Video games as meaningful entertainment experiences.

Abstract

I.; and Chung, Mun-Youn, "Video games as meaningful entertainment experiences" (2015).

Morality Predicts Enjoyment But Not Appreciation of Morally Ambiguous Characters

“…Self-expansion, in which the individual is motivated to take a character's perspective or gain vicarious experiences, can produce different kinds of audience responses, but the strongest effect may be seen on eudaimonic appreciation responses, versus hedonic enjoyment. This supports a dimensional need-satisfaction model of enjoyment and appreciation as suggested by Vorderer and Ritterfeld (2009) and recently empirically tested by Oliver et al (2015). This model differentiates appreciation and enjoyment based on the psychological needs that are satisfied by the media.…”

“…This model differentiates appreciation and enjoyment based on the psychological needs that are satisfied by the media. Oliver et al (2015) found that different attributes of video games predicted enjoyment versus appreciation. Enjoyment was predicted by the experience of competence and autonomy while playing the game, whereas appreciation responses were strongly predicted by the experience of relatedness, insight, and meaning while playing.…”

“…Appreciation was additionally linked to story-and character-related variables in game, while enjoyment was predicted by physical features such as game sounds and the play experience. Oliver et al (2015) suggest that this indicates different functional roles for enjoyment and appreciation in understanding media evaluation.…”

Fun Versus Meaningful Video Game Experiences: A Qualitative Analysis of User Responses

“…Since previous experimental studies have demonstrated that players can experience video games meaningfully and hedonically Oliver et al 2015), formally stated, our research questions are (RQ1) How do players experience meaningfulness in video games? and (RQ2) How do players' descriptions of meaningful video game experiences differ from players' descriptions of fun video game experiences?…”

“…Thus far, Oliver and colleagues' particular conceptualization of meaningfulness has been examined primarily in the context of traditional media formats, such as film and television. The extent to which video games can also evoke experiences of meaningfulness is only beginning to be empirically examined, with data generally showing that gamers' self-report feelings of meaningfulness from a variety of gaming experiences (see Oliver et al 2015 for some examples). Recent popular press coverage and critical reviews of games such as The Last of Us, Undertale, and That Dragon, Cancer suggest that contemporary video games increasingly present the narrative depth that appears likely to evoke meaningful responses (Davenport 2016;Plagge 2016).…”