Revisiting the Twentieth Century Through the Lens of Generation X and Digital Games: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Video games have been around since the 1960s and have impacted upon society in a myriad of different ways. The purpose of this scoping review is to identify existing literature within the domain of video games which recruited participants from the Generation X (1965-1980) cohort. Six databases were searched (ACM, CINHAL Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science) focusing on published journal papers between 1970 and 2000. Search results identified 3186 articles guided by the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR); 4 papers were irretrievable, 138 duplicated papers were removed, leaving 3048 were assessed for eligibility and 3026 were excluded. Articles (n = 22) were included into this review, with four papers primarily published in 1997 and in 1999. Thematic analysis identified five primary themes: purpose and objectives, respective authors' reporting, technology, ethics and environment) and seven secondary themes: populations, type of participants (e.g. children, students), ethical approval, study design, reimbursement, language, type of assessments. This scoping review is distinctive because it primarily focuses on Generation X, who have experienced and grown-up with videogames, and contributes to several disciplines including: game studies, gerontology and health, and has wider implications from a societal, design and development perspective of video games.

How does a (Smart) Age-Friendly Ecosystem Look in a Post-Pandemic Society?

“…In 2007, the age-friendly framework [36] was published by the WHO, and at this time, the Internet was accessible, videogame technology (hardware and software) was being used and tested for rehabilitation purposes, as well as exploring its use and medium with non-traditional audiences (e.g., older adults) in regard to cognition [101,102] and fun, [103][104][105][106][107][108]. Mobile technologies were developing at a phenomenal rate, whereby now we see the use of smartphones alongside mobile apps (mApps) and mobile health apps (mHealth Apps) [109], which are accessed and used by many citizens in their own respective ecosystems for a myriad of reasons [110].…”

“…Conversely, there is the need to start exploring and understanding the challenges and issues surrounding future aging cohorts (for instance, Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z) [108,[146][147][148][149][150][151]. This is important because, for various cohorts who have grown up in a digital society, with differing mental models [62] to those of existing older populations, it is important to understand the various mental models employed by different users during technology adoption as well as in earlier stages, such as the design process [62].…”

Shiver Me Tinders and Ring a Ding for a Fling—Sex Tech Use during COVID-19: Findings from a UK Study

“…This study presents insights from users categorized as Gen X [ 76 ], who are rarely considered when investigations are exploring dating apps or technology in general [ 6 , 14 , 77 , 78 , 79 ]. Therefore, this work is unique from the standpoint of gerontology, sex tech, and social sciences.…”

What role can videogames play in the COVID-19 pandemic?

“…Videogames have become a phenomenal form of entertainment over the last 60 years and their history has been documented through various texts ( Forster, 2005 ; Herman, 2001 ; Kent, 2000 ). Scholarly activity and research have illustrated this growing interest from academe, with many scholars focusing on the impact, user experience and design of videogame, as illustrated by Marston & del Carmen (2020) in their recent scoping review that focuses on the Generation X cohort. This cohort has to date received little attention from academe ( Brown & Marston, 2018 ), unlike the Baby Boomer cohort, which has received substantial interest from scholars across the fields of gerontology, gerontechnology, media and communications.…”