Answering the age-old question "what would
you ask 535 gamers?" Hugh Bowen sought out the emotional impact
of video games. His results have been published on his website, and while nothing here is extremely shocking, the
results indeed are interesting:
-
In ranking emotional impact of different mediums, video/PC games ranked 4th place, just ahead of paintings/artwork and cars.
-
"Heavy gamers have more of a feeling for movies. Lighter and younger gamers are more moved by music."
-
The most emotional genres are RPG's and FPS's; the least emotional are flight simulators.
-
In listing individual games, Final Fantasy was mentioned nearly four times as often (104) as its closest competition (Resident Evil, 27).
-
When asked to list feelings that videogames strongly inspire, gamers chose some obvious (competitiveness, violence/excitement, frustration), some interesting (honor/loyalty/integrity, awe and wonder, beauty), and some bizarre (love, spirituality, sexuality) emotions.
The mention of Final Fantasy should come as no surprise, as the often-cited proof of emotion in games is Aeris' death in Final Fantasy VII. Resident Evil isn't much of a shock, either – I remember distinctly not wanting to play that game alone in a dark room (especially the GameCube remake). The mention of emotions like love, spirituality, and sexuality seem a bit bizarre to me, but I definitely seeing those ideas come to further fruition as the games industry matures. Interesting study, if you have time to peruse through it. What games made you cry?
[Thanks, da greasy guide and bandersnatch]
