Mind Games Cognitive Approaches to

Video Game Studies

Felix Schröter, University of Hamburg felix.schroeter@uni-hamburg.de

!AG Games Workshop

„Cutting Edges and Dead Ends“ April 11-12, 2014

Centre for Digital Cultures, Lüneburg

Introduction

http://www.stihi.ru/pics/2011/07/15/7199.jpg

Introduction

Claim

A cognitive approach to video game studies can be used

(1) as a theoretical framework for describing player’s cognitive, emotional, and bodily responses to video games, and can

(2) inform the analysis of video games as artifacts designed to elicit such responses.

Cognitive… what!?

4

Gregersen, A. L. (2014): „Cognition“. In: Wolf, M.J.P. / Perron, B. (Eds.): The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies. New York: Routledge, pp. 417-426.

Cognitive… what!?

5

Cognitive Game Studies

Premise

Models of how we perceive, comprehend and emotionally engage with media can inform their systematical analysis.

Cognitive Game Studies

Cognitive Games Studies

Cognitive Game Studies

!

• Emotions: Frome 2006, Grodal 2003, Perron 2012

• Embodiment: Klevjer 2007, Gregersen 2008, Gregersen/Grodal 2009

• Gameplay patterns: Lindley/Sennersten 2008, Betts 2011

• Game design: Lankoski 2010, Isbister 2006

Cognitive approaches to video games:

Five Arguments

• Ecological models of cognitive (film) theory are universal.

• Many models of cognitive media studies can tackle the video game‘s interactivity.

• Cognitive theory can help explain character engagement and emotions.

• Bodily turn in cognitive theory coincides with game studies’ embodiment discourse.

• Models of cognitive psychology / emotion theory are used in game design.

Thank you!

Felix Schröter felix.schroter@uni-hamburg.de @felixjs www.felixschroeter.de

www.cognitivegamestudies.com www.facebook.com/cognitivegamestudies

References

• Betts, Tom (2011): "Pattern Recognition: Gameplay as Negotiating Procedural Form". In: Proceedings of Digra 2011 Conference: Think Design Play.!

• Frome, Jonathan (2006): Why Films Make Us Cry But Video Games Don’t: Emotions in Traditional and Interactive Media. Madison, WI, University of Wisconsin-Madison, dissertation.!

• Gregersen, Andreas L. (2008): Core Cognition and Embodied Agency in Gaming: Towards a Framework for Analysing Structure and Function of Computer Games. Kopenhagen, Kobenhavns Universitet, dissertation.!

• Gregersen, A. L. (2014): „Cognition“. In: Wolf, M.J.P. / Perron, B. (Eds.): The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies. New York: Routledge, pp. 417-426.!

• Gregersen, Andreas L. / Grodal, Torben (2009): "Embodiment and Interface". In: Perron, Bernard / Wolf, Mark J. P. (Eds.): The Video Game Theory Reader 2. New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 65–83. 17

• Grodal, Torben (2003): "Stories for Eye, Ear, and Muscles: Video Games, Media, and Embodied Experiences". In: Wolf, Mark J. P. / Perron, Bernard (Eds.): The Video Game Theory Reader. New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 129–155.!

• Grodal, Torben (2009): Embodied Visions: Evolution, Emotion, Culture, and Film. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.!

• Isbister, Katherine (2006): Better Game Characters by Design. A Psychological Approach. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.!

• Klevjer, Rune (2007): What is the Avatar? Fiction and Embodiment in Avatar-Based Singleplayer Computer Games. PhD Thesis, University of Bergen. Online: http://folk.uib.no/smkrk/docs/RuneKlevjer_What%20is%20the%20Avatar_finalprint.pdf!

• Lankoski, Petri (2010): Character-Driven Game Design. A Design Approach and Its Foundations in Character Engagement. Online: https://www.taik.fi/kirjakauppa/ images/05b242aa4f26a8e03f8499599462f5f2.pdf. !

• Lindley, Craig A. / Sennersten, Charlotte C. (2008): "Game Play Schemas. From Player Analysis to Adaptive Game Mechanics". In: International Journal of Computer Games Technology 2008, pp. 1–7. Online: http://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/ijcgt/2008/216784.pdf.!

• Perron, Bernard (2012): Silent Hill. The Terror Engine. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.!