduate students, who had a 46 percent response rate overall. Participants were split almost evenly between graduate students (13) and faculty/staff (17). It was also noteworthy that the largest number of interviewed graduate students (in both frequency and percentage of total) occurred in arts and humanities (5).

Interdepartmental collaboration was defined as a relationship, formal or informal, between an interview participant and a member of another department. Both formal and informal collaboration were considered: formal collaboration was defined as a relationship based on an externally recognized partnership, such as a project, grant, coauthorship on a manuscript, or serving as an academic advisor or dissertation committee member; informal collaboration was defined as unofficial or casual partnerships based on consultations, conversations, and friendships that contribute to academic work. These data were used to determine whether an interviewee’s work was confined to a single department or discipline or whether he or she had potential connections outside the interviewee’s home department. We found high levels of interdepartmental collaboration in all disciplines (see figure 2). One third of interview participants (10) reported three or more interdepartmental relationships, including an untenured instructor in arts and humanities who collaborated with faculty and students across five different departments in arts and humanities, STEM, and social sciences. A total of 20 percent of participants (6) reported no collaboration or no collaboration outside their departments, including an untenured instructor in STEM who only collaborated with graduate teaching assistants in his department. Interviewees from arts and humanities were the only group where all interviewees reported collaborative partnerships.

The majority (21/30) of interview participants used video games in both research and teaching (see figure 3). Most participants conducted research with video games (28/30). About a quarter of interviewees (7), most from STEM and health sciences, used games solely in research, including a graduate student in STEM who received funding for research and did not teach. Five categories of game-related research emerged from the interviews (see figure 4). Interviewees who conducted research on the development of games or technology typically produced software or algorithms that could be used in games or developed games based on existing technology. Researchers who used games as instrumentation modified game technology to collect quantitative data or used video games as a cheaper alternative to another analogous instrument they could have purchased. When games were used as an object of study, researchers often applied critical analysis or theory to a video game as they would another text or primary source. When games were used to study influences on people or society, the researcher typically used qualitative methods to examine some societal impact of games. Finally, games were studied by some for their educational applications and impact on student outcomes. Some interviewees used games in more than one way, such as a graduate student in arts and humanities who studied video games as both a cultural object and a cultural influence. Similarly, an untenured faculty in STEM researched video games as an educational technology while also examining their social influence. Each discipline was represented in 3–4 research application categories. At the same time, strong disciplinary research trends were present and each category was dominated by a single discipline, with the exception of educational technology. Educational technology applications primarily included testing games and game-based learning principles in the classroom.

Fewer people used video games in teaching (23/30) than in research, but interviewees who taught with games most often used them in research as well. For example, a tenured faculty researched the effectiveness of a mobile game to create and grade assignments and used the same game in several of his courses. Only two individuals used video games solely in a teaching capacity, including an instructor in STEM who had no research responsibilities. Four categories of teaching applications emerged from the interviews (see figure 5). Some instructors designed games from scratch for students to use in the classroom. Other instructors taught game design principles sometimes using commercial games and sometimes requiring students to create their own games. Games were also used as course material, analogous to texts or other primary sources: instructors assigned games in the syllabus or had students watch videos of others playing through a game. Finally, instructors discussed games, game mechanics, or their own research on games in the classroom but may not have assigned games to students to play in the course. Similar to research applications, some interviewees used games in the classroom multiple ways, like an untenured faculty in STEM who taught game design and also used video games as course material. Every disciplinary group used video games as course material and as a discussion piece in class. Some teaching applications were more common in particular disciplines; 4 of 8 STEM interviewees designed a game for their classes and 5 of 6 from the social sciences used games as course material. Overall, disciplinary trends were far less distinct. Table 2 summarizes the data from figures 3–5.

Among the interviewees, 18 types of information were used (see table 3). Arts and humanities participants used the most information sources (13), while STEM participants used the least (6). Video games were used as primary sources by interviewees in arts and humanities and social sciences, including a tenured faculty in the social sciences who studies game symbology. Interviewees from all disciplines used colleagues, web sources, journals and Google Scholar. Dominant information sources emerged from each discipline: arts and humanities, journals and web sources (see figure 6); social sciences, journals (see figure 7); STEM, colleagues, journals, and Google Scholar (see figure 8); and health sciences, colleagues (see figure 9).

Participants identified 17 unique technology needs (see table 4). The following technology categories emerged: equipment, games, programming languages, servers, software, and web applications. Equipment included any type of hardware, from game consoles like Xbox or PlayStations, to mobile phones or personal computers (PCs). PCs were the most common piece of equipment identified as required by the whole sample, but peripherals (accessories such as game controllers) were the predominant type of equipment mentioned by participants in the health sciences. For example, a Wii balance board was used to study involuntary bodily movements. Only five interviewees used console system equipment (see figure 10).

Games referred to all types of playable software, and four categories of video games emerged: PC games, played on a computer and often accessed through a platform like Steam, were the most common, followed by console games (played on a console) and web games (played through an Internet browser); mobile games (played on a phone) were the least common. Arts and humanities and social sciences participants had the strongest need for games, and they use the widest variety of platforms. For example, a graduate student in arts and humanities uses PC, console, and mobile games to study music, and a graduate student in the social sciences uses web, PC, and console games to study representations of bodies. Social sciences have the largest use of web-based games, used by 3 of 4 interviewees. Only 1 of 11 STEM participants used video games in his or her academic activities (see figure 11), a graduate student studying a prominent massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG).

Software as a category excluded video games but included almost any other type of digital application that a researcher or instructor identified as necessary to his or her work. The subcategories were chosen with collection development needs in mind; proprietary software would likely come at a cost and include access restrictions, while open source software would be more accessible for any library or user to install. Other categories of interest included custom software, which was usually designed by the researcher or instructor and might not be widely shared or available, and game design software. Game design software might overlap with one of the other categories: some interviewees used Unity, an open source game design software; some used the Unreal engine, which at the time of the interviews cost money to download and was not open source; and some built custom game design software of their own. STEM participants had the most software needs overall; and, as a group, both STEM and health sciences interviewees reported using some type of software from every category (see figure 12). However, the needs were diverse among individuals: a graduate student in STEM used proprietary robotics software and a tenured faculty member in STEM used open source software to teach programming. Arts and humanities interviewees overall did not report many software needs; only 1 of 7 interviewees described any software needs at all. However, members of every disciplinary grouping did report a need for proprietary software.

Some technology used by the interviewees in this study was free or provided by the university, like a personal computer, but many technology needs required some financial resources to fulfill. To determine how interviewees currently met their technology needs, we asked about the specific methods they used to acquire technology. We split the results on technology acquisition into two categories: graduate students and faculty/staff (see figures 13 and 14). Tenured and untenured faculty and staff were combined because the methods of technology acquisition were very similar for both groups. Graduate students used many strategies to acquire technology, including borrowing from others or using their own personal property. For example, one graduate student in the social sciences used free technology, borrowed games from others, made purchases, and still did not have all the technology he needed. On the other hand, faculty and staff primarily purchase technology. One faculty member in health sciences said, “I usually have a couple thousand bucks in my ICR [indirect cost recovery] account… that’s more than enough to pay for the kinds of things we’ve been talking about [plasma screen, Xbox 360, games].” This trend holds true regardless of tenure status. Faculty and staff in STEM are using more freely available technology when compared to the other disciplinary groups. If the faculty, staff, or students had not yet acquired the technology they planned to use, those responses appear as “other.” Faculty planned to either create the technology themselves or hire someone to create it, while graduate students were still considering their options.

Funding sources differed significantly by status, and untenured faculty and staff are shown separately from tenured faculty and graduate students (see figures 15–17). In general, graduate students and untenured faculty and staff relied on a variety of methods for funding compared to tenured faculty. In arts and humanities and social sciences, many graduate students paid out-of-pocket, such as a graduate student in arts and humanities who was unable to get funding for game skins (armor, clothing, and the like), which were required for his dissertation research. In STEM, graduate students received some funding from grants, but that was not the case for graduate students from other disciplines (see figure 15). Tenured faculty mostly got their funding from grants (10 out of 11 in our sample), with some additional support from ICR funds, departmental funds (funding providing by a researcher’s or instructor’s department), and new technology funds (funds provided by the department, college, or university to acquire technology) (see figure 16). Unlike graduate students, tenured faculty did not pay out-of-pocket costs. Health sciences’ tenured faculty illustrated a depth of funding sources. Although there were only three participants in our sample, they had six sources of funding. One example is a tenured faculty member who had both an external grant and used department funding. Untenured faculty and staff appear to be seeking multiple sources of funding (see figure 17). For example, in arts and humanities, an untenured instructor was funding his work with a grant, departmental funds, and his own money. Figures 18–21 summarize the data from figures 13–17 and organize it by discipline.

Research Limitations

This research had several limitations. If an eligible participant did not mention his or her work with video games on a staff profile page or in publications, or if the participant was not located through recommendations or snowball sampling, he or she was not included among the population of 92 UMN game scholars. The interview data was more limited in scope because some eligible participants were away on sabbatical, did not respond to invitations, or declined an interview.

The exploratory nature of this study limits the generalizability of the findings. However, despite being limited to this one research context, the size of the institution and broad range of disciplines and activities covered in this study provide a rich starting point for future research and the development of library services aimed at these types of researchers. Librarians serving game design or game development programs may observe different needs from those identified in this study because UMN does not have a dedicated game design program.

The open-ended, semistructured nature of the interviews resulted in rich and diverse data that posed some problems when categorizing findings and ensuring anonymity. We used broad codes and categories to capture as much data as possible while also maintaining anonymity, resulting in some loss in the granularity of the data. Additionally, determining how to assign disciplines to interviewees to maintain anonymity was challenging. For example, depending on the context, History can be considered a social science or part of the humanities as it is “multifaceted and diffuse.” 36 We chose to place it in arts and humanities because the researchers interviewed were primarily studying video games as cultural objects instead of the impact on society or human behavior.

Finally, some of the subjects discussed were sensitive (for example, institutional barriers to completing work or acquisition of funding) and some participants felt apprehensive about sharing information. Therefore, the data only represents what interviewees shared “on the record.” Occasionally, the interview location could have inhibited participants (for example, one interview occurred in a public location and two interviews occurred where interviewees’ colleagues were present). However, we have no reason to believe that interviewees concealed information or provided untruthful answers; in the cases where subjects spoke “off the record,” they were candid and honest about challenges with their work.

Demographics and Collaboration

Four disciplines were represented in both the larger population of game scholars and our sample of 30 interviewees. All but one interviewee identified strongly with a single area of study, usually the person’s department or area of research. No single department or discipline dominated; video games were used institutionwide.

Most interviewees had strong disciplinary ties and also had strong patterns of collaboration outside their departments. Collaboration was common for those we interviewed regardless of discipline. We anticipated a higher frequency of collaboration in STEM and health sciences because previous studies showed high levels of formal collaboration in these disciplines, 37 but this did not bear out in the interview sample. Collaborative partnerships took the form of coauthorships, collaborative conference presentations, and participation on doctoral committees, as well as many informal collaborations. Informal collaborations were also commonly described by interviewees and included professional friendships, relationships with advisors and committee members, pilot projects, and interest groups.

These data on collaboration are useful to keep in mind while discussing disciplinary trends around information and technology needs. Widespread collaboration on game-related projects and other projects suggests a need for cross-departmental and cross-disciplinary collaboration among librarians on collection development and the creation of services. Some libraries that invested in game technology do serve a range of users and disciplines, 38 but other prominent collections of games and game technology in academic libraries were driven by the needs of only one or two departments. 39 Awareness of the collaborative partnerships that exist could help libraries go beyond serving one student, class, or researcher at a time, and investments in game technology have the potential to support the work of whole networks of researchers and instructors. Explicit library support of collaborative work with video games could even give fringe projects and new collaborations a space to intersect and thrive. At UMN there is the potential for many departments and subject librarians to guide the development of a possible video game collection, and this would require a very collaborative approach to collection development.

Academic Use of Video Games: Research and Teaching

Video games were commonly used in research across all four disciplines represented in our sample. This confirmed a need for the collection development practices of universities such as UChicago, 40 University of Michigan, 41 and Carleton University, 42 which accommodated users from multiple disciplines.

We did not anticipate how common video games are in classrooms, since published information about game-related courses only identified a handful of classes at any comparable institution, unless they were focused on game design. Additionally, very few course descriptions in the UMN course catalog mentioned video games, and, of the game-related courses we found during our initial searching, most were in the social sciences or arts and humanities. We did not expect so many STEM and health science classes to integrate games as well. In fact, the use of video games in classes was present within all the disciplines, especially in introductory undergraduate courses and upper level seminars. The course descriptions were often vague enough to give the instructor leeway in how to develop his or her individual section, and those who wished to incorporate games could do so. Some departments even encouraged game-related classes due to consistently high enrollment.

Most people in our sample incorporated games into both their research and teaching. We suspect that having a research interest in games may make it more likely for them to incorporate video games into the classroom as well. This may explain why only two people in our sample were using video games exclusively in the classroom.

Overall, knowing how scholars are using video games and gaming technology on campus formed the backbone of this needs assessment. Any effort to provide library support for video game–related work will impact both research and classroom/student needs. Since we know that most scholars are using games in both research and teaching capacities, the support of this work may have double the impact.

Role of Video Games in Research and Teaching

There were clear disciplinary trends in the types of research done with video game technology. The development of video games primarily occurred in STEM, while video games were most often used as a text or an object of study in arts and humanities research. There were also some strong similarities among the disciplinary groups. At least one interviewee in every discipline conducted research that studies “educational technology” or “the influences on people and society.” Since video games were used by different disciplines in different ways, the type of support the library offers should not be done through the lens of a single department or discipline, and a variety of materials need to be available for many different applications including development, study, and experimental design.

Disciplinary differences were more difficult to discern when examining the role of games in teaching. Many classes were new or were only offered once; even so, teaching game design or designing games from scratch occurred not only in STEM but also in social science and arts and humanities classrooms. Incorporating game technology as course material was common, and interviewees identified a number of different ways in which games were used: readings, storytelling devices, and technology in labs. Students were impacted by these course requirements as well. Many interviewees described accommodations for students who did not own a console or a computer equipped to run graphics-intensive games, but some required students to figure out how to access the games on their own (such as via a personal account on the Steam game distribution system). 43

Game design was taught in four classes from three disciplines, which was unexpected because there is no game design program or certificate at UMN. Supporting classes that incorporate game design would be easier if they were all in one area of study, but a subject liaison might only be aware of the one class in his or her discipline. Regular environmental scans might be needed to uncover common technology and material requirements for classes across disciplines for courses that use video games and other emerging technologies.

Information Needs

The most commonly used information sources were Google Scholar, journals, and web sources. The interviewees in the social sciences and arts and humanities were the strongest users of “traditional” library materials such as books and journals. Several interviewees described having to acquire the majority of their texts through interlibrary loan (ILL) because their library did not have the journals or books they needed. Libraries need to review collections in this and other emerging areas to minimize the need for backchannels and shortcuts.

Colleagues were the single most common source of information for interviewees, especially in STEM and health sciences. In one case, a project in health sciences was developed entirely with information and skills contributed from existing relationships. The frequency with which interviewees in this sample collaborate outside their department emphasizes the importance of colleague networks in new and emerging areas. Libraries cross departmental and disciplinary borders and can cultivate a role as a connector for scholars doing similar work in different subject areas with events, experimental technology space, or other strategies.

Libraries should pursue partnerships with existing video game archives and other libraries or investigate shared collection development efforts to help researchers and the public overcome barriers to accessing game-related information sources. Interview participants identified video games as both a kind of technology and a type of information. Games are available in some academic libraries and public libraries, but it is unclear how accessible they are outside their immediate communities or institutions through ILL. Game manuals and trade magazines like Nintendo Power were also used by several interviewees. Public libraries typically collect trade magazines but, according to Worldcat, many often only keep the last 1–2 years. Locating game manuals is even more difficult, as they typically lie only in the hands of hobbyists and collectors. A search on Worldcat shows that relatively few libraries have holdings for either game magazines or manuals, raising the question of how libraries can facilitate access to these materials.

The depth and variety of sources used makes it clear that libraries cannot be the sole gatekeepers of information on this subject. The people in our sample used subscription journals but also ephemeral, noncurated materials (such as game manuals, gaming websites, and streaming games). Other library resources like subscription databases were not as valuable for most interviewees, possibly because they are too narrow in scope or interviewees are simply not aware of them. Rather than collect all of the sources scholars need, libraries can create guides to help scholars locate these materials elsewhere, akin to the University of Michigan CVGA LibGuide. 44

Technology Needs

Interviewees’ needs for devices, displays, and peripherals show no disciplinary trends. Investing in a range of equipment would benefit the largest range of users at UMN. Arts and humanities and social science scholars had a greater need for video games, while those in STEM and health sciences had more software needs. In fact, only one person in STEM identified games as a need, and only one interviewee in arts and humanities used software of any kind.

Disciplinary trends ought to factor into decisions related to purchasing and marketing game technology. For example, at UMN, subject librarians and users in the arts and humanities and social sciences disciplines might be primarily responsible for selecting game titles. Subject librarians for STEM and health sciences should weigh in on video game software selection, since usage would be most expected from STEM and health sciences disciplines.

Among our interviewees, the PC was the most common technology necessary to research and teaching. PCs are necessary to academic work, but there was some nuance to how interviewees used them. PC games are used almost as much as nearly all other types of games combined (console, mobile, and web-based). Mobile games are a growing industry, 45 but they are not used heavily on this campus for academic purposes. Other technology needs are tied to PC games as well; PC accessories, most often graphics cards, were the third highest need in the equipment category. PC games do not require much additional technology besides a computer (unless a powerful game requires faster processing or graphics cards), so they may be more attractive to the researchers and instructors from arts and humanities and social science, who make up the majority of game users. Guidance on collecting PC games is limited, since few academic libraries currently collect them. Most libraries with game collections and services collect console games almost exclusively, likely because console games do not have restrictive digital rights management (DRM) or require an account to play and are easier to collect and lend.

Peripherals were a common technology need, especially in health sciences. Interviewees shared a diverse range of applications for peripherals that have nothing to do with consoles: to control robotics, play PC games, and modify to use as instrumentation. Interviewees also preferred them for their low cost and ability to interface with a number of technologies. Since they are flexible and relatively cheap, libraries and makerspaces could provide a variety of peripherals (with or without consoles) for on-site use or rental.

Acquisition of and Funding for Games and Gaming Technology

In general, interviewees found they could purchase games or technology at stores or online but did not always have funding to do so. The acquisition of games and video game technology was intrinsically tied to funding, which was mentioned as the largest barrier to acquiring technology.

Graduate students used a variety of creative strategies to acquire technology (such as using their personal game collection, borrowing from friends, and other means), whereas faculty and staff simply purchased technology with grants or other funds as needed or used freely available games and technologies, such as online emulators. Graduate students may have less funding available, or they do not know how to access existing funding. The majority of graduate students, all from the social sciences and arts and humanities, were paying out-of-pocket.

Graduate students had the same technology needs as faculty and staff and conduct their own research, often independent of their faculty advisors and any associated funding. STEM graduate students were the only ones receiving grants or new technology funds. We argue that graduate students would be the primary beneficiaries of having video games and technology available, as this would break down disciplinary acquisition and funding barriers. Underfunded graduate students are probably not unique to UMN; and, if libraries made these games and technologies available, graduate students would have much more flexibility in their research. The arts and humanities students who purchased video games out-of-pocket likely used the games as primary research materials, analogous to texts. Since many libraries purchase books for research, it should be easy to purchase games for analogous reasons.

Libraries can also help connect graduate students with funding. Many academic units at UMN provide grants to fund graduate research, and the UMN Libraries subscribe to grant databases and offer workshops on locating grant funding. Since graduate student research is highly valued, it makes sense to assist them in their efforts to acquire game technology by building their grant-seeking skills.

Even though faculty and staff theoretically have the same opportunities for funding, untenured faculty and staff seek more sources of funding to meet their needs, whereas tenured faculty receive most of their funding from grants. Startup packages supported three untenured faculty from STEM and the health sciences, and one staff member reported having to pay out-of-pocket to buy games for classroom use. Faculty and staff for the most part were successful in finding funding to purchase the required technology, but making materials available at the library would put less pressure on faculty and staff to acquire them in other ways and would give them an option to use their funding for other purposes.

Collections in the UMN Libraries are focused primarily on meeting faculty research and teaching needs, as faculty tend to stay at the university longer than students. We recognize that these data could suggest that faculty and staff do not have many barriers to accessing technology and that it is neither necessary nor urgent to include video games and video game technology in library collections. It could also be argued that grants and other funding sources already pay for research and classroom needs and that libraries are not in the business of directly funding research costs like instrumentation, experimental design, or technology development. However, many faculty we spoke to welcomed a chance to collaborate with librarians whether or not the library could directly support their research. Some faculty incorporate games into their outreach service, and many have classes that would benefit from the availability of game materials. We also argue that libraries have a great opportunity to engage with graduate and undergraduate students who want to experiment with games before personally investing in the technology.

By focusing our study on researchers and instructors, we have missed the opportunity to explore implications for students taking classes that incorporate games and gaming technology. What we know came solely from the instructors’ viewpoints; therefore, we do not have a comprehensive picture of how these technologies were made available to students or if they encountered barriers to accessing them. In some classes the game technology was provided, like a health sciences class where Wii balance boards were available to take measurements; but, in another case, students were expected to purchase World of Warcraft and install it on their PCs. Some instructors did note that requiring students to purchase video games may be prohibitive and not directly analogous to purchasing textbooks, as it requires students to own consoles or a high-powered PC that supports gaming. Some attempted to find alternative solutions such as asking the UMN Libraries to install games on library computers and investigating Steam licensing for computer labs. It would be worthwhile to interview students from some of these classes to uncover if they encountered any barriers in attempting to access these technologies.

There is little data available about the information and technology needs of researchers and instructors who use video games in higher education. This study attempted to fill that gap with interviews with faculty, staff, and graduate students from UMN. Scholars from all disciplinary groups were represented and demonstrated both a high level of collaborative activity and use of video games in both research and teaching. As libraries build new video game collections or expand existing collections, they should consider the following findings:

• Information used in game-related research and teaching includes nontraditional material such as trade magazines and game manuals. Journals were the most common source of information identified overall, but some essential titles may not be collected or indexed in library catalogs.
• Video games are most often researched as an influence on society and having a role in educational technology. This research is diverse and may have vastly different needs.
• Video games are commonly used as course material in courses from all disciplines, but console games may not be used as frequently as PC games.
• All of the interviewees needed game-related technology, though there was much variation among the disciplines: arts and humanities and social sciences required video games; STEM required software; health sciences required peripherals.
• Graduate students, especially those from arts and humanities, are at a major funding disadvantage compared to colleagues in the sciences. This impedes access to game technology required for research and teaching and often requires them to pay out-of-pocket.

This study found some consistency in video game applications between disciplines but even more differences, especially in technology and information use. This suggests that the support libraries provide should be done collaboratively through a multidisciplinary lens. We propose a strategic approach to video game services and collections focused on disciplinary needs. For UMN, this would mean building a collection focused on PC games, a few console games, cutting-edge equipment with game design software, and a collection of peripherals with or without consoles, perhaps associated with a makerspace. Each academic game collection should reflect its institution, based on an evaluation of the unique needs of its population.

Since this study was limited to the UMN campus, we would like to see similar studies undertaken at various institutions that look at how students use and acquire games for classroom use, as well as a large-scale multi-institution look at the use of games in higher education. As technology changes and moves away from physical media, academic institutions will benefit from studies looking at the impact of DRM on scholarship and libraries. Very few video game companies have partnerships with higher education, and more exploration of this issue is needed. These studies would provide a more complete understanding of scholarly video games–related work and scholars’ information and technology needs.

APPENDIX. Interview Themes, Codes, and Definitions

• Graduate student: both master’s and doctoral students
• Untenured faculty and staff: assistant professor, instructor, postdoc
• Tenured faculty: associate professor, full professor
• Arts and Humanities: includes any field where the human experience and expressions or explanations thereof are the primary objects of study. History is included here because the interviewees study video games and texts and consider the games as the object of study
• Health Sciences: medical, kinesiology, and related disciplines
• Social Sciences: includes any field where humans are the primary object of study
• STEM: includes disciplines from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
• Formal collaborations: working on a project, publishing a paper, working on a grant together, serving as an academic advisor or member of a thesis or dissertation committee
• Informal collaborations: talking to/with people, sharing ideas
• Both: a combination of both formal and informal collaborations
• Intradepartmental: work alone or only collaborate within their own department
• Interdepartmental (1–2): between 1–2 collaborations outside their own department
• Interdepartmental (3+): 3+ collaborations outside their own department or split positions between departments
• Development of games/technology: researcher has created the video game or associated technology
• Instrumentation: using video games to gather quantitative data
• Object of study: using critical analysis or thematic study of video games
• Influences on people or society: researcher is examining the societal impact of video games
• Educational technology: using video games to facilitate learning and improve student outcomes
• Undergraduate: lower-level classes, primarily for those pursuing their bachelor’s (1xxx–4xxx)
• Graduate: upper level classes, marketed toward master’s and doctoral students (5xxx–8xxx)
• Instructor designed a game: instructor created a video game for use in the classroom
• Taught game design: instructor taught students how to design their own games
• Used games as course material: video games were studied in the classroom, as primary sources
• Discussed games: video games were used in the classroom as secondary sources
• Other: any other response that did not fall within the above categories
• Borrowed/given: the material was owned by someone else and the researcher or instructor acquired from them
• Purchased: the material had to be purchased by the researcher or instructor either out-of-pocket or with other funds
• Already owned: the instructor or researcher previously owned the material
• Freely available: available at no cost to consumers
• Grant (general): acquired funding via another organization to pursue their research or teaching projects
• New technology funds: funds provided for the explicit purpose of acquiring new technologies
• Seed grant: initial capital to start a project
• Department funds: funding provided by researcher’s or instructor’s department
• Dissertation fund: funding provided by graduate student’s department or graduate school to support dissertation research
• Startup package: new professor was provided with funding to set up a lab
• Indirect cost recovery (ICR) funds: funds that the university collects to cover overhead costs when grants are written. A portion is returned back to departments
• Out-of-pocket: the instructor or researcher had to use personal money to cover the cost
• MNDrive grant: grant allocated via partnership between the UMN and the state of Minnesota that provides funding in areas of interdisciplinary research that align with specific industries
• Not required: no funding was required for this research or teaching
• Equipment, console: consoles, such as Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, Wii, WiiU, or any other
• Equipment, controllers, and peripherals: secondary equipment for the gaming systems listed above, including controllers, Wiimotes, headsets, Xbox Kinects, Wii balance boards, steering wheels, and the like
• Equipment, mobile: smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices, including iPhones, iPads, and such
• Equipment, display: equipment used to view video games, including television screens, computer monitors, or any other display equipment
• Equipment, personal computer: includes Mac, Windows, and Linux systems
• Equipment, personal computer accessories: secondary equipment for PC gaming, including joysticks, controllers, headsets, webcams, and other equipment
• Games, web: games that are available through a browser or browser-based emulator, or for download online
• Games, PC: games purchased to play on personal computers
• Games, console: games purchased to play on consoles
• Games, mobile: games that are available on smartphones or tablets
• Programming languages: computer language used to communicate instructions to a machine, including C, C++, Java, Javascript, Python, and other languages
• Servers: computers or programs that manages access to a network resource
• Software, proprietary: software that must be purchased from the individual or company that developed it; often includes major restrictions for adaptation and use
• Software, free or open source: software that is available for free, typically on the web; often allows users to modify or adapt as needed
• Software, custom: software written by the researcher or instructor from scratch
• Software, game design: software developed for the specific purpose to design video games
• Web applications: software application that is available and runs on the web, such as streaming video
• Archives: historical documents or records
• Books: written or printed works
• Colleagues: talking to people in their discipline
• Conferences: formal meetings for people in related disciplines
• Course readings: resources that were provided while taking a class
• Datasets: collection of related sets of information
• Game manuals: instructions on how to play video games
• Game reviews: evaluations of video games
• Games: console, PC, mobile, or web video games
• Google Scholar: freely accessible web search engine that indexes scholarly literature
• Interviews: information obtained by interviewing appropriate people
• Journals: collections of articles about specific subjects or disciplines
• Library databases: catalog of both full-text resources and indexed citations that are accessible electronically
• Newsletters: bulletins that are issued periodically
• News sources: includes both print and website-based news
• Students: people enrolled in either undergraduate or graduate programs
• Trade magazines: periodicals that contain news and items about a particular topic
• Web sources: materials found on the open web

1. Meave Duggan, “Gaming and Gamers” (Report, Pew Research Center, 2015), available online at www.pewinternet.org/2015/12/15/gaming-and-gamers/ [accessed 18 December 2015].

2. Laurence F. Johnson et al., “NMC Horizon Report: 2015 Higher Education Edition,” Horizon Report (Austin, Tex.: The New Media Consortium, 2015), 22, 35, available online at www.nmc.org/publication/nmc-horizon-report-2015-higher-education-edition/ [accessed 18 December 2015].

3. Association of College and Research Libraries, “ACRL Plan for Excellence,” 2015, available online at www.ala.org/acrl/aboutacrl/strategicplan/stratplan [accessed 11 January 2016].

4. Brena Smith, “Twenty-First Century Game Studies in the Academy: Libraries and an Emerging Discipline,” Reference Services Review 36, no. 2 (2008): 205–20, doi:10.1108/00907320810873066.

5. Examples include Mary Laskowski and David Ward, “Building Next Generation Video Game Collections in Academic Libraries,” Journal of Academic Librarianship 35, no. 3 (May 2009): 267–73, doi: 10.1016/j.acalib.2009.03.005 ; Kristen Mastel and Dave Huston, “Using Video Games to Teach Game Design: A Gaming Collection for Libraries,” Computers in Libraries 29, no. 3 (2009): 41–44, available online at http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ831241 [accessed 18 December 2015]; and Diane Robson and Patrick Durkee, “New Directions for Academic Video Game Collections: Strategies for Acquiring, Supporting, and Managing Online Materials,” Journal of Academic Librarianship 38, no. 2 (Mar. 2012): 79–84, doi: 10.1016/j.acalib.2012.01.003 .

6. Examples include Natalie Gick, “Making Book: Gaming in the Library: A Case Study,” in Gaming in Academic Libraries: Collections, Marketing, and Information Literacy (Chicago: American Library Association, 2008), 1–25; David Baker et al., “Lessons Learned from Starting a Circulating Videogame Collection at an Academic Library,” in Gaming in Academic Libraries: Collections, Marketing, and Information Literacy (Chicago: American Library Association, 2008), 26–38; Danielle Kane, Catherine Soehner, and Wei Wei, “Building a Collection of Video Games in Support of a Newly Created Degree Program at the University of California, Santa Cruz,” Science & Technology Libraries 27, no. 4 (Aug. 20, 2007): 77–87, doi:10.1300/J122v27n04_06; and Emma Cross, David Mould, and Robert Smith, “The Protean Challenge of Game Collections at Academic Libraries,” New Review of Academic Librarianship 21, no. 2 (May 4, 2015): 129–45, doi:10.1080/13614533.2015.1043467.

7. Mary Laskowski and David Ward, “Building Next Generation Video Game Collections in Academic Libraries,” Journal of Academic Librarianship 35, no. 3 (May 2009): 267–73, doi: 10.1016/j.acalib.2009.03.005 .

8. Andy Burkhardt, “Taking Games in Libraries Seriously,” The Academic Commons (blog), available online at www.academiccommons.org/2014/07/24/taking-games-in-libraries-seriously/ [accessed 5 November 2015].

9. Chris Nelson, “Gaming Reaches into Far Corners of Academic World as U of C Builds Huge Collection,” Calgary Herald (Mar. 16, 2015), available online at http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/gaming-reaches-into-far-corners-of-academic-world-as-u-of-c-builds-huge-collection [accessed 4 November 2015].

10. Brian McNeill, “VCU Libraries Launches Collection of Critically Acclaimed Video Games,” VCU News (blog) (Nov. 6, 2014), available online at http://news.vcu.edu/article/VCU_Libraries_launches_collection_of_critically_acclaimed_video [accessed 4 November 2015].

11. Sarah G. Wenzel, “New Library Videogame Collection,” The University of Chicago Library News (blog) (May 25, 2012), available online at http://news.lib.uchicago.edu/blog/2012/05/25/new-library-videogame-collection/ [accessed 30 November 2015].

12. Patrick Jagoda, “Videogame Collection Supports Scholarly Study,” The University of Chicago Library News (blog) (May 25, 2012), available online at http://news.lib.uchicago.edu/blog/2012/05/25/videogame -collection-supports-scholarly-study/ [accessed 30 November 2015].

13. An overview of classes and disciplinary uses is discussed in Mary Claire Morris, “Computer & Video Game Archive Celebrating Five Years of Growth,” The University Record (blog) (Nov. 5, 2013), available online at http://record.umich.edu //articles/computer-video-game-archive-celebrating-five-years-growth [accessed 2 December 2015]. A list of classes and research applications can be found in Valerie Waldron, “Computer & Video Game Archive: CVGA,” University of Michigan Research Guides (2015), available online at http://guides.lib.umich.edu/c.php?g=282987 [accessed 2 December 2015].

14. Emma Cross, David Mould, and Robert Smith, “The Protean Challenge of Game Collections at Academic Libraries,” New Review of Academic Librarianship 21, no. 2 (May 4, 2015): 135–37, doi: 10.1080/13614533.2015.1043467 .

15. David Ward, “Vintage Gaming Collection Development Policy and Description” (Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2014), available online at www.library.illinois.edu/gaming/gamearchives.html [accessed 20 December 2015].

16. Valerie Waldron, “Computer & Video Game Archive: CVGA,” University of Michigan Research Guides (2015), available online at http://guides.lib.umich.edu/c.php?g=282987 [accessed 2 December 2015]

17. University of California Santa Cruz Library, “Video Games” (2015), available online at https://library.ucsc.edu/collections/video-games [accessed 18 December 2015].

18. Diane Robson and Patrick Durkee, “New Directions for Academic Video Game Collections: Strategies for Acquiring, Supporting, and Managing Online Materials,” Journal of Academic Librarianship 38, no. 2 (Mar. 2012): 82, doi: 10.1016/j.acalib.2012.01.003 .

19. Cross, Mould, and Smith, “The Protean Challenge of Game Collections,” 134.

20. McNeill, “VCU Libraries Launches Collection.”

21. Jagoda, “Videogame Collection Supports Scholarly Study.”

22. Adam DePollo, “Play On: Changing Gamer Culture at the ‘U,’” Michigan Daily (Oct. 22, 2014), available online at https://www.michigandaily.com/arts/10computer-video-game-archive22 [accessed 2 December 2015].

23. Laskowski and Ward, “Building next Generation Video Game Collections,” 268.

24. McNeill, “VCU Libraries Launches Collection.”

25. Jagoda, “Videogame Collection Supports Scholarly Study.”

26. University of Calgary Libraries and Cultural Resources, “Video Games,” available online at http://library.ucalgary.ca/dmc/video-games [accessed 4 November 2015].

27. Emma Cross and Robert Smith, “The Evolution of Gaming at Academic Libraries,” Canadian Library Association Conference (Winnepeg, Manitoba, 2013), available online at https://prezi.com/supsungb2uil/the-evolution-of-gaming-at-academic-libraries/ [accessed 4 November 2015].

28. Burkhardt, “Taking Games in Libraries Seriously.”

29. Three examples of soliciting direct feedback from faculty and students are found in Kane, Soehner, and Wei, “Building a Collection of Video Games”; Laskowski and Ward, “Building Next Generation Video Game Collections”; and Cross, Mould, and Smith, “The Protean Challenge of Game Collections.”

30. Nelson, “Gaming Reaches into Far Corners of Academic World.”

31. DePollo, “Play On: Changing Gamer Culture at the ‘U.’”

32. Laskowski and Ward, “Building Next Generation Video Game Collections,” 268.

33. Cross, Mould, and Smith, “The Protean Challenge of Game Collections,” 133.

34. Jagoda, “Videogame Collection Supports Scholarly Study.”

35. Waldron, “Computer & Video Game Archive.”

36. Mark T. Gilderhus, History and Historians : A Historiographical Introduction , 7th ed. (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2010), 41.

37. Vincent Larivière, Yves Gingras, and Éric Archambault, “Canadian Collaboration Networks: A Comparative Analysis of the Natural Sciences, Social Sciences and the Humanities,” Scientometrics 68, no. 3 (2006): 519–33, doi:10.1007/s11192-006-0127-8.

38. Nelson, “Gaming Reaches into Far Corners of Academic World.”

39. Kane, Soehner, and Wei, “Building a Collection of Video Games.”

40. Wenzel, “New Library Videogame Collection.”

41. Mary Claire Morris, “Computer & Video Game Archive Celebrating Five Years of Growth,” The University Record (blog) (Nov. 5, 2013), available online at http://record.umich.edu //articles/computer-video-game-archive-celebrating-five-years-growth [accessed 2 December 2015].

42. Cross, Mould, and Smith, “The Protean Challenge of Game Collections,” 144.

43. For more information, see http://store.steampowered.com/about /.

44. Waldron, “Computer & Video Game Archive.”

45. John Gaudiosi, “Mobile Game Revenues Set to Overtake Console Games in 2015,” Fortune , (Jan. 15, 2015), available online at http://fortune.com/2015/01/15/mobile -console-game-revenues-2015/ [accessed 15 January 2016].

* Shannon L. Farrell is Natural Resources Librarian in the Natural Resources Library at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities; e-mail: [email protected] . Amy E. Neeser is Assistant Librarian, Library Research—Science and Engineering in the University Library at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; e-mail: [email protected] . Carolyn Bishoff is Physics, Astronomy, and Earth Sciences Librarian in the Walter Library at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities; e-mail: [email protected] ). ©2017 Shannon L. Farrell, Amy E. Neeser, and Carolyn Bishoff, Attribution-NonCommercial ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ ) CC BY-NC.

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The Playing Brain. The Impact of Video Games on Cognition and Behavior in Pediatric Age at the Time of Lockdown: A Systematic Review

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A growing number of children and adolescents play video games (VGs) for long amounts of time. The current outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic has significantly reduced outdoor activities and direct interpersonal relationships. Therefore, a higher use of VGs can become the response to stress and fear of illness. VGs and their practical, academic, vocational and educational implications have become an issue of increasing interest for scholars, parents, teachers, pediatricians and youth public policy makers. The current systematic review aims to identify, in recent literature, the most relevant problems of the complex issue of playing VGs in children and adolescents in order to provide suggestions for the correct management of VG practice. The method used searches through standardized search operators using keywords related to video games and the link with cognition, cognitive control and behaviors adopted during the pandemic. Ninety-nine studies were reviewed and included, whereas twelve studies were excluded because they were educationally irrelevant. Any debate on the effectiveness of VGs cannot refer to a dichotomous approach, according to which VGs are rigidly ‘good’ or ‘bad’. VGs should be approached in terms of complexity and differentiated by multiple dimensions interacting with each other.

1. Introduction

In the last decades, a very large body of literature has shown an increasing interest in video games (VGs) and their impact on the brain, cognition and behavior, especially in children and adolescents [ 1 ]. Indeed, a widely growing number of children and adolescents play VGs for a long time, often developing real addictive behaviors [ 2 , 3 ]. In addition, the current outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the following lockdown have significantly reduced outdoor activities and direct interpersonal relationships [ 4 , 5 ]. However, literature data are still inconsistent. For example, according to some meta-analytic reviews [ 6 , 7 , 8 ], exposure to violent VGs is a causal risk factor for increased aggressive behavior, cognition and affection in children and adolescents. Conversely, many cross-sectional and intervention studies have shown that the intensive use of some types of VGs leads to significant improvements in many cognitive domains and behaviours [ 1 , 9 , 10 , 11 ]. Video games are even considered as ‘virtual teachers’ and effective and ‘exemplary teachers’ [ 12 , 13 ].

The current systematic review focuses on some crucial outstanding issues within the debate on the effects of VGs on cognition and behavior in order to provide suggestions for parents, pediatricians, health providers and educators dealing with pediatric ages, especially in the complex pandemic period. Namely, it analyzes the most debated and educationally relevant problems on the relationship between video games, cognition and behavior: 1. video games’ effects on cognitive function; 2. video games’ effects on attention and addictive behaviors; 3. video games and prosocial or aggressive behavior. Therefore, the current analysis may be accounted as an original contribution to the practical dimension in the educational and rehabilitation field for parents and educators.

Early common predominant opinions mainly focused on VGs according to dichotomous thinking, as enjoyable entertainment or harmful tools [ 14 ]. The recent literature instead provided evidence on the impact of VGs on the brain and its functional modifications while playing [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ], showing that video games involve different cortical and subcortical structures, with cognitive and emotional competence, such as frontal and prefrontal regions, the posterior and superior parietal lobe, the anterior and posterior cingulate cortices, limbic areas, the amygdala, the entorhinal cortex and basal nuclei [ 1 , 20 , 21 , 22 ].

Mondéjar and colleagues [ 15 ], in a group of twelve healthy preadolescents between 8 and 12 years old, evaluated the frontal lobe activity and the different types of cognitive processing during five platform-based action videogame mechanics: 1. accurate action, related to processes such as concentration, attention, impulse control and information comprehension; 2. timely action, related to working memory, selective attention, decision-making, problem solving and perception; 3. mimic sequence, related to working memory, focalized attention and inhibition control; 4. pattern learning, as selective attention, planning, inhibition control and spatial orientation; 5. logical puzzles related to attention, working memory, the capacity for abstraction, information processing, problem solving, or resistance to interference. They found prominent bioelectrical prefrontal activity during the performance related to executive functions (timely action, pattern learning, logical puzzles) and more global brain activity and a higher presence of alpha waves, or a greater activation of the temporal lobe, in the accurate action and mimic sequence. Similarly, they correlated higher magnitudes on frequency bands with five game mechanics in ten healthy children, who played with a VG platform for an average of about 20 min [ 16 ]. Theta waves, related to memory and emotions, were more significant in the five mechanics, while beta waves, related to concentration, were more prominent in only two. Moreover, activation was more significant in the intermediate and occipital areas for all the mechanics, while recurrent magnitude patterns were identified in three mechanics.

Similarly, Lee et al. [ 17 ], found a thinner cortex and a smaller gray matter volume in critical areas for evaluating reward values, error processing and adjusting behavior, namely, the anterior cingulate cortex, the orbitofrontal cortex and the frontoparietal areas, in young male adults with internet gaming disorders, compared to age-matched healthy male controls. A neuroimaging study examined in individuals affected by gaming disorders the differences during the playing of a violence-related vs. a non-violence-related version of the same VG [ 18 ]. While functional connectivity of the reward-related network and the behavioral inhibition system was altered, the orbitofrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cerebral area were overstimulated, similarly to smart drug addiction [ 17 , 23 ].

Recently, Kwak et al. [ 19 ] longitudinally compared 14 adolescents with internet gaming disorder to 12 professional internet gaming students who practiced for about ten hours a day, within a defined support system that included practice, physical exercise, lectures on team strategy, rest and mealtimes. After one year, both groups showed increased brain activity within the attention system of the parietal lobe. However, professional gamers improved problematic behaviors, impulsivity, aggression, depression and anxiety, while adolescents with internet gaming disorder showed no behavioral improvement and a dysfunctional brain activity within the impulse control network in the left orbitofrontal cortex.

The current systematic review was structured according to the guidelines and recommendations contained in the PRISMA statement [ 24 ].

Eligibility Criteria

Both experimental and correlational studies and meta-analyses between the years of 2000 and 2020 that investigated outcomes of VG exposure were included. They were considered children and adolescents. Studies employing different methodologies were included: studies in which naive participants were trained to use a VG versus a control group and studies comparing experienced versus non-gamers, or inexperienced players. Primary outcome measures were any type of structural and functional data obtained using neuroimaging techniques and behavioral testing.

Information Sources

One hundred and twenty-two studies were identified through electronic database searching in Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus (Elsevier) and Web of Sciences. The final database search was run on January 2021 using the following keywords: video games; video games and cognition; video games and epidemic; cognitive control; behavior control; brain and video games; spatial cognition; prosocial behavior; violence in video games; aggressive behavior; addictions in adolescents; children and video games.

Study Selection

Inclusion criteria: written in English; published since 2000; deals in depth with cognitive skills, attention, executive functions, or cognitive control; follows a high methodological rigor.

Exclusion criteria: does not refer to key topics directly; the full text could not be obtained; lack of transparency due to missing methodology information. Ninety-nine studies were reviewed and included, whereas twelve studies were excluded because they were irrelevant to the topic or because the full text was not obtained. General communication materials, such as pamphlets, posters and infographics, were excluded as they do not provide evidence about their effectiveness.

Figure 1 shows the selection of studies flowchart.

Selection of studies flowchart.

3.1. Effect of Video Games on Cognitive Functions

Any modern VG requires an extensive repertoire of attentional, perceptual and executive abilities, such as a deep perceptual analysis of complex unfamiliar environments, detecting relevant or irrelevant stimuli, interference control, speed of information processing, planning and decision making, cognitive flexibility and working memory.

Literature data in the last years have proven that VGs may improve a variety of cognitive domains [ 1 , 25 ] as, for example, even just 10 hours of VG could improve spatial attention and mental rotation [ 26 , 27 ]. A large variety of design studies reported in habitual players better performance in multiple cognitive domains, including selective attention [ 3 , 21 , 26 , 28 ], speed of processing [ 21 , 28 ], executive functions [ 29 , 30 ] and working memory [ 31 ]. Similarly, a large body of intervention studies have shown improvements in the same cognitive domains in non-players following training in action VGs [ 27 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ]. Recently, Benoit et al. [ 38 ] examined in 14 professional VG players and 16 casual VG players various cognitive abilities, such as processing speed, attention, memory, executive functions, manual dexterity and tracking multiple objects in three dimensions [ 39 ]. Professional players showed a very large advantage in visual–spatial short-term memory and visual attention, and less in selective and sustained attention and auditory working memory. Moreover, they showed better speed thresholds in tracking multiple objects in three dimensions overall, though the rate of improvement did not differ in the two groups. In two previous meta-analyses, Bediou et al. [ 40 ] focused on the long-term effects of action VGs on various cognitive domains using both cross-sectional and intervention studies. Overall, the results documented a positive impact of action video gaming on cognition. In cross-sectional studies, a main effect of about half a standard deviation was found. The habitual action game players showed better performance than non-players. Likewise, intervention studies showed about a third of a standard deviation advantage in cognition domains in action VG trainees. Perception, spatial cognition and top-down attention were the three cognitive domains with the most robust impact [ 40 ].

Homer et al. [ 41 ] examined the effectiveness of a custom-designed VG (‘alien game’) in a group of 82 healthy adolescents (age range 14–18 years; average = 15.5 years) trained to play for 20 min per week for 6 consecutive weeks. Such a digital game was devised to target, in a fun way, the specific executive ability of shifting, as the ability to shift between tasks or mental sets, hypothesizing that after playing the ‘alien game’ over a period of several weeks, adolescents would show significant improvements in the targeted ability. Pre- and post-test measures of another executive ability, inhibition, as the ability to control a prepotent response, were also recorded in order to examine the extent to which training would transfer from one executive ability to another. Significant advantages both in shifting and in inhibition abilities were found, providing evidence that VGs can be effective tools for training executive abilities [ 42 , 43 ].

Similarly, Oei and Patterson [ 44 ] examined the effect of action and non-action VGs on executive functions. Fifty-two non-VG gamers played one of four different games for 20 h. Pre- and post-training tests of executive function were administered. The group that trained on the physics-based puzzle game, demanding high level planning, problem solving, reframing, strategizing and new strategies from level to level, improved in several aspects of executive function. In a previous study, the same authors [ 45 ] instructed 75 non-gamers, (average age 21.07 ± 2.12) to play for 20 h, one hour a day/five days a week over four weeks. They compared effects of action and non-action games to examine whether non-action games also improve cognition. Four tests pre- and post-training were administered. The results showed that cognitive improvements were not limited to training with action games and that different games improved different aspects of cognition. Action VGs have even been used to treat dyslexic children [ 46 , 47 ]. Only 12 h of action VGs, for nine sessions of 80 min per day, significantly improved reading and attentional skills [ 48 ].

Moreover, several meta-analytic studies provide evidence that action VG training may become an efficient way to improve the cognitive performance of healthy adults. Wang et al. [ 49 ], in a meta-analysis, found that healthy adults achieve moderate benefits from action VG training in overall cognitive ability and moderate to small benefits in specific cognitive domains. In contrast, young adults gain more benefits than older adults in both overall cognition and specific cognitive domains.

In summation, the studies on VG effects, by different methodologies, document both in adults and in children significant positive outcomes in different cognitive domains. Such performance improvements may be paralleled by functional brain remodelling [ 14 ].

3.2. Video Games Effect on Attention and Addictive Behaviors

Attentional problems are accounted as a crucial area of focus on outcomes of intensive game-play practices in children and adolescents. However, literature on the topic appears inconsistent. While some research has found mixed results [ 50 ] or a positive effect [ 51 , 52 , 53 ], or no relationship between VG practice and attention, other studies have linked VG playing with greater attention problems, such as impulsiveness, self-control, executive functioning, and cognitive control [ 53 , 54 , 55 ].

Gentile et al. [ 56 ], examining longitudinally, over 3 years, a large sample of child and adolescent VG players aged 8–17 (mean = 11.2 ± 2.1), suggested a bidirectional causality: children who spend more time playing VGs have more attention problems; in turn, subjects who have more attention problems spend more time playing VGs. Therefore, children and adolescents with attention problems are more attracted to VGs (excitement hypothesis), and, in turn, they find it less engaging to focus on activities requiring more control and sustained attention, such as educational activities, homework or household chores (displacement hypothesis). According to such hypotheses, and to the operant conditioning model [ 57 , 58 ], VGs, providing strong motivational cues, become more rewarding for impulsive children and teenagers [ 51 ] who, in such contexts, experience a sense of value and feelings of mastery that they do not experience in their daily relationships [ 59 ].

Actually, any modern VG is a highly engaging activity with a variety of attractive cues, such as, for example, violence, rapid movement, fast pacing and flashing lights [ 60 , 61 ]. According to the attractive hypothesis [ 56 ], it may provide a strong motivation and support for attention and even become addictive, especially in subjects with problems maintaining attention in usual, monotonous and poorly engaging tasks. Therefore, paradoxically, a greater VG exposure may improve visual attention skills involved in such engaging play [ 26 ], but it may impair the ability to selectively focus on a target for lasting time, without external exciting cues.

Probably, in line with the bidirectional causality framework [ 56 ], such rewarding conditions could become the psychological context for the structuring of addictive behaviors, such as a sense of euphoria while playing, feeling depressed away from the game, an uncontrollable and persistent craving to play, neglect of family and friends, problems with school or jobs, alteration of sleeping routines, irregular meals and poor hygiene [ 14 ]. The most psychologically fragile subjects may be most attracted to an engaging and rewarding activity, ensuring an effective compensation to their fragility [ 14 ]. However, the topic of video game addiction continues to present today many outstanding issues. There is a large consensus that ‘pathological use’ is more debilitating than ‘excessive use’ of VGs alone [ 62 , 63 , 64 ]. Addictive behavior appears associated with an actual lowering in academic, social, occupational, developmental and behavioral dimensions, while excessive use may simply be an excessive amount of time gaming. According to Griffiths’ suggestions, ‘healthy excessive enthusiasms add to life, whereas addiction takes away from it’ [ 65 ]. However, it is sometimes difficult to identify the clear line between unproblematic overuse of gaming and the pathological and compulsive overuse that compromises one’s lifestyle and psychosocial adjustment [ 66 , 67 , 68 ]. Therefore, there may be a risk of stigmatizing an enjoyable practice, which, for a minority of excessive users, may be associated with addiction-related behaviors [ 69 , 70 ]. Przybylski and colleagues, in four survey studies with large international cohorts (N = 18,932), found that the percentage of the general population who could qualify for internet gaming disorders was extremely small (less than one percent) [ 71 ].

In such a discussion of the pathological nature of VGs, another outstanding question is whether pathological play is a major problem, or if it is the phenomenological manifestation of another pathological condition. Several studies have suggested that video game play can become harmful enough to be categorized as a psychiatric disorder, or it could be a symptom of an underlying psychopathological condition, such as depression or anxiety. Moreover, the functional impairments observed in individuals with game addictions are also thought to be similar to the impairments observed in other addictions. Neuroimaging studies have shown that the brain reward pathways which are activated during video game playing are also activated during cue-induced cravings of drug, alcohol or other type of substances abuse [ 72 , 73 , 74 ].

Some longitudinal studies [ 14 , 75 , 76 ] proved that pathological addictive behaviors, such as depression, are likely to be outcomes of pathological gaming rather than predictors of it [ 77 , 78 ]. Lam and Peng [ 79 ], in a prospective study with a randomly generated cohort of 881 healthy adolescents aged between 13 and 16 years, found that the pathological use of the internet results in later depression. Similarly, Liau et al. [ 80 ], in a 2-year longitudinal study involving 3034 children and adolescents aged 8 to 14 years, found that pathological video gaming has potentially serious mental health consequences, in particular of depression.

In summary, attention problems and addictive behaviors in the context of VGs should be addressed in a circular and bidirectional way in which each variable can influence the others.

3.3. Video Games Effect and Prosocial and Aggressive Behaviors

The positive impact of video games also concerns the social and relational dimension, as occurs in the VG training of prosocial or educational skills. Several studies have reported that playing prosocial VGs, even for a short time, increases prosocial cognition [ 81 ], positive affect [ 82 ] and helping behaviors [ 13 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 ], whereas it decreases antisocial thoughts and the hostile expectation bias, such as the tendency to perceive any provocative actions of other people as hostile even when they are accidental [ 13 , 86 ]. Such findings have been found in correlational, longitudinal and experimental investigations [ 82 , 85 , 87 ].

In four different experiments [ 13 ], playing VGs with prosocial content was positively related to increased prosocial behavior, even though participants played the VGs for a relatively short time, suggesting that VGs with prosocial content could be used to improve social interactions, increase prosocial behavior, reduce aggression and encourage tolerance.

Following experimental, correlational, longitudinal and meta-analytic studies provided further evidence that playing a prosocial VG results in greater interpersonal empathy, cooperation and sharing and subsequently in prosocial behavior [ 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 ].

Such literature’s data are consistent with the General Learning Model [ 91 , 92 ], according to which the positive or negative content of the game impacts on the player’s cognition, emotions and physiological arousal, which, in turn, leads to positive or negative learning and behavioral responses [ 12 , 93 , 94 , 95 ]. Therefore, repeated prosocial behavioral scripts can be translated into long-term effects in cognitive, emotional and affective constructs related to prosocial actions, cognition, feelings, and physiological arousal, such as perceptual and expectation schemata, beliefs, scripts, attitudes and stereotypes, empathy and personality structure [ 83 , 91 ].

In the same conceptual framework, educational video games have been found to positively affect behaviors in a wide range of domains [ 12 ], school subjects [ 96 ] and health conditions [ 97 , 98 ]. In randomized clinical trials, for example, diabetic or asthmatic children and adolescents improved their self-care and reduced their emergency clinical utilization after playing health education and disease management VGs. After six months of playing, diabetic patients decreased their emergency visits by 77 percent [ 99 ]. Therefore, well-designed games can provide powerful interactive experiences that can foster young children’s learning, skill building, self-care and healthy development [ 100 ].

Violence in VGs is a matter of intense debate, both in public opinion and in the scientific context [ 101 , 102 ]. A vast majority of common opinions, parents and educators consider the violence of VGs as the most negatively impacting feature to emotional and relational development of youth and children. Actually, studies agree on the negative impact of violent video games on aggressive behavior. Several meta-analyses have examined violent VGs [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 103 ] and, although they vary greatly in terms of how many studies they include, they seem to agree with each other. The most comprehensive [ 8 ] showed that violent VGs, gradually and unconsciously, as a result of repeated exposure to justified and fun violence, would increase aggressive thoughts, affect and behavior, physiological persistent alertnes, and would desensitize players to violence and to the pain and suffering of others, supporting a perceptual and cognitive bias to attribute hostile intentions to others.

Similarly, experimental, correlational and longitudinal studies supported the causal relationship between violent VGs and aggression, in the short- and long-term, both in a laboratory and in a real-life context. A greater amount of violent VGs, or even a brief exposure, were significantly associated with more positive attitudes toward violence [ 104 ], higher trait hostility [ 105 ] and with increased aggressive behaviors [ 106 ], physical fights [ 107 ] and aggressive thoughts [ 108 ] and affect [ 109 ]. In a two-year longitudinal study, children and adolescents who played a lot of violent VGs showed over time more aggressive behaviors, including fights and delinquency [ 110 ]. Saleem, Anderson and Gentile [ 82 ] examined the effects of short-term exposure to prosocial, neutral and violent VGs in a sample of 191 children of 9–14 years old. Results indicated that while playing prosocial games increased helpful and decreased hurtful behaviour, the violent games had the opposite effect.

In summation, the overall literature data support the opinion that violent video games, over time, affect the brain and activate a greater availability to aggressive behavior patterns, although some researchers have pointed out that the negative effects of violent VGs are small and may be a publication bias [ 14 , 111 ].

4. Discussion

The focus of the current overview was to identify, from a functional point of view, the most significant issues in the debate on the impact of VGs on cognition and behavior in children and adolescents, in order to provide suggestions for a proper management of VG practice.

Overall, the reviewed literature agrees in considering the practice of VGs as much more than just entertainment or a leisure activity. Moreover, research agrees that any debate on the effectiveness of VGs cannot refer to a unitary construct [ 14 ], nor to a rigidly dichotomous approach, according to which VGs are ‘good’ or ‘bad’ [ 1 , 12 , 112 , 113 ].

The term ‘video game’ should be viewed as an ‘umbrella term’ that covers different meanings, far from a single unitary construct [ 14 , 114 ]. Furthermore, VGs and their effects should be approached in terms of complexity and differentiated by multiple dimensions interacting with each other and with a set of other variables, such as, for example, the player’s age and personality traits, the amount of time spent playing, the presence of an adult, the game alone or together with others and so on [ 115 ].

Gentile and colleagues [ 116 , 117 , 118 , 119 ] have identified five main features of VGs that can affect players: 1. amount of play; 2. content; 3. context; 4. structure; and 5. mechanics. Each of these aspects can produce or increase different thoughts, feelings and behaviors.

However, the content effects, individually focused, are frequently overemphasized. According to the General Learning Model, children would learn the contents of the specific games and apply them to their lives. Nevertheless, a violent game using a team-based game modality may have different impacts than a violent game using a ‘free for all’ game modality. Although both are equally violent games, the former could suggest teamwork and collaborative behaviors, while playing in an ‘everyone for oneself’ mode could foster less empathy and more aggressive thoughts and behaviors [ 8 , 88 ].

Likewise, the outside social context can have different effects and it may even mitigate or reinforce the effects of the content. Playing violent games together with others could increase aggression outcomes if players reinforce each other in aggressive behavior. Instead, it could have a prosocial effect if the motivations to play together are to help each other [ 120 ].

According to the dominant literature, the psychological appeal of video games may be related to an operant conditioning that reinforces multiple psychological instances, including the need for belonging and social interaction [ 57 , 58 ]. On such drives and reinforcements, the playing time can expand, and it may become endless in addicted subjects. However, the amount of play, regardless of the content, can become harmful when it displaces beneficial activities, affects academic performance or social dimensions [ 52 , 121 ], or supports health problems, such as, for instance, obesity [ 122 , 123 , 124 ], repetitive strain disorder and video game addiction [ 76 , 83 ]. However, a greater amount of time inevitably implies increased repetition of other game dimensions. Therefore, it is likely that some associations between time spent and negative outcomes result from other dimensions, and not from amount of time per se. Moreover, children who perform poorly at school are likely to spend more time playing games, according to the displacement hypothesis, but over time, the excessive amount of play may further damage academic performance in a vicious circle [ 116 ].

VGs can also have a different psychological appeal in relation to their structural organization and the way they are displayed. Many structural features can affect playing behavior, regardless of the individual’s psychological, physiological, or socioeconomic status [ 125 ], such as, for instance, the degree of realism of the graphics, sound and back-ground, the game duration, the advancement rate, the game dynamics such as exploring new areas, elements of surprise, fulfilling a request, the control options of the sound, graphics, the character development over time and character customization options, the winning and losing features as the potential to lose or accumulate points, finding bonuses, having to start a level again, the ability to save regularly, the multi-player option building alliances and beating other players [ 125 ].

The more or less realistic mechanics can also configure the game differently and affect fine or gross motor skills, hand-eye coordination or even balance skills, depending on the type of controller, such as a mouse and keyboard, a game control pad, a balance board, or a joystick.

Therefore, VGs may differ widely in multiple dimensions and, as a result, in their effects on cognitive skills and behavior [ 3 , 33 ]. Moreover, the different dimensions may interact with each other and with the psychological, emotional and personality characteristics of the individual player and context. Even the same game can have both positive and negative effects in different contexts and for different subjects.

The current analysis of the literature, therefore, supports the need for further experimental and longitudinal research on the role of multiple characteristics of video games and their interactions. A wide-ranging approach dynamically focused on the multiple dimensions will allow a deeper theoretical understanding of the different aspects of video games.

Nevertheless, according to common opinion, the violence would always have a negative impact on behavior, especially in pediatric subjects. However, a strictly causal relationship between violent VGs and aggressive behavior appears rather reductive [ 126 , 127 ]. Aggressive behavior is a complex one and arises from the interaction of a lot of factors. Therefore, violent VGs, with no other risk factors, should not be considered ‘per se’ the linear cause and single source of aggressive or violent behavior. Antisocial outcomes can be influenced by personality variables, such as trait aggression, or by a number of the ‘third variables’ such as gender, parental education, exposure to family violence and delinquency history [ 83 ]. According to social learning theories [ 128 ], aggressive behavior would arise from repeated exposure to violence patterns [ 129 ]. Therefore, children who have other risk factors for violent or aggressive behavior, such as violent family patterns, excessive amount of time spent playing, playing alone, and so on are more likely to have negative consequences from playing violent video games.

An alternative theoretical framework [ 126 , 127 ] assumes that violent behavior would result from the interaction of genetically predisposed personality traits and stressful situations. In such a model, violent VGs would act as ‘stylistic catalysts’ [ 127 ], providing an individual predisposed to violence with the various models of violent behavior. Therefore, an aggressive child temperament would derive from a biological pathway, while the violent VG, as a ‘stylistic catalyst’, may suggest the specific violent behavior to enact.

Conversely, playing prosocial VGs, even for a short time, increases prosocial cognition, affect and behaviors in children and adolescents [ 13 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 89 ]. Several intervention or training studies showed that a prosocial VG should activate experiences, knowledge, feelings and patterns of behavior relating to prosocial actions, cognition, feelings and physiological arousal. In turn, in line with the General Learning Model, [ 91 , 130 ], recurrent prosocial behavioral scripts produce new learning, new behavioral patterns and emotional and affective cognitive constructs [ 83 ].

Moreover, several studies emphasize the educational and academic potential of VGs that may become effective and ‘exemplary teachers’ [ 12 , 82 ] providing fun and motivating contexts for deep learning in a wide range of content [ 12 ], such as school learning [ 96 ], rehabilitation activities [ 46 , 47 ], new health care and protection behavior development and the enhancement of specific skills [ 97 , 99 , 100 ]. Similarly, the literature data document that the intensive use of VGs results in generalized improvements in cognitive functions or specific cognitive domains, and in behavioral changes [ 1 ]. Actually, VGs involve a wide range of cognitive functions, and attentional, perceptual, executive, planning and problem solving skills. They can, therefore, be expected to improve different perceptual and cognitive domains. However, on a methodological level, the impact on behavior and cognition cannot be simplistically viewed as the linear result of a causal relationship between VG and performance. For instance, subjects with better perceptual abilities are likely to choose to play and, as a result, their increase in performance may reflect their baseline level rather than the effects of the game.

Studies focused on the attentional functions in VG playing reported inconsistent data. Playing action games may improve attention skills implied in a specific game. However, according to the attractive hypothesis [ 56 ] and operant conditioning theory, children and adolescents with attentional problems may be attracted by the motivating and engaging VG activities. On the other hand, children and adolescents with a wider VG exposure show greater attention problems [ 53 ]. The relationship between VGs and attention, then, seem to be approached in terms of bidirectional causality [ 56 ].

Similarly, since VGs and their cues appear more pleasant and desirable, a large amount of attractive VG exposure can lead to addiction and impair ability to focus on effortful goal oriented behavior [ 131 ]. However, the literature does not yet appear to agree on the objective diagnostic criteria for classifying behavioral game addiction [ 132 ].

In the fifth edition appendix of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [ 133 ], the diagnostic criteria for Internet Gaming Disorder included both specific internet games and offline games. However, this has led to some confusion as to whether excessive video games must necessarily occur online [ 134 , 135 ]. According to some authors, since ‘Internet addiction’ includes heterogeneous behaviors and etiological mechanisms, the term ‘video game disorder’ or simply ‘gaming disorder’ would be more suitable [ 136 , 137 ], while the term ‘Internet addiction’ appears inappropriate. Individuals rarely become addicted to the medium of the internet itself [ 137 , 138 ]. Moreover, it has also been supported theoretically [ 135 ] and empirically proven [ 139 ] that problematic internet use and problematic online gaming are not the same.

The debate on the relationship between pure game addiction behaviors and game addiction in comorbidity with other psychiatric disorders appears still on. Some researchers have argued that game addiction, as a standalone clinical entity, does not exist [ 140 ], but it is simply a symptom of psychiatric illnesses such as major depressive disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Equally poorly defined is the question of genetic predisposition and vulnerability to game addiction.

Likewise, the relationship between clinical symptoms and changes in brain activity and the dynamics by which video games triggers such widespread brain plasticity needs to be more clearly defined.

5. Conclusions

The current analysis of the literature provides strong evidence on the power of video games as highly motivating and engaging tools in the broader context of cognitive, emotional and relational development of children and adolescents. However, the effectiveness of such tools does not arise exclusively from their content, but it results from a set of variables interacting each other.

Video games, beyond their content, can favor pathological aggression, withdrawal, escape from reality and reduction of interests. Virtual reality becomes more attractive than the real one and can become the ‘non-place’ to escape from the complexity of everyday life. Recently, to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, health authorities have forced populations to stay home and children and adolescents may experience an exacerbation of exposure to video games.

Parents, educators and teachers should ensure an educational presence, monitoring times and modalities of VG practice in a broader context in which children and adolescents live with a wider repertoire of interests, without losing social and relational engagement. Moreover, pediatric health care visits may be a great opportunity to support parents helping children to deal with media and video games.

On these assumptions, as practical suggestions to prevent or mitigate addictive behaviors, parents and educators should enforce the golden rule as the educational presence of the adult.

Moreover, in line with the literature, the core values to prevent a negative impact of video games should be focused on a few rules to be proposed with assertiveness and authority: 1. set a clear time limit to play, 2. prefer games that can also be played with family, 3. alternate video games with other games and activities, 4. avoid highly addictive games, 5. keep a social life in the real world.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, D.S., L.D.F. and G.L.; methodology, D.S., E.G.; formal analysis, D.S., E.G. and L.D.F.; data curation, E.G. and L.D.F.; writing—original draft preparation, D.S., E.G. and L.D.F.; writing—review and editing, D.S.; supervision, D.S. and G.L.; funding acquisition, D.S. and G.L. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

This research received no external funding.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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• Published: 12 December 2023

Use of serious games with older adults: systematic literature review

• Bárbara-Mariana Gutiérrez-Pérez 1 ,
• Antonio-Víctor Martín-García 1 ,
• Alicia Murciano-Hueso   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4351-9307 1 &
• Ana-Paula de Oliveira Cardoso 2  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  10 , Article number:  939 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

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The aim of this paper is to qualitatively synthesise literature on empirical research into video games and older adults. A total of 108 studies were analysed, with the participation of 15,902 individuals aged over 60. The framework of Search, Appraisal, Synthesis, and Analysis (SALSA) was used, with screening by three independent reviewers and phrase searching and combining search terms. The results indicate a majority of studies with a quantitative approach conducted in the European context in which a total of 125 scales were identified for the assessment of different geriatric aspects related to domains for the improvement of physical health and functional quality, improvement of cognitive, psychological and mental health, and improvement of physical and cognitive functions from a combined approach.

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Introduction.

In increasingly digitised social scenarios, certain groups are at a disadvantage. This is the case for the elderly. At the root of digital exclusion and the various digital divides are issues related to technical aspects and infrastructures, but above all a set of negative beliefs and stereotypes about older adults, which reinforce and amplify the effect of digital exclusion. Some studies suggest that the digital divide affecting this age group can be explained by internal motivational factors. For example, relative deprivation theory holds that relative disadvantage exists when people perceive themselves to be (unjustifiably) disadvantaged or different compared to others in a given situation. The negative stereotype of technological incapacity reinforces the subject’s perception of the difficulty of using certain devices and the avoidance of situations in which they are necessary resulting in the underuse of technology, which contributes to maintaining the digital divide (Mariano et al., 2022 ). The case of video games exemplifies a type of resource traditionally associated with younger people and of little interest to older people.

However, available research suggests that video game-based technology can create opportunities for social connection, helping to alleviate social isolation and loneliness in this age group. For this reason, and in the framework of so-called positive technology, the use of video games ( serious games ) is one of the most current topics generating most interest among the gerontological scientific community, public leaders interested in developing active ageing and community health policies, as well as video game developers and the video game industry as a whole. Despite this interest, serious games are a relatively new field of study that could be described as the use of video games to help users achieve a specific objective through gaming (Barbosa et al., 2018 ). Game-based methods and concepts and gaming technology are thus combined with other ICTs and research areas and applied to a wide scope of domains of use ranging from training, simulation and education to sport and health, or any other relevant social or business topic (Barbosa et al., 2018 ). As a complement to traditional interventions, these digital games can help older adults boost their health by improving their physical condition and coordination skills, combined with greater motivation generated by the game experience and fun while practising. In any case, the purpose of serious games is much more than entertainment —which is still a factor—, seeking to achieve objectives that could be considered as educational and learning in the broadest sense.

As indicated, and despite interest in serious games as a gerontological resource, current knowledge available in this field is still incipient. After a first phase of study, specialised literature shows that most researchers have focused on understanding what type of digital games can be more interesting for older adults. Some studies have verified that most tend to play digital games known as casual (Gigante, 2009 ) and/or educational games. From this starting point, studies have focused on reviewing the effect this type of game could have as a support for cognitive training in gerontological therapy. The idea is to assess how to use video games to help maintain cognitive skills, increase self-esteem, improve coordination or reaction times or also to improve aspects such as spatial awareness, reasoning and mental rotation (McLaughlin et al., 2012 ). In a second phase, researchers are analysing to what extent the use of different types of casual, serious, social and educational games is related to the emotional and social well-being of older adults (Kaufman et al., 2019 ). Aspects such as cooperative and social play are viewed to contribute to improving social interaction and active participation, they also help maintain general cognitive function in older adults, improving social support, integration and social interaction. Finally, video games are also being analysed as mere entertainment, as an e-leisure resource. In this case, this type of resource is understood to also help improve mood, reducing sadness and depression (Nazry and Romano, 2017 ), helping to maintain social networks, and social and community ties in this age group. Despite the rough outline of these areas of interest and research studies, the relative youth of this research field means that there are many gaps and a lack of knowledge on basic aspects regarding the use of digital games for and by older adults, and this is well worth analysing. For this reason, we adopted a systematic review method to examine general literature available on serious games and adults over 60 years old in order to provide an overview of the state of gerontological research into this subject.

AIMS of review

Systematic review is a strategy to search for and select the best evidence published in certain bibliographical sources on a research topic, offering a series of theoretical and practical recommendations on the topic. In this case it was a review of studies published in the last 5 years on serious games and older adults in an attempt to clarify what knowledge is available on the matter. This SLR specifically attempts to clarify the following key questions:

What main objectives are proposed in studies on non-commercial serious games and older adults?

What are the main categories and types of video games and what have they been used for in the studies reviewed?

What are the main instruments and measurement scales used in studies on serious games and older adults? (screening)

What are the main results obtained after using serious games with older adults for socio-educational purposes? (with older adults aged 65 and above)

Search strategy and study selection

Search, Appraisal, Synthesis and Analysis (SALSA) framework was implemented to guarantee the methodological precision of this research (Grant and Booth, 2009 ). The search process was carried out in August 2023. In this phase, firstly, Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases were selected to search for literature due to their impact factor and multidisciplinary nature. For the search, a term algorithm was established based on a series of keywords, some of which included the asterisk symbol (‘*’) as a truncation operator: (exergam* OR videogam* OR serious gam*) AND (elder* OR old* OR ageing). This algorithm was applied to field labels corresponding to Title, Abstract and Keywords. Secondly, a series of inclusion and exclusion criteria were established to assess literature based on two perspectives. The first focuses on filters applied during the search process, and the second on criteria to ascertain eligibility of the research studies. The criteria of both perspectives are shown in Table 1 .

Thirdly, based on the research questions, a content matrix was designed as a documentation method and coding of information for the synthesis phase. It included the following coding variables: (a) author(s) «AUT», (b) year of publication «YP», (c) article title «AT», (d) research objective «RO», (c) research methodology «RM», (d) research instrument or test «RIT», (e) selected sample «SS», (f) geographical context «GC», (g) objective of the videogame «OVG», and (h) description of the videogame «DVG». Las variables «RM», «RIT», «SS», «GC» and «OVG» were coded for descriptive calculations (mean, standard deviation and frequency) using the statistical analysis package SPSSv.26 (Licence of *Anonymised*).

To categorise the research instruments or tests used in the studies, as well as the objectives of the video games, three categories were established: (a) physical domain, which covers aspects related to assessment, training and improvement of physical health and functional quality; (b) cognitive domain, encompasses aspects related to the assessment, training and improvement of cognitive, psychological and mental health; and (c) multi-modal domain, including aspects related to the assessment, training and improvement of physical and cognitive functions from a combined approach. A qualitative approach was also applied by means of narrative analysis for the variables «RO» and «DVG» And, fourthly, different objectives and video games presented in the studies selected were described and analysed for the final phase of the SLR, identifying which domains (general and specific) were targeted by each.

As a result of applying the search filter criteria a total of 2608 articles were obtained (WoS n  = 2158; Scopus n  = 450). Due to the high number of pre-selected research, a search for key terms in the title and abstract was executed using conditional formats. In this way, 376 articles were identified (WoS n  = 74; Scopus n  = 302) containing the following terms in one of the two fields: ‘exergam*’, ‘serious gam*’, ‘video gam*’, ‘video gam*’, ‘game”, ‘gaming’. Then, after excluding duplicate studies (generally from the WoS database), a total of 313 articles were identified (WoS n  = 11; Scopus n  = 302). Finally, after applying the eligibility criteria, 205 studies were excluded: 1 did not provide information on the age ranges of the sample; 14 focused on perceptions, usability, feasibility or improvements in the video game without providing information on benefits or impact on participants; 19 did not include older people in their sample; 20 did not provide descriptive or contextual information about the video game or did not study the video game as a video game per se; and 151 investigations did not analyse the video game as a study variable. These included literature reviews or research protocols. Finally, a total of 108 articles were selected for inclusion in the research (Fig. 1 ).

n number of identified studies.

Characteristics of the selected studies

The 108 articles selected were then read in depth. In summary, the main data on the matter subject to analysis appear in Table 2 .

The following information was taken from each of these studies: author(s), year of publication, title, type of study, objectives presented in the article, geographical context, users or participants. Based on these data it is clear that a majority of these research studies were in the European context (51.38%), specifically in Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and United Kingdom; meanwhile, the 20.18% of the studies analysed correspond to the Asian context (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan) and 20.18% to the American context.

The set of studies analysed comprises a total of 15,902 participants. It is important to note that the majority of this sample corresponds to the study by Bonnechère et al. ( 2021 ), which included 12,000 people over the age of 60. On the other hand, Table 2 shows that the sample selected in most of the studies is limited to older people. However, four papers were identified that included participants with different age ranges. The research by Brauner and Ziefle ( 2022 ) included a sample of 128 participants, with a minimum age of 16 and a maximum age of 84 years. However, the study does not provide specific information on the age distribution of the participants. Chesham et al. ( 2019 ), Kaplan et al. ( 2018 ) and Qiu et al. ( 2023 ) conducted their studies on heterogeneous samples in terms of age. In the first research, three groups were established: 28 subjects aged 18–31 years, 13 subjects aged 64–79 years and 11 subjects aged 86–94 years. In the second study, the sample included a group of 15 participants aged between 24 and 30 and a second group of 14 subjects aged between 69 and 76. Finally, in the third study, the sample was divided into two age ranges, 17–35 years and 55–70 years, with a total of 18 participants in each group. Chesham et al. ( 2019 ), Kaplan et al. ( 2018 ) and Qiu et al. ( 2023 ) conducted their studies on heterogeneous samples in terms of age. In the first research, three groups were established: 28 subjects aged 18–31 years, 13 subjects aged 64–79 years and 11 subjects aged 86–94 years. In the second study, the sample included a group of 15 participants aged between 24 and 30 and a second group of 14 subjects aged between 69 and 76. Finally, in the third study, the sample was divided into two age ranges, 17–35 years and 55–70 years, with a total of 18 participants in each group. Regarding the minimum and maximum ages included in the samples, as well as the ranges corresponding to this age group, in 22.07% of the studies, the minimum age corresponds to 65 years, while in 18.60% of the investigations, the minimum age of the sample is 60 years. On the other hand, in 7.44% of the studies, there were participants with a maximum age of 80 and 74 years, both of them coinciding in percentage.

In relation to the number of publications per year, Fig. 2 shows that from 2017 to 2021 the publication of research in this line shows a gradual increase, with a slight decrease in 2021. In 2022, the number of publications increased considerably, representing more than 25% of the research analysed. As for the year 2023, the number of published works is lower, corresponding to 10.20% of the selected studies. However, it is important to bear in mind that the publications of the latter year are limited to the first half of the year. In terms of the productivity of the main authors responsible for the papers, there is no clear leadership in this line of research.

Number of publications per year (2017–2023).

What are the main objectives set out in studies on non-commercial and major serious games?

In this section we review only non-commercial video games. In this group, 47.17% are related to the improvement or evaluation of the physical domain (exergames), 30.19% to multi-modal training and 22.64 per cent are associated with cognitive training.

This section only reviews non-commercial video games. In this group, 47.17% are related to improving or assessing the physical domain (exergames), 30.19% to multi-modal training, and 22.64% to cognitive training.

Objective 1: improving physical health, functional quality and quality of life

Physical domain video games are designed for training, improving and assessing different motor and coordination skills; they are the so-called exergames. This type of video game encourages moving the body while using interactive environments with immersive experiences that simulate different feelings of presence. Most exergames included in this domain focus on coordination skills such as combination, balance and space-time perception. (Ayed et al., 2018 ) research the feasibility and effectiveness of exergame prototypes designed for training posture control and balance rehabilitation in older adults. These prototypes, called ‘Reach Game’, ‘Hit-it’ and ‘Watch-Out’, required users to complete coordinated upper and lower limb movements, trunk movements and lateral displacements to achieve the goals set in the games. Similarly, Janhunen et al., ( 2022 ) also present ten exergames custom-designed for older users who needed rehabilitation for post-operative knee replacement. Each exercise included a story explaining the goal of the game and the participants’ body movements, tracked by the Kinect sensor, which acted as a game controller and was translated to the screen to move the avatar. The exercises were performed according to each participant’s mobility limitations. From there, in the research by Janhunen et al., ( 2023 ), they present a programme of 11 personalised post-operative knee replacement surgery games that engage patients in self-directed, personalised therapeutic exercises at home for physical function and pain reduction in older adults following knee replacement surgery. Meanwhile, Brachman et al., ( 2021 ) assess the efficacy of the balance exercise training programme in improving users’ posture control, as well as static and dynamic balance. The seven exergames used were based on virtual reality immersive environments in which players practised static postures, dynamic weight changes, balancing on one leg, leaning in different directions and trunk rotations. Exergame software meant that the difficulty of these movements could be adapted to the individual abilities of each participant.

Continuing with exergames linked with balance and posture control, on one hand, (Soancatl Aguilar et al., 2018 ) conducted a study to research how an ice-skating exergame affects dynamic posture control and balance. To achieve this, the software offers two game modes: one for movement coordination and the other for player resistance. On the other hand, Ellmers et al. ( 2018 ), conducted a study to assess the potential of gamified interventions with video games in reducing discrepancies between perceived balance skills and real skills in older adults. The researchers present a game, ‘Pong’, which is an adaptation of a traditional game. Using a commercial balance platform (Wii Balance Board) and in a virtual reality environment, players must control paddle displacement by maintaining balance. By moving their centre of gravity forward, players moved the paddle upwards, while by moving backwards the paddle moved down. Also using virtual reality, Bukhari et al. ( 2022 ) develop training games that allow participants to interact with a virtual environment to perform different exercise games (target shooting, football head-butts, table tilting, tight rope tension and snowboard slalom) to improve balance, gaze stability and gait performance. Similarly, Yuan et al. ( 2020 ) present a research study to assess the efficiency of gamified interventions with interactive video games on balance in older adults, in this case patients suffering from Parkinson’s with minor to moderate symptoms. This software comprises two tasks: in one, players must take steps in multiple directions guided by illustrated instructions indicating where they must step. This assesses the user’s ability to change their weight, their dynamic and static balance. The other task is to take guided steps towards an objective, assessing coordination skills of orientation and balance.

Dijkstra et al. ( 2018 ), Martins et al. ( 2020 ), Neumann et al. ( 2018 ) and Vorwerg-Gall et al. ( 2023 ) present a study that focuses on the efficiency of exergames in improving balance and also their effect on improving resistance and muscle strength, taking into account the state of the participant’s musculoskeletal system and even the improvement of blood pressure. Dijkstra et al. ( 2018 ) is to assess whether exergames are an effective method for favouring the autonomy and independence of older adults. For this they used ‘Fox Hunting Game’, where the goal is to find the fox avatar three times. The user’s graphic interface is a virtual world with three settings—a street, a museum and a zoo— that the player can move around by walking. The player must indicate which direction their avatar should go by moving their arms. All these movements are recorded and viewed using a motion sensor. The software also allows the user to increase their score by playing mini-games included in the programme. These mini-games are related with reach and grip, balance and squats. As a result, this exergame can train and improve the coordination skills of combination, balance and space-time perception. Finally, there are two game modes (individual and multi-player) making it a social activity.

Martins et al. ( 2020 ) assess the effect of a virtual training programme for balance and muscle strength in older adults. The programme is based on the traditional Otago Exercise Programme. In the study, the researchers assessed the results of three mini-games in the ‘m-OTAGO’ exergames that trained the coordination skills of combination, balance and reaction by completing exercises to bend the knees and move from sitting to standing on two feet, exercises to strengthen the hip and knees, and exercises to lift the calves and toes. These movements are shown in the graphic interface with a penguin avatar in different environments where the player must avoid obstacles and overcome different challenges. Neumann et al. ( 2018 ) assess how a virtual training programme called ‘WeTakeCare-System’ affects certain body functions, as well as performance and quality of life in older adults. This exergame has three games: ‘Sound Movement’, ‘Treasure Hunt’ and ‘Sudoku’. In this case, the activities are used to maintain and improve body functions such as balance, resistance and mobility, focusing on upper and lower limb mobility, preventing risk of falls, balance, resistance and muscle strength.

Alongside them, Vorwerg-Gall et al. ( 2023 ) focus their research on studying virtual reality exercise training games specifically for older people with hypertension. In this way, through a home-based physical exercise programme for older people with hypertension, they manage not only to improve their general physical health but also to contribute to the reduction of blood pressure.

Finally, regarding exergames designed to improve balance and other motor skills, Mugueta-Aguinaga and Garcia-Zapirain ( 2019 ) conduct a study to validate the exergame ‘FRED’. In a subsequent research study, one of the objectives posed by these authors is to assess the efficiency of this exergame in reducing fragility in older adults, improving their independence and quality of life (Mugueta-Aguinaga and Garcia-Zapirain, 2019 ). This video game comprises a sequence of three settings, all with one or more steps in a simplified wine production process. Player movements are detected and recorded with a motion sensor, assessing movement functionality. Depending on what setting the player is in, they must perform lateral body movements, squats, stand on two feet, lift their arms and legs alternately, arm flexion-extension and abduction-adduction, rotate their shoulders, and more. As a result, this exergame encourages players to practice coordination skills of orientation, combination, balance and space-time perception.

A person’s functional and physical quality is another element in maintaining and improving their quality of life. For this reason, Boj et al. ( 2018 ) present an application called ‘HybridPLAY’, which aims to encourage outdoor activity and training. This system transforms outdoor fitness equipment in a digital game interface with a motion detector that links the equipment to a mobile device. The software includes a series of mini-games and the movements detected are transformed into actions such as jumping, running, turning or striking, depending on the mini-game. It is an individual or collaborative exergame, adding a social component to activity and training. Tabak et al. ( 2020 ) carried out a study with the aim of describing the design of a training application to encourage physical activity in daily life and assess older adults’ experiences when using the ‘ActivityCoach’ app. The game presented and included in the app mentioned is ‘WordFit’; it consists of placing words from a starting to an end point. The game’s graphic interface has a board with several tiles with rocks along the route that must be demolished with hammers in order to place the word. Hammers are won when the player meets certain step goals. The objective of the study proposed by Da Silva et al. ( 2021 ) is to design and develop an exergame to promote health and physical activity, and to encourage participants to follow and enjoy the exercises. This exergame, called ‘Boliche virtual’, was designed in collaboration with a group of older adults and includes a multi-player component in order to foster socialisation while participants train. Along these lines, Ruggiero et al. ( 2023 ), designed a health education exergame adapted for adults over 50 years of age with the aim of ensuring the maintenance and improvement of quality of life by complementing didactic education on healthy eating/nutrition with physical activity exercises. The objectives of the health-related game are to provide knowledge, increase motivation, incorporate movement and encourage behaviour change related to healthy eating and physical activity.

Preventing falls and motor rehabilitation are also two aspects that improve functional quality. The first is addressed in a study by Money et al. ( 2019 ) and Ren et al. ( 2022 ). These authors propose three research objectives: to describe a serious game called ‘Falls Sensei’; to assess game usability from the perspective of older adults; and to explore user perceptions on the use of this exergame and to what extent risky behaviours are modified. The exergame takes place in an augmented reality environment with a graphic interface that shows different spaces in a home. Each space is a game level and has between five and nine dangers of falling. As the player moves through each space they must identify the dangers. Ren et al. ( 2022 ) present Envolv, a specific exercise programme to work on fall prevention and balance for older adults. Designed as a feasible strategy to provide therapeutic exercise, it is based on a motion capture system combined with balance training exercise software. As for the second aspect—motor rehabilitation—, the objective of the study by Pereira et al. ( 2019 ) is to assess the efficiency of exergame-based motor rehabilitation training, and also to understand how commitment and social participation affect training. The game has three modes: competitive, coactive and collaborative. The aim is to move the arms to trap balls that fall from the top of the screen. Randriambelonoro et al. ( 2023 ) also designed a gamified multifunctional rehabilitation equipment system called ActivLife to improve the functional capabilities of older adults through physical activation, rehabilitation, mobility, bedside assistance and mental stimulation.

Other examples of arm training exergames are presented in studies by Triandafilou et al. ( 2018 ) and Kaplan et al. ( 2018 ). The objective of the first is to review the feasibility of the ‘VERGE’ system as a physical exercise resource for people who have suffered strokes, including older adults. This system features an augmented reality environment where avatars interact with virtual objects. Meanwhile a study by Kaplan et al. ( 2018 ) present an exergame in which users must control an aeroplane using arm movements in order to pass through rings along the route. Both exergames offer multi-player modes for social interaction. Third, Stamm et al. ( 2022 ) focus on designing a virtual reality game called ViRST VR in which, through interactive tasks on a farm (e.g., rowing, lighting light bulbs, or sorting vegetables), they conduct training sessions to specifically improve pain intensity and severity of chronic pain, functional abilities, and fear avoidance beliefs (kinesiophobia).

Objective 2: improving cognitive, psychological and mental health

One example of this type of serious game is featured in the study by Anguera et al. ( 2017 ). One of the research objectives proposed is to explore how an intervention on the ‘Project EVO’ platform impacts cognitive control, mood and cognitive symptoms of depression in older adults. This platform consists of guiding a character through different environments while overcoming a series of challenges. The player must therefore combine neuropsychological processes of visuomotor and perceptive discrimination. The serious game gets harder as the user progresses through the different environments or levels, adapting to the player’s responses and skills. Another example is the paper by Belchior et al. ( 2019 ), who seeks to compare cognitive improvements caused by the video game ‘Crazy Taxi’ on one hand, and the ‘InSight’ cognitive training system on the other. Crazy Taxi is an immersive driving game in an urban setting. It consists of picking up passengers and taking them to their destination to earn as much money as possible (a higher score requires greater speed and complexity). The game includes complementary settings (‘Crazy Boxes’) to practice different tasks. In line with cognitive training, there are several research studies that present video games that allow the assessment of cognitive aptitude, processing speed and reaction time. Hou et al. ( 2022 ) developed three cognitive computer games: 1) Cognitive Game based on Nostalgia Theory; 2) Whack-a-Mole; 3) Hit-the-Ball. The first one focused on improving memory, attention, executive function and language, while the other two focused on reaction time and processing speed. In turn, Eun et al. ( 2022 ) study a series of cognitive mini-games for computers, smartphones, tablets, and other portable devices designed with artificial intelligence that facilitate older users to feel entertained and immersed in cognitive play voluntarily and to benefit from cognitive training. Ghorbani et al. ( 2022 ) use augmented reality to develop a video game that not only provides cognitive training but also simultaneously examines the mental state of players to slow down the progression of potential cognitive problems and increase the quality of life of the individual. The augmented reality serious game consists of a simulation of everyday life situations with five tasks that are defined to assess different cognitive functions, such as pattern separation and completion, visuospatial and episodic memory, decision-making ability, concentration and overall processing speed by measuring response time.

It is designed to train and improve visual attention and cognitive processing speed. In line with performance and visual capacity, Chesham et al. ( 2017 ) present a serious game puzzle called ‘TMM3 Puzzle Game’. This software is part of study that aims to develop a visual search and pairing task with a video game to them assess the feasibility of the task designed. Based on this objective, the goal of this serious game is to practice, improve and assess visual search capacity in older adults with or without cognitive deterioration in a fun, adaptive and attractive format. ‘TMM3 Puzzle Game’ is designed as a jigsaw board filled randomly with tiles (geometric shapes) in different colours. Each player must match a pattern with a horizontal or vertical sequence of three identical tiles. The matched tiles disappear from the board which is then filled up. Meanwhile, a study by Farzin et al. ( 2018 ) assesses the efficiency of prospective memory training among older adults using ‘Virtual Week Board Game’. This software has a board graphic interface. Each board corresponds to a day of the week and includes different tests. To move forward each day, the user must throw a die, taking decisions and remembering to do some daily activities as they progress. Each virtual day includes eight to ten tasks that include regular (very common), irregular (less common) and timed activities. All activities aim to exercise prospective memory, thus practising and improving older adults’ ability to exercise how they carry out this type of task in the future. Along a similar line, Yu et al. ( 2019 ) assess the efficiency of a software for long-term memory in older adults, in this case people with symptoms of dementia. This serious game is called ‘Memory Matters’ and is a traditional pairing game. Images include objects, food, places, clothing and historical events from the 1930s to the 1960s. It therefore aims to help users recover autobiographical memories. After matching each pair there is a section called ‘Did you know? which is designed to foster memory, reflection and reminiscence. This software also includes a mode to view the images without playing and an option for the user to add personal and family photos. Two modes ‘solo mode’ or ‘social/group mode’, are also available in this serious game for collaborative game experiences. And, precisely in this more social line, is Myosotis FoodPlanet, a video game designed by Zahn et al. ( 2022 ) to promote positive social interactions between players of different generations while playing. Specifically, it is an iPad game that involves two players jointly preparing a Swiss cheese fondue by dragging floating ingredients into a pot. By using a traditional Swiss dish, Myosotis FoodPlanet provides a positive entertaining activity that facilitates intergenerational communication and allows players to find new and exciting access to the memories of older people.

Other examples of serious games in the cognitive domain are ‘Mind Frontiers’ y ‘GRADYS Game’, both types of software are designed to train different neuropsychological processes and skills. In the first case, the serious game is presented by Souders et al. ( 2017 ) who assessed the efficiency of in acquiring and transferring cognitive skills using different gamified tasks. The software is designed to cover three games to exercise inductive reasoning, planning, spatial reasoning skills, cognitive processing speed, switching tasks and working memory. Zając-Lamparska et al. ( 2019 ) conduct a study to assess the effects of virtual reality cognitive training in older adults with and without minor dementia. ‘GRADYS Game’ is a virtual reality-based serious game presented by the authors that comprises four modules inspired by daily activities. The overall goal of this game is to exercise attention, memory, language and visuospatial processing.

Objective 3: improving health from a multi-modal approach

A review of the literature selected identified a series of video games designed to improve physical and cognitive functions from a multi-modal or combined approach, aiming to achieve physical-cognitive interaction between participants. These studies include research by Becker et al. ( 2020 ) whose proposed objective is to present and assess the ‘PDDanceCity’ system as a resource for measuring the functional performance of older adults using physical activity. The system is based on a map of city in the form of a labyrinth. To reach the finish line, players have to complete two-dimensional movements. It is designed to allow users to pass through different settings or points of interest (e.g., museum, monument or cafe) along the way. ‘PDDanceCity’ offers rehabilitation for dual tasks by training the visuospatial function, balance and movement coordination. Meanwhile, the study objective of Chua et al. ( 2019 ) is, on one hand, to review the feasibility and use of virtual reality to detect cognitive deterioration in older adults and, on the other, to assess the system’s capacity to distinguish cognitively intact participants from others with cognitive deterioration. They present the video game ‘RE@CH’, which replicates everyday tasks. This exergame develops seven key activities: (a) open a window with a key and the correct code; (b) make a telephone call by retrieving a predefined 8-digit number; (c) identify famous people, food adverts and a 4-digit lottery number in a newspaper; (d) classify household objects into categories; (e) choose suitable clothing for a specific event; (f) withdraw money from a cash machine; and (g) buy food at a shop. This video game trains motor control, attention, memory, completing dual tasks and executive functions.

In their study, the objective of Li et al. ( 2020 ) is to design a virtual reality-based movement video game to improve various cognitive and physical skills in older adults. ‘Whac-A-Mole’ is a video game with an immersive virtual reality environment simulating a farm. Motion sensors record and replicate limb movements in the game. Players are required to move both arms and legs to feed the animals that appear on the graphic interface, guided by instructions provided by the system. This exercise aims to train static and dynamic posture control, gross and fine motor coordination, as well as neuropsychological processes such as attention, response inhibition and execution of dual tasks. Also relying on virtual reality, Liepa et al. ( 2022 ), present Falling diamonds, a video game developed to improve stability and physical and cognitive fitness, which allows elderly people to train physically and cognitively to avoid falls and thus improve their quality of life. Zangirolami-Raimundo et al. ( 2019 ) use the video game ‘MoviLetrando’ to compare the performance of physically active and sedentary older adults. The aim is to capture pre-established symbols and it takes into account both the player’s number of hits (captures) and speed. The faster the participant can capture the symbol requested, the more symbols will be displayed and, therefore, the higher the final score. Levels and phases evolve according to player performance. Symbols include numbers, vowels, consonants and numerical series, which can be defined individually or as a combination. The stimulus used to display the symbols can be visual, audio or both. With this training exercise, the user practices coordination skills such as reaction and cognitive processes like attention, information processing speed, working memory and response inhibition.

More focused on rehabilitation, there are also examples of video games that combine physical and cognitive training to allow the elderly to improve their condition. These are the cases of video games such as Active Airliness by Beltran-Alacreu et al. ( 2022 ), I Am Dolphin by Drazich et al. ( 2023 ) and SilverFit BV 3D by Müller et al. ( 2023 ). The former consists of a Windows-based application that allows the player to control a virtual aircraft to reach targets by means of head movements. At the end of the exercise, the application stores the achieved and unachieved goals and the trajectory of the plane so that the elderly can improve their rehabilitation through physical and cognitive exercise. The second video game was initially designed to reduce upper limb impairment after stroke but is being applied to older adults without a history of stroke because it can also improve players’ overall cognitive, emotional and physical health. The game is about helping Bandit, a dolphin, to eat fish, jump and avoid being eaten by sharks using a Kinect-based motion sensor remote control. The third game is a television screen-based exercise system recommended for balance training in the physical rehabilitation of older adults, which allows for a puzzle game, a tilt game and a step game called the fox. In this research, they study the impact of this type of exercise game on the cognitive health of the elderly, demonstrating that it inherently increases cognitive activity.

A study by Adcock et al. ( 2020a ) aims to determine the usability of a multi-component exergame and explore its effects on physical and cognitive functions, and cortical activity. In a subsequent study (Adcock et al., 2020b ) aim to assess the effects that multi-modal training using the ‘Active@Home’ exergame has on physical and cognitive functions. This video game simulates a trip around different European countries; as the user follows the route, they complete different activities and exercises inspired by tai-chi, dance and cognitive games. The result is an exergame that can train coordination skills such as coordination, reaction, balance and rhythm, as well as cognitive skills like selective and divided attention, response control, cognitive flexibility and working memory. To ensure challenge and progress, the game has various difficulty levels with more complex and faster movements. Each level of difficulty is associated with a city. The order is predefined and it is advisable to play all the levels in a city before moving to the next and, before moving on, users should train in the level for two sessions.

Alongside this research, Qiu et al. ( 2023 ) study an intergenerational balance training system that allows older and younger people to play together, encouraging social interaction between generations and promoting physical, mental and emotional well-being in older adults. The video game is called Social Balance Ball and allows using three different modes to test the player’s level of social presence as a determinant of the player’s experience: (1) virtual player, (2) mediated human player (i.e. participants played online) and (3) co-located human player (i.e. participants played face-to-face).

Finally, five exergame systems grouping different video games were identified. These include a study by Jirayucharoensak et al. ( 2019 ) whose proposed objective was to review whether a game-based neuro-feedback training system can improve neurocognitive performance in healthy older adults and others with minor cognitive deterioration. The games included in this system (‘Dogsperat’, ‘Penguin’, ‘Both hands draw’, ‘Recall Mem’ y ‘Math’) are designed to train coordination skills such as combination and balance, and neuropsychological processes like memory, executive functions and learning. Meanwhile, (Chu et al., 2021 ) design and develop a cognitive and physical training exergame system for use by older adult’s resident in long-term care homes. ‘MouvMat’ aims to train coordination skills such as combination, reaction and rhythm, as well as cognitive skills like attention, memory, executive function and response inhibition using the games ‘Simons Says’, ‘Memory Pairs’, ‘Scrabble’, ‘Don’t Let the Music Stop’ y ‘Tic-Tac-Toe’. Finally, ‘SureStep’ is presented in a study by Valenzuela et al. ( 2018 ) who propose the objective of exploring experience and use of this system by older adults to reduce the risk of falling. It therefore aims to improve walking, balance, posture control, and also cognitive processes such as working memory, visuospatial skills, completing dual tasks, response inhibition and attention. Fourth, Ferreira et al. ( 2022 ) develop Portable Exergame Platform for Elderly, an augmented reality exergame designed to play four games (Exerpong, Grape stomping, Rabelos and Toboggan) that mobilise physical and mental resources simultaneously to improve reaction times, cognitive flexibility, or verbal fluency in the elderly. Finally, Brauner and Ziefle ( 2022 ) address general physical or cognitive fitness using two different game prototypes to study the similarities and differences between different types of serious games for health care in active and assisted living settings. The first game, Fitness Farm, addresses general fitness, agility, endurance and body control, while the second game, Cook it Right, is designed to promote executive functioning.

What are the main categories or typology of video games and what have they been used for in the studies reviewed?

The 49.07% of the video games analysed were categorised as non-commercial, while 50% were commercial products for recreational purposes (for example, Nintendo Company Ltd o Xbox Network) or designed by companies specialised in other fields (for example, Dividat, Motek o VITAAL Exergame). The remaining 0.93% corresponds to studies that do not specify the name of the video game or its categorisation (Commercial or Non-Commercial), although there is a description.

By observing the general domains for which the video game is used, we can see that they are mostly related to physical capacities (45.37%), followed by video games for the multi-modal domain (Cognitive and Physical) (34.26%), and to a lesser extent video games (serious games) designed exclusively to improve the cognitive, psychological and mental health of older adults (20.37%) (Fig. 3 ).

Aim and purpose of the video game.

The following table (Table 3 ) includes a summary of the different video games analysed in the studies selected.

What are the main measurement instruments and scales (screening) used in studies on serious games?

One of the aspects of interest in this paper is related to the type of instrument used in the studies reviewed in order to evaluate different aspects related to the use of video games. On the one hand, it is of interest to know to what extent the use of video games can be related to the training or improvement of certain cognitive, physical or social elements and, on the other, to establish how these aspects have been measured by researchers. Table 4 shows the relationship between the domain analysed in the studies and the assessment or diagnostic instrument used to obtain the data.

As can be seen (Fig. 4 ), most instruments (52%) seek to measure or assess cognitive, psychological or mental domains; 36.8% of the instruments and/or tests aim to specifically assess physical domains (e.g., balance, posture control, muscle strength, limb movement, etc.). Finally, instruments to simultaneously assess cognitive and physical domains are used less in the studies selected, accounting for 11.2% of the instruments used.

Domains of the assessment instruments used in the selected investigations.

In the case of instruments and tests implemented to measure aspects related to the cognitive, psychological and mental domains, they were grouped into five subcategories: (a) Neuropsychological Assessment, (b) Emotional and Social Health, (c) Cognitive Impairment, (d) Mental Disorder, y (e) Quality of Life. Most instruments assess neuropsychological aspects such as attention; visual, working and verbal semantic memory; visuospatial skills; executive functions; reaction time; and response control, among others, accounting for 66.15% of all tests used. The second group of tests in subcategory Emotional and Social Health, account for 13.85% of the instruments used in the studies selected. These tests aim to assess aspects related to emotional, perceptive, experiential and social components that influence different areas of life of older adults and that have an impact on well-being and quality of life. 9.23 per cent of the instruments were assigned to the Mental Disorder category, which includes those instruments intended to assess the status of disorders such as depression in older people. Subcategory four (Cognitive Impairment) accounts for 7.69% of the instruments used. This type of test aims to assess the cognitive status of people with neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia or Alzheimer’s. Finally, to a much lesser extent, 3.08% of the instruments used in the studies were intended to measure quality of life in older adults (Table 5 ).

From a general perspective, Table 5 presents the instruments or tests that were implemented in 2 or more investigations. In this table, the most frequently used test is the Timed Up-and-Go, which was used in 11 investigations to assess skills related to the physical domain, specifically mobility and balance. The second most applied test is the Montreal Cognitive Assessment - MoCA ( n  = 9), aimed at assessing cognitive skills such as memory, attention, language, visuospatial ability, calculation, abstraction and executive function. As for less frequent instruments or tests, there are tests focused on both the cognitive domain (e.g., Beck’s Depression Inventory, Falls Efficacy Scale-International, Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire, among others) and the physical domain (e.g., Barthel Index, Senior Fitness Test or Short Physical Performance Battery). These instruments or tests are implemented in at least 2 of the selected studies.

What are the main results obtained after the socio-educational use of digital games with older adults aged 65 and above?

Benefits in the cognitive domain.

The results obtained in the studies reviewed show that the serious games presented are a potentially effective intervention for the overall improvement of the cognitive domain (Anguera et al., 2017 ; Zając-Lamparska et al., 2019 ), highlighting specific benefits in relation to: mood in older adults (Anguera et al., 2017 ; Farzin et al., 2018 ; Yu et al., 2019 ); cognitive processing speed (Belchior et al., 2019 ; Zając-Lamparska et al., 2019 ); memory (Farzin et al., 2018 ; Yu et al., 2019 ); independence and functional capacity (Farzin et al., 2018 ) and improving cognitive memory through social interaction (Yu et al., 2019 ).

Benefits in the physical domain

The studies reviewed yield results that endorse the use of video games to maintain and improve physical condition and general quality of life (Neumann et al., 2018 ), as well as motor rehabilitation processes (Pereira et al., 2019 ; Triandafilou et al., 2018 ;). Specifically to improve physical skills related to: static and dynamic balance (Ayed et al., 2018 ; Brachman et al., 2021 ; Ellmers et al., 2018 ; Martins et al., 2020 ; Yuan et al., 2020 ); posture control (Ayed et al., 2018 ; Ellmers et al., 2018 ; Soancatl Aguilar et al., 2018 ; Yuan et al., 2020 ); fall prevention (Martins et al., 2020 ; Money et al., 2019 ; Yuan et al., 2020 ); functional capacity (Martins et al., 2020 ; Mugueta-Aguinaga and Garcia-Zapirain 2017 , 2019 ; da Silva et al., 2021 ) and social interaction through physical training (Boj et al., 2018 ; Pereira et al., 2019 ; da Silva et al., 2021 ).

Benefits in the multi-modal domain

Based on the effects of the digital games highlighted in some of the studies analysed, we can conclude that they are an option to encourage simultaneous physical-cognitive training (Adcock et al., 2020a ), with positive effects such as maintaining and improving higher cognitive functions (Adcock et al., 2020a , 2020b ; Li et al., 2020 ), as well as specific cognitive functions associated with preventing falls (Valenzuela et al., 2018 ) by improving balance and posture control (Chu et al., 2021 ; Li et al., 2020 ; Valenzuela et al., 2018 ). Other benefits of these studies obtained by implementing serious games are shown in the improvement of attention (Jirayucharoensak et al., 2019 ), working memory (Adcock et al., 2020a ; Jirayucharoensak et al., 2019 ; Li et al., 2020 ); executive control and function (Adcock et al., 2020a ; Jirayucharoensak et al., 2019 ); visuospatial skills (Jirayucharoensak et al., 2019 ; Valenzuela et al., 2018 ); decision-making skills and response inhibition (Adcock et al., 2020a ; Jirayucharoensak et al., 2019 ).

Discussion and conclusion

In this systematic review we delimit and analyse, from a multidisciplinary perspective, research lines related to the use of video games to improve the physical and mental health and, by extension, quality of life of adults aged over 60. Reviewing the studies selected enables us to extract some overall conclusions for the initial questions proposed. Studies in this field have mostly been reviewed from quantitative methodological approaches involving direct participation by older adults, and mainly in European countries. Specifically, and according to the questions posed, the objectives proposed in most studies with video games are related to training and improving physical health and functional quality in older adults. More than half aim to improve the physical health of older adults, training skills such as balance, posture control, muscle strength and walking. Secondly, cognitive health is also addressed from a perspective of training cognitive processes such as memory, attention, response inhibition and executive functions, among others. And finally, we have also identified video games that jointly train both physical and cognitive domains. Indirect to these domains (physical and cognitive), video games also provide benefits for maintaining and improve the social health of older adults as an aggregate value of serious games. However, and despite identifying some video games (see Boj et al., 2018 ; Dijkstra et al., 2018 ; Kaplan et al., 2018 ; Qiu et al., ( 2023 ); Pereira et al., 2019 ; Triandafilou et al., 2018 ; Yu et al., 2019 ; da Silva et al., 2021 ; Zahn et al., 2022 ) designed in multi-player format to encourage social interaction among users, this does not appear to be a clear use for this type of resource in specialised research on the subject to date. Even so, some examples of studies (Faraji and Metz 2021 ; Lin et al., 2022 ; Pageau et al., 2022 ) highlight the idea that social isolation in older adults is a risk factor that significantly reduces their quality of life, so they support the use of video games as a tool for encouraging group activities, integration and social interaction, as well as maintaining a social identity role (Cacciata et al., 2019 ; Di Lorito et al., 2021 ). In particular, the ability of these video games to significantly foster positive intergenerational social interaction between young and old people, and their consequent improvement in long-term psychological well-being, comes to the fore. Thus, previous research in which serious is specifically designed as an intergenerational game (Qiu et al., 2023 ; Zahn et al., 2022 ) stresses the importance of analysing the social dimension of the exergame and recommends that future empirical studies directly compare different game forms to discover the effects of intergenerational interactions. According (Vázquez et al., 2018 ) social health is thus an emerging domain that is gaining greater weight in the design of video games for older adults and this line of research must be expanded. Moreover, very few studies clearly have older adults participating in the process of designing this type of product (one example is the study presented by Da Silva et al. ( 2021 ) which involves a group of older adults in the process of designing and assessing the video game). Some authors emphasise the importance of co-creation as it can favour the participation of older adults, obtaining more effective and useful products adapted to their needs (Martín-García et al. 2021 ) or their empowerment (King et al. 2020 ). Regarding the second research question on type of digital games, similar numbers of video games have commercial and recreational purposes, and educational and social purposes in the broadest sense. As for the third question, we identified a total of 125 geriatric assessment tests used in the studies selected. Finally, the lack of clear evidence based on the data analysed in the review leads to the conclusion that we cannot extract definitive findings on the benefits obtained in using socio-educational digital games, and much less results that can verify their effectiveness compared to other resources or interventions with older adults. We can conclude that this article presents significant contributions that support the interest in the use of serious games in the framework of the so-called positive technology, especially given its potential not only in the video game industry but also in active ageing and community health policies.

Limitations and future lines of research

Results of the systematic review have enabled us to identify and delimit certain aspects of serious games for older adults that can help improve their knowledge and use for social or educational purposes. However, our study is limited by variability in the sample age of the selected research, heterogeneity of the studies analysed, and that the sample size of most studies can been deemed relatively small. Despite considering that a good number of studies have been reviewed, the results obtained still seem very incipient, highlighting the need to strengthen this line of research through various channels. For example, the need to explore new methods that help gain a more in-depth understanding of the usefulness and effectiveness of serious games for use in socio-educational interventions with older adults. This could include controlled experimental tests and it would also be interesting to incorporate more studies with a qualitative approach in their research design. The studies must explore new analysis channels, also examining the roles older adults play in handling this type of technological resource, and their participation in technical and pedagogical design. All with the aim of evaluating whether the use of video games (serious games) helps to improve well-being and quality of life from a comprehensive perspective, covering physical, cognitive and social domains, and providing spaces and experiences for active ageing.

Data availability

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article.

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We would like to thank the FCT, the Centre for Studies in Education and Innovation (CI&DEI) and the Polytechnic of Viseu for their support. This research was funded by the FCT—Foundation for Science and Technology (Portugal) through the project Ref. UIDB/05507/2020, and by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), ERDF A way of making Europe (UE). [Ref. PID2019-107826GB-I00].

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Gutiérrez-Pérez, BM., Martín-García, AV., Murciano-Hueso, A. et al. Use of serious games with older adults: systematic literature review. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 10 , 939 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02432-0

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A qualitative analysis of the educational value of commercial video games.

1. Introduction

1.1. being a gamer today: a question of diversity, 1.2. overcoming gamification and serious games, 1.3. educational uses of video games: state of the art, 1.4. objectives.

• To analyze the themes of these games to find out what content arouses the most significant interest among players;
• To study the setting used in these games to find out which fictional worlds are most popular with today’s players;
• To check the origin of the developer studios to establish a map of the industry that shows the weight of specific regions in the content distributed through video games;
• To verify the most repeated themes and settings in the video games most highly rated by users to establish the topics of interest shared by young players;
• To reinforce the role of video games as a current narrative channel that connects with young people and the didactic potential that this offers.

1.5. Scope and Limitations

2. materials and methods, 2.1. extraction of data, 2.2. categorization of data, 2.3. analysis of data, 4. discussion, 5. conclusions, author contributions, informed consent statement, data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

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Reyes-de-Cózar, S.; Ramírez-Moreno, C.; Barroso-Tristán, J.M. A Qualitative Analysis of the Educational Value of Commercial Video Games. Educ. Sci. 2022 , 12 , 584. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12090584

Reyes-de-Cózar S, Ramírez-Moreno C, Barroso-Tristán JM. A Qualitative Analysis of the Educational Value of Commercial Video Games. Education Sciences . 2022; 12(9):584. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12090584

Reyes-de-Cózar, Salvador, Carlos Ramírez-Moreno, and Jose María Barroso-Tristán. 2022. "A Qualitative Analysis of the Educational Value of Commercial Video Games" Education Sciences 12, no. 9: 584. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12090584

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Video Game Genres and Advancing Quantitative Video Game Research with the Genre Diversity Score

• Published: 24 October 2020
• Volume 9 , pages 401–420, ( 2020 )

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• Whitney DeCamp   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-4044-2220 1  

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Quantitative research on video games often reduces participants’ gaming experience to how much time they spend playing video games. Although appropriate in some instances, it often fails to capture aspects of the video game experience. Studies that only use time as a means of establishing expertise in gaming fail to capture how much a player is involved in different types of video storytelling, game rules and mechanics, social experiences online and/or offline, and many other aspects. Only using time as a measurement also introduces a bias against women, as they typically have less leisure time overall, reducing the time they might spend playing video games. The current study proposes and tests a novel measure for gauging participants’ experience with video games that includes their experience with various game genres in addition to time dedicated to playing games. The “genre diversity score” presented in this paper provides a better understanding of an individual’s experience with gaming as a whole while still providing a metric that can be used in quantitative research. To demonstrate the usefulness of this measure it is compared to measures of time spent playing, the use of a PC for gaming, and casual/non-casual gaming. The analyses indicate that the genre diversity score outperforms other gaming measures in various tests of predictive power making a case for it to be used in future quantitative or mixed methods studies on gaming.

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The data are not publicly available.

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The coding used for this study is available upon request.

The difference in free-time is an important consideration here because of the cross-sectional nature of this study. The measures used refer to current video game use, but cumulative lifetime use would also be relevant in how video game exposure might affect various outcomes, and that might not be reflected in current use. Additionally, there may be other purposes for which an enthusiasm-focused measure is more appropriate (i.e., an investigation of the effects of interest or attitudes rather than actual exposure).

A separate set of analyses (not shown, but available upon request) used the same models as in Tables  2 – 4 , but with the ideal scores and ideal hours substituted in for the original measures. In them, ideal genre diversity is consistently the strongest predictor across the models, but the amount of explained variance is slightly lower than in the original models. This suggests that the ideal measure is no better than the actual measure and additionally, ideal hours per week is a significant predictor even after controlling for other measures in these models, but remains relatively weak in comparison to genre diversity and using a PC, suggesting again that it is not a suitable measure by itself.

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Questions used for genre diversity score construct.

(Q1) In the past 6 months, how often have you played the following types of games?

(1) Casual games such as Solitaire, Angry Birds, mobile games, Facebook games, etc.

(2) Arcade / Retro games such as Pac Man, early Super Mario or Sonic games, Galaga, etc.

(3) Group Entertainment such as Kinect Sports, Rock Band, Wii sports, etc.

(4) Role playing style games (RPGs) such as Final Fantasy, Skyrim, Fallout, Mass Effect, etc.

(5) Simulation style games such as Flight Simulator, The Sims, Sim City, etc.

(6) Action games, games which focus on game play, such as God of War, Grand Theft Auto, etc.

(7) Adventure games, games with a focus on story, such as Myst, Assassin’s Creed, Uncharted, Silent Hill etc.

(8) Strategy games such as Civilizations, Warhammer, StarCraft etc.

(9) Racing games such as Forza, Mario Kart, Burnout, Need for Speed, etc.

(10) Independent games such as Bastion, Super Meat Boy, Limbo, Braid, etc.

(11) Shooter style games such as Halo, Modern Warfare, Call of Duty, Left 4 Dead, etc.

(12) Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) style games such as World of Warcraft, Guild Wars, etc.

(13) Realistic Sports games, such as Madden, FIFA, etc.

(14) Fighting games such as Tekken, Soul Caliber, Super Smash Brothers, etc.

(15) Other genre not listed: __________________.

(16) Other genre not listed: __________________.

Responses for each genre: (a) Never / have not heard of this genre, (b) Rarely ever, (c) A few times a month, (d) Several times a month, (e) A few times a week, (f) Roughly every other day, (g) Daily or almost every day.

(Q2) On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is “no interest” and 5 is “very strong interest,” how interested are you playing the following types of games if time and money were not an issue?

[Same list of 16 genres as above].

Responses for each genre: (a) No interest (1), (b) Very little interest (2), (c) Some interest (3), (d) Strong interest (4), (e) Very strong interest (5).

About this article

Sevin, R., DeCamp, W. Video Game Genres and Advancing Quantitative Video Game Research with the Genre Diversity Score. Comput Game J 9 , 401–420 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40869-020-00115-3

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Received : 28 July 2020

Accepted : 14 October 2020

Published : 24 October 2020

Issue Date : December 2020

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s40869-020-00115-3

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Playing Games: A Qualitative Study on Online Gamers

Indian Streams Research Journal, Vol. 4, Issue 8, Sept. 2014

12 Pages Posted: 19 Sep 2014

Reema Malhotra

University of Delhi - Department of Psychology, North Campus

Kuber Bhola

Hcl technologies ltd..

Date Written: September 1, 2014

This paper first covers the traditional meaning of 'gaming' and 'playing' followed by the changes fostered by the use of internet. Online gaming as an emerging phenomena is then discussed in the light of changing trends in the available resources, opportunities and lifestyle of the modern youth. The purpose of this paper is to study the lived experience of online gamers and to derive core psychosocial constructs from their inner life. Using the qualitative research method of semi-structured interviews, five case-accounts are used to explore what meanings does an engagement in an online game carry for them. Understandings around their motivations, dissociations, negotiations with reality as well as social adaptation are critically arrived at, using theoretical concepts and citations from personal stories. As this up-and-coming trend is becoming increasingly popular, its future implications are discussed by considering its ramifications in the area of education, clinic and society as a whole.

Keywords: Games, Playing, Technology, Virtual, Reality.

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Reema Malhotra (Contact Author)

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Study shows video games can improve mental wellbeing – but you can have too much of a good thing

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A study of almost 100,000 people in Japan aged 10 to 69 found playing video games – or even owning a console – can be good for mental health. But playing too much each day can harm wellbeing.

Video games and other forms of online media consumption are an everyday part of life .

Surveys have shown playing video games can have positive effects on stress levels and creativity . But concern remains about the potential negative effects on, for example, general wellbeing, aggressive behaviour and social development, especially for young people.

The World Health Organization lists gaming disorder as a mental health condition, and a severe social withdrawal condition called hikikomori has been described in Japan.

The new survey showed links between gaming and wellbeing and researchers found a way to show cause and effect – that even owning a gaming console improved wellbeing.

What the study found

The research was conducted between 2020 and 2022 – during the COVID pandemic. The researchers used measures of psychological distress and life satisfaction and asked 97,602 people in Japan about their gaming use.

The survey coincided with supply chain shortages. These led retailers to use a lottery system for the purchase of two consoles: Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5. Of the overall survey group, 8,192 participated in the lottery.

Researchers compared the 2,323 lottery winners against those who did not win the opportunity to purchase one of the new consoles (over five rounds of surveys). They found those who won the lottery had improved distress scores and better life satisfaction.

The results were not all positive. Over time, the scores indicated drops in wellbeing for those who played more than three hours a day. Scores continued to drop for each additional time increment measured.

The study had some limitations.

Firstly, the survey was conducted when the COVID pandemic presented a particularly challenging time for mental health. It also brought changes in social, occupational and lifestyle behaviours.

The study focused mainly on general gaming habits without distinguishing between different types of games, which could have varying impacts on mental health.

Further, participants chose whether to enter the lottery, so it was not a random sample. And the study could not specifically attribute findings to the effects of playing video games versus the effects of winning the lottery.

Finally, we know self-reported studies are not always reliable .

Gaming pros and cons

We know from other surveys video games can be useful stress relievers and aid social connection (albeit online). We also know some games can improve particular cognitive skills such as visuo-spatial navigation and problem solving .

Games and technologies can also specifically target mental health issues , such as social anxiety or phobias, address ADHD symptoms and enhance motivation and performance.

Yet, concerns remain about possible long-term consequences, particularly in terms of reductions in “real-life” socialisation , participation in physical activity, school performance and other health consequences , including sleep and eating behaviours.

3 tips for positive gaming

While video games can offer some benefits, it’s important to maintain a balanced approach to gaming. Here are a few tips to help manage gaming habits and promote overall wellbeing:

1. Set time limits

Encourage moderate gaming by setting clear time limits to ensure it doesn’t interfere with sleep, physical activity or other important daily activities. The Australian institute of Family Studies recommends creating a media plan that includes limits on screen time and balances gaming with other activities.

2. Choose games wisely

Opt for games that are age-appropriate and consider their content. Some games can promote problem-solving skills and creativity , but it’s important to be mindful of those that might encourage aggression or excessive competition.

3. Monitor eating and sleeping habits

Pay attention to eating patterns and ensure meals are not skipped in favour of gaming. Encourage regular sleep patterns and avoid gaming close to bedtime to prevent disruptions in sleep .

While the new study provides promising insights into the potential positive effects of video games on mental wellbeing, these findings should be approached with caution due to the limits of the survey.

While the potential benefits are encouraging, it is essential to adopt a balanced approach to gaming and pursue further research to fully understand its long-term impact on mental health.

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The Implications for Qualitative Researchers as the Video Game Industry Achieves Greater Cultural Relevance

By Jason Rice , Vice President of Qualitative Research – Gamin g, Magid , Minneapolis, Minnesota , [email protected]  

It’s hard to deny the relevance of video games today. The medium has grown from playing Pong on a wood-paneled Atari to massive games like Grand Theft Auto V , which has sales numbers 1 that make the biggest Hollywood blockbusters’ earnings look like chump change.  

However, there’s more to this story than just dollars and cents. The truth is that gaming has achieved a level of cultural relevance that’s hard to ignore.

The Entertainment Software Association’s recent 2023 Essential Facts 2 reports that 212.6 million Americans play video games at least once a week—that’s 65 percent of the country! This isn’t just Candy Crush on the phone, either. Fifty-eight percent of those players use multiple platforms like PCs or consoles, such as the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X.

I saw this recently while interviewing teens and tweens about the role of gaming in their lives. I heard stories from both kids and parents about how gaming has helped them stay connected with friends in an increasingly isolated world, especially during the COVID-19 lockdowns, and has remained central to their social relationships.  

I also heard how gaming is teaching valuable life lessons. One father explained that video games are an important part of how he teaches his kids resilience and critical thinking, life skills reflected in the wide-ranging achievements of his children. Games aren’t just something to fill time; they’ve become a vital part of our culture.  

What’s a Live Service?

You may have noticed the rising prevalence of games that “don’t end” in the traditional sense—games like Call of Duty or World of Warcraft —which are different than more traditional linear titles like God of War or Marvel’s Spider-Man . These are broadly referred to as live service or ongoing service games; they have taken the prime spot in terms of how players spend their time (and money) today. The fact that these games provide a seemingly endless amount of content for players means that they can’t be examined solely as a single product, but instead as more of an ongoing relationship between players and a game that may wax and wane over time. Also, because many of these games are multiplayer-focused, there’s a greater weight on social relevance that goes beyond just recommending what games to play.

Expansion Beyond the Gaming Industry  

In the last decade, media and entertainment giants have increasingly taken notice of this relevance. For example, in 2019, Netflix’s Reed Hastings declared that Netflix’s greatest competitor was time spent gaming, not a competing streaming service like Disney+. Not surprisingly, Netflix has started on a path of investing heavily into creating its own gaming platform, 3 purchasing game studios, and leveraging its library of intellectual property (IP) to build interactive entertainment experiences.  

Other companies are also looking for their own piece of the pie, drawing on existing gaming IP to launch new entertainment properties, for example, NBCUniversal’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie or HBO’s The Last of Us.  

Tech companies are also paying attention to gaming’s cultural relevance and working to build or expand gaming ecosystems. Some notable examples include Apple’s subscription service, Apple Arcade, or Amazon Games’ new titles like New World and Lost Ark .  

However, nongaming companies are discovering that success with gamers and gaming IP is not guaranteed. The divisive response to Paramount’s Halo show 4 is a great example. Misunderstanding the core audience of a gaming franchise can lead to shows that feel like they missed the point, leaving dedicated fans cold.  

These synergistic forays, whether successful or not, have sent a clear message that dominance over gaming by companies endemic to the industry is under threat. Former PlayStation president and CEO Shawn Layden recently reminded people during a keynote speech 5 at the GamesIndustry.biz Investment Summit that companies outside of gaming could be viewed as “barbarians at the gate” of an ever-evolving industry and that the disruptive role of big investments from broader tech and media should be kept in mind.  

What this means for qualitative researchers is that even when we aren’t working in a gaming-specific vertical or courting a gaming company, it’s increasingly likely that gaming will become part of the work we do. This could happen through gaming-specific projects or because of the influence of gaming habits on the behaviors of consumers broadly.    

Video Game Genres  

• Action Games (i.e., Street Fighter)  
• Adventure Games (i.e., Siberia)  
• Fantasy Games (i.e., Dishonored 2)  
• Platform Games (i.e., Mario)  
• Rhythm Games (i.e., Guitar Hero)  
• Role-playing Games (i.e., World of Warcraft)  
• Shooter Games (i.e., Call of Duty)  
• Simulators (i.e., The Sims Series)  
• Sports Games (i.e., FIFA)  
• Strategy Games (i.e., League of Legends)  

How to Prepare for Working with Gamers  

Like many specialized topics, doing research around gaming can feel daunting to those who aren’t spending their weekends grinding kills in Call of Duty or taking on a new dragon in World of Warcraft . The culture, jargon, and specifics of gaming can be intimidating. Here are some tips that can help you best connect with consumers when it comes to the role of games in their lives.  

• Gain knowledge and experience by playing games. While you may think that being a subject-matter expert is all about passing the sniff test from respondents (which is true to a certain degree), the reality is that effective probing in video games often demands knowing the specifics of the game or type of game that you’re researching—whether it’s a deep-dive study on a specific game or evaluating key elements of a video game adaptation for a streaming service.Sometimes, there’s no better way to learn about a game than trying to play it on your own. This is particularly true if you’re running a playtest or examining something like the first-time user experience (FTUE) or initial hours of a game, but it also is vital for broader brand work. Playing a game not only gives you vital firsthand experience with the game itself but also with the community, providing an important perspective on what the community looks like from the outside.This can also help with client presentations. Providing detailed feedback on somebody’s artistic labor of love can be more difficult than critiquing product design for routers. Authentically revealing your personal connection with a game can go a long way when delivering critical feedback.
• Get up to speed with secondary research. All is not lost if you’re not a hardcore gamer, though. I’ve invested many hours researching games that I don’t play, and I’ve still been able to speak competently about them with gamers and executives. Here are a few shortcuts that can help: Reddit: Reddit is a huge community for gaming and one where you can easily capture the pulse of what’s going on broadly in a game, such as controversies, recent patches, updates, or just what (and, more importantly, how) people are talking about the game. Just be careful; while Reddit can be a valuable source of information, it’s also representative of the most engaged (and often most outraged) players of a game, so consider it a reference and not a single source of truth. Twitch: Live streaming and commentary are huge parts of the gaming community today, and the opinions of major streamers often inform the collective groupthink of gamers; for instance, big streamers like Asmongold can inspire massive audiences of players to migrate from one game to another. Watching streamers play the game or type of game you’re researching can provide two valuable benefits: it lets you actually see the game in question being played, and it gives you a sense of what topics you may want to push on. This is particularly important if you sense that participants might just be parroting back to you (more on this later). YouTube: While YouTube isn’t entirely a streaming platform in the same way as Twitch, it can be a much more approachable way to get a quick vibe check on a game. For example, YouTube shows what it looks like, how people play it, and what people are thinking about the current state of the game. Reaction videos and reviews are everywhere and can serve as an easy and quick temperature check. These tactics can help you not only speak the language of the front room but also the backroom, earning sage nods from development teams or helping bridge the gap between consumers and marketing teams when you ask just the right follow-up questions about specific gameplay elements.

Here are two effective strategies:

• Pay extra attention to screening criteria; consider using very specific gameplay requirements. Gaming is unique because there are so many diverse ways to engage with many game titles. Therefore, recruiting by traditional behavioral metrics alone, like hours played, can miss the mark. For example, someone could easily spend 250 hours on a game (definitely a good criterion for a fan group) but end up playing it in a way that might not be valuable for the research objective. If you recruit that devoted fan but miss the fact that they play the game solo, that could be a problem if the research requires the multiplayer perspective. Behaviors and attitudes —Screening for gameplay-based behaviors blended with attitudes and motivations can be a great way to offset this concern. Motivational or attitudinal audience segmentations are great, but not every company has its own criteria to recruit against. In those cases, resources like Quantic Foundry 6 can offer an imperfect but still valuable stopgap solution to help understand how consumers think about games broadly. Prework —This is another valuable opportunity for prework, which can help with the prescreening of participants to look not just for those who play games, but also how they approach them—whether it’s how they deal with difficulty in games, what their attitude to competitive play is, or even just what a specific game means to them.
• Gaming is diverse, so pay close attention to demographics when screening and recruiting. While it can be easy to fall back on a classic 18- to 35-year-old male audience with gaming recruits (especially when companies themselves may define their audience this way), the truth is that the gaming audience is exceptionally diverse. 7 Ensuring that this diversity is represented in recruits (even if it’s a little harder to find due to internalized gatekeeping that may keep women or people of color from getting into gaming panels) can ensure that this diversity is represented in your findings. This is especially important, given that there are still elements of representation that get missed in game development today. 8 Capturing this feedback requires intent, though: Define critical demographic criteria —Ethnicity, economic status, and location should all be considered, as these demographics strongly influence how people relate to gaming. A low-income participant may engage more with core free-to-play games in interesting ways compared to a middle-class worker who is time-poor but financially able to spend a lot on their hobbies. Similarly, someone living in an urban area may find it easier to spend time with friends outside of gaming because of proximity versus somebody in the suburbs for whom gaming is the only realistic way to maintain friendships with people who are geographically farther away. Create a supportive space —One special note is specifically around the inclusion of women in gaming groups. It’s vital to include them as often as possible—regardless of the core demographic of a game. While recruitment challenges can make it tempting to just rely on a single female voice in a group, ensuring that at least two women are in every group (of five or more) is key to making sure that all participants feel comfortable and have an ally in the room when approaching topics of representation.

Why It’s Worth the Effort  

It can feel overwhelming to take on a complex vertical like gaming—whether you’re a hardcore gamer or a nongamer who is supporting a related effort from a nongaming company—but working in this space can be both personally and professionally rewarding.  

With my deep personal background in gaming (and deep satisfaction in showing up my parents, who thought I was wasting my childhood with Nintendo), I find research is an incredibly fulfilling way to express my passion for the gaming industry in a productive way. This passion is a strength that improves my work, even if there’s a need to constantly engage in reflexive thinking about my own preferences and biases. Striking the balance between loving games and working with games can be tricky—but demonstrating that you care can go a long way toward building a strong working relationship with your clients.  

Even if you’re a nongamer but a skilled researcher, these strategies will give you the foundation to successfully execute a research project in the video game industry.    

REFERENCES  

• https://tinyurl.com/3p7xta69 . Accessed Oct. 24, 2023.
• www.theesa.com/2023-essential-facts . Accessed Oct. 24, 2023.
• www.cnbc.com/2022/01/21/netflix-and-microsoft-show-video-gaming-has-become-too-big-to-ignore .html. Accessed Oct. 24, 2023.
• www.wired.com/story/halo-tv-adaptation-­bad . Accessed Oct. 24, 2023.
• www.gamesindustry.biz/shawn-layden-issues-warning-about-non-endemics-breaking-into-games . Accessed Oct. 24, 2023.
• https://apps.quanticfoundry.com/surveys/start/gamerprofile . Accessed Oct. 24, 2023.
• https://tinyurl.com/ycy928vb . Accessed Oct. 24, 2023.
• www.youtube.com/watch?v=pepkcF9UXng . Accessed Oct. 24, 2023.
• effective research probing in video games
• gaming company
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• gaming jargon
• microtransactions
• PlayStation President Shawn Layden
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A qualitative study to inform the development of a video game for adolescent HIV prevention

Affiliation.

• 1 Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program, VA Connecticut Healthcare System, Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT.
• PMID: 24078897
• PMCID: PMC3782854
• DOI: 10.1089/g4h.2012.0025

Purpose: To inform the development of an interactive video game focused on behavior change to reduce risk and promote HIV prevention in young minority adolescents.

Methods: We used qualitative methods guided by community-partnered research principles to conduct and analyze 16 individual interviews and six focus groups with 10-15 year old boys and girls (36 unique participants) at a neighborhood-based non-profit organization serving youth from low-resource neighborhoods.

Results: We identified three recurring themes. Adolescents report protective factors and facilitators to engaging in risk behaviors including: 1) their personal ability to balance the tension between individuation and group membership; 2) the presence of stable mentor figures in their life; and 3) the neighborhood in which they live.

Conclusions: By conducting a qualitative study guided by community-partnered research principles, we identified themes from our target audience that could be translated into a video game-based intervention, including the storyline and character development. These methods may increase the intervention's efficacy at promoting HIV prevention by making them more tailored and relevant to a specific population.

Keywords: Adolescent; HIV; qualitative research; risk; video games.

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A Qualitative Analysis of Online Gaming: Social Interaction, Community and Game Design

The popularity of Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) has risen dramatically over the last decade. Some gamers spend many hours a day in these virtual environments interacting with other gamers, completing quests, and forming social groups. The present study set out to explore the experiences and feelings of online gamers. The study comprised 71 interviews with online gamers (52 males and 19 females) from 11 different countries. Many themes emerged from the analyses of the interview transcripts including (i) engaging in social interaction, (ii) being part of a community, (iii) learning real-life skills, (iv) gaining in-game rewards, (v) playing never-ending games (vi) escaping from real life, (vii) playing longer than intended, and (viii) being obligated towards other gamers in-game. These findings specifically showed the many positives of online gaming (including the social interaction and the community aspects of belonging) as well as the in-game features within MMORPGs that in some cases can lead to excessive online gaming. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to previous qualitative and quantitative research in the area.

Related Papers

International Journal of Cyber Behavior, Psychology and Learning

Zaheer Hussain

The popularity of Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) has risen dramatically over the last decade. Some gamers spend many hours a day in these virtual environments interacting with other gamers, completing quests, and forming social groups. The present study set out to explore the experiences and feelings of online gamers. The study comprised 71 interviews with online gamers (52 males and 19 females) from 11 different countries. Many themes emerged from the analyses of the interview transcripts including (i) engaging in social interaction, (ii) being part of a community, (iii) learning real-life skills, (iv) gaining in-game rewards, (v) playing never-ending games (vi) escaping from real life, (vii) playing longer than intended, and (viii) being obligated towards other gamers in-game. These findings specifically showed the many positives of online gaming (including the social interaction and the community aspects of belonging) as well as the in-game features wi...

CyberPsychology & Behavior

Online Communities and Social Computing

Jacqui Taylor

International Journal of Games-Based Learning, 1, (4), 20-36.

This paper briefly overviews five studies examining massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). The first study surveyed 540 gamers and showed that the social aspects of the game were the most important factor for many gamers. The second study explored the social interactions of 912 MMORPG players and showed they created strong friendships and emotional relationships. A third study examined the effect of online socializing in the lives of 119 online gamers. Significantly more male gamers than female gamers said that they found it easier to converse online than offline, and 57% of gamers had engaged in gender swapping. A fourth study surveyed 7,069 gamers and found that 12% of gamers fulfilled at least three diagnostic criteria of addiction. Finally, an interview study of 71 gamers explored attitudes, experiences, and feelings about online gaming. They provided detailed descriptions of personal problems that had arisen due to playing MMORPGs.

Alfred D . Waldo

The games industry has grown faster than any other entertainment sector and has recently surpassed global revenues of the music and film industries. Although there are bountiful studies regarding adolescents and young adults’ involvement in online gaming, much of these tackled on psychological correlates, academic, physical and social notion of gamers and not the experiences of the online gamers as a whole. Thus with this gap in knowledge this study aimed at exploring the online gamers’ lived experiences.

Helena Lefever (nee Cole)

To date, most research into massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) has examined the demographics of play. This study explored the social interactions that occur both within and outside of MMORPGs. The sample consisted of 912 self-selected MMORPG players from 45 countries. MMORPGs were found to be highly socially interactive environments providing the opportunity to create strong friendships and emotional relationships. The study demonstrated that the social interactions in online gaming form a considerable element in the enjoyment of playing. The study showed MMORPGs can be extremely social games, with high percentages of gamers making life-long friends and partners. It was concluded that virtual gaming may allow players to express themselves in ways they may not feel comfortable doing in real life because of their appearance, gender, sexuality, and/or age. MMORPGs also offer a place where teamwork, encouragement, and fun can be experienced.

Spanish Journal of Psychology

Hector Fuster

Technology Lifecycle and Workflow Analysis

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Entertainment Computing-ICEC 2006

Henry B.L. Duh

Michael Perez

This study examines the social organization of Gaiscíoch, a large online gaming community that exists within the simulated world of a massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG). It provides an ethnographic account of an online gaming community that is open to any player without skill or time commitment requirements, but still maintains high status within the game world. This project identifies eight elements that make this inclusive, friendly, and casual community successful in virtual worlds that tend to be dominated by communities that have a competitive, strict, and exclusive approach to online gaming (social interaction, code of values, leadership, rank system, events, community building, population size, gameplay). Lastly, this project briefly inquires about the nature of the border between the virtual and the physical and establishes that gamers can be considered pseudo-border-inhabitants that are in control of the community they place adjacent to them in the cyber world.

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Study suggests video game playing may have mental health benefits under some conditions

by Bob Yirka , Phys.org

A team of mental health, human behavior and economic specialists affiliated with several institutions in Japan has found that under the right conditions, playing video games may be good for mental health.

In their study, published in the journal Nature Human Behavior, the group sent questionnaires to people sequestered at home during the COVID-19 lockdown, some of whom were able to purchase video game consoles and games during a lottery.

Prior research has found mixed results regarding the mental health impacts of regular, long-term playing of video games. Some have suggested it can lead to addictive symptoms; in teens, it may lead to social isolation , and in some cases, aggressive behavior . The World Health Organization went so far as to classify "gaming disorder" as a mental illness .

Other studies have suggested such findings are overblown. One of the problems those in the field have encountered while attempting to study such impacts is quantification difficulty—most studies have been done in controlled environments, which could have impacted results.

For this new study, the research team found an opportunity to study the impact of video games on large numbers of people outside of a lab—people stuck at home during the early days of the pandemic.

During the lockdown in Japan, demand for video game consoles and associated games skyrocketed. Console makers attempted to make things fair by holding lotteries—winners had the option of purchasing either a Sony PlayStation 5 or a Nintendo Switch; losers had to find other ways to amuse themselves.

The research team realized this represented an opportunity to test the impact of video game playing on a captive group of players. They created a questionnaire designed to measure mental health and the amount of time spent playing games and sent it to people participating in the lotteries. They received 97,602 of them, filled out and ready for analysis.

The research team found a pattern in the responses—people playing video games appeared to have a greater sense of life satisfaction, a key component of mental health, than those who were not playing games. They also found that the benefits had limits: Those playing more than three hours a day experienced the same benefits as those playing just three hours a day.

Journal information: Nature Human Behaviour

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