Heroes of the Open (Third) World: Killing as Pleasure in Ubisoft’s Far Cry Series

Patterson, Christopher B.

doi:10.1353/aq.2016.0062

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Each game is from an established franchise for which gamers might have salient expectations for play (made even more salient by recruiting respondents from active game franchise communities), yet the games have different mechanics that should vary in their potential to evoke hedonic and eudaimonic entertainment states-some games from these franchises have already been used in prior work to study different eudaimonic outcomes: The Legend of Zelda (Bopp et al, 2016(Bopp et al, , 2018Rogers et al, 2017), Mass Effect (Possler et al, 2020), and Final Fantasy (Bopp et al, 2016;Rogers et al, 2017). Far Cry served somewhat as a "border case" in that games in the franchise feature notable characters and landscapes likely to foster eudaimonia, but with gameplay focused on the action-based "jump, run, aim, shoot" game loop (Patterson, 2016) more aligned with hedonic enjoyment. Likewise, Forza Horizon is a racing game with online components, for which we presumed challenge and competition be focal to gaming experiences-in the context of the current study, we would presume hedonic enjoyment to be a more relevant expectation for games in the series.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Excited for eudaimonia? An emergent thematic analysis of player expectations of upcoming video games.

Bowman¹,

Daneels²,

Possler³

2024

Psychology of Popular Media

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Video games are celebrated for their capacity to elicit myriad emotional experiences, from fun and excitement (hedonia) to reflection and contemplation (eudaimonia). Less clear is the extent to which gamers have salient eudaimonic expectations of upcoming games. The current study reports on an emergent thematic analysis of responses from N = 877 fans of five game franchises known to vary in their eudaimonic capacity but in response to yet-to-be-released games within those franchises: Far Cry 6, Final Fantasy XVI, Forza Horizon 5, Mass Effect 5, and Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 (later renamed to Tears of the Kingdom). We identified 15 themes across seven categories: familiarity, aesthetics, relationships, emotions, immersion, game features, and developer notes. Most themes focused on discrete game features, while the few themes aligning with eudaimonia (e.g., "emotions" and "personal meaning") were mentioned infrequently. Gamers seem more likely to express expectations for specific content over more abstract affective experiences, offering further evidence that eudaimonia is less anticipated and more discovered during gameplay. Public Policy Relevance StatementFew challenge that video games are fun and enjoyable, but only recently has the notion of more serious and meaningful gaming experience been given serious attention. Gamers commonly report having deeper emotional reactions to video games, but less is known about their expectations for these emotions that might motivate gameplay. The current study asked fans of popular game franchises to write about their expectations of soon-to-be-released video games known for emotionally complex content. Contrary to expectations, players mostly wrote about specific game features and spoke less about emotions and personal meaning. These data suggest that deeper emotional reactions to video games are not so much anticipated as they are experienced during and after gameplay.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Excited for eudaimonia? An emergent thematic analysis of player expectations of upcoming video games.

Bowman¹,

Daneels²,

Possler³

2024

Psychology of Popular Media

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“…23 Scholars have also recorded a number of games using the appropriation aesthetic, including Far Cry 4 (2014), Crysis (2007), Dead Island (2011), Custer's Revenge (1982), Turok: Dinosaur Hunter (1998) and Assassin's Creed III (2012). 24,25 To counteract the "literature of dominance" Dr Elizabeth LaPensée advocates for 'Reciprocal development methodology', a process of game development that includes a genuine community of collaborators. This methodology ensures meaningful contribution to games with Indigenous content while also supporting social and/ or economic renewal for those communities.…”

Section: Kaupapa Māori Game Development Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Mā te rongo ka mohio: Māori Pā Wars and Kaupapa Māori Methodology at the Interface of Video Games

Mancini¹

2018

BackStory

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This essay reviews Māori Pā Wars (2017), a te reo Māori mobile game developed for mobile devices by independent Māori-led video game company Metia Interactive. Through consideration of the historical struggle for cultural and te reo Māori revitalisation, this essay discusses the use of kaupapa Māori methodology to activate mātauranga Māori through gameplay. Situated within a wider global shift towards ‘indie’ game development and more pertinently ‘Indigenous game development,’ Māori Pā Wars is one of the first games to bring kaupapa Māori methodology to the interface of video game technology. Through analysis of game development methodology, mechanics, game design and the ubiquitous mobile medium, this essay outlines the ways Māori Pā Wars challenges a ‘literature of dominance.’ It concludes that the game borrows from remix and convergence cultures inherent to indie game development, thereby reflecting the way Māori technologies, social and political systems continue to adapt to a changing technological landscape.

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“…u. a. Cremin 2016: 58;Patterson 2016;Mitchell 2018). Im Kontext der suggerierten Dringlichkeit übernimmt die Spielerin die ausführende Schlüsselfunktion im sukzessiven Befreien bzw.…”

Section: »Wie Der Raum Zu Sein«: Die Spielerin Als Nomadinunclassified

“…u. a. Patterson 2016;Mukherjee 2017: 29-46;Mitchell 2018: 27). Nach Souvik Mukherjee (2017: 30-31) ist ein wesentliches Problem die Mehrdeutigkeit bzw.…”

Section: »Wie Der Raum Zu Sein«: Die Spielerin Als Nomadinunclassified

Offene-Welt-Strukturen

Bonner¹

2023

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Welche Rolle spielen Algorithmen für den Bildbau und die Darstellung von Welt und Wetter in Computerspielen? Wie beeinflusst die Gestaltung der Räume, Level und Topografien die Entscheidungen und das Verhalten der Spieler_innen? Ist der Brutalismus der erste genuine Architekturstil der Computerspiele? Welche Bedeutung haben Landschaftsgärten und Nationalparks im Strukturieren von Spielwelten? Wie wird Natur in Zeiten des Klimawandels dargestellt? Insbesondere in den letzten 20 Jahren adaptieren digitale Spielwelten akribischer denn je Merkmale der physisch-realen Welt. Durch aufwändige Produktionsverfahren und komplexe Visualisierungsstrategien wird die Angleichung an unsere übrige Alltagswelt stets in Abhängigkeit von Spielmechanik und Weltlichkeit erzeugt. Wie sich spätestens am Beispiel der Open-World-Spiele zeigt, führt die Übernahme bestimmter Weltbilder und Bildtraditionen zu ideologischen Implikationen, die weit über die bisher im Fokus der Forschung stehenden, aus anderen Medienformaten transferierten Erzählkonventionen hinausgehen. Mit seiner Theorie der Architektur als medialem Scharnier legt Marc Bonner offen, dass digitale Spielwelten medienspezifische Eigenschaften aufweisen, die bisher nicht zu greifen waren und der Erforschung harrten. Durch Verschränken von Konzepten aus u.a. Medienwissenschaft, Game Studies, Philosophie, Architekturtheorie, Humangeografie, Landschaftstheorie und Kunstgeschichte erarbeitet Bonner ein transdisziplinäres Theoriemodell und ermöglicht anhand der daraus entwickelten analytischen Methoden erstmals, die komplexe Struktur heutiger Computerspiele – vom Indie Game bis zur AAA Open World – zu verstehen und zu benennen. Mit »Offene-Welt-Strukturen« wird die Architektonik digitaler Spielwelten umfassend zugänglich.

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Heroes of the Open (Third) World: Killing as Pleasure in Ubisoft’s Far Cry Series

Cited by 6 publications

References 12 publications

Excited for eudaimonia? An emergent thematic analysis of player expectations of upcoming video games.

Excited for eudaimonia? An emergent thematic analysis of player expectations of upcoming video games.

Mā te rongo ka mohio: Māori Pā Wars and Kaupapa Māori Methodology at the Interface of Video Games

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