Video games and Personality
By daniel_beck_90 13 Comments
Video games are the main subject in this article not only because of the fact that we spend much more time playing Video games than following any other medias but also due to the interactive nature of all video games .
Its worth mentioning that video gaming is mostly a private activity , and therefore the games we play are the most truthful expression of our lives .
Eric Zimmerman, author of "Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals" and CEO of developer gameLab, elaborates: "Unlike a book, a film, and other forms of prescripted media, a game is more like a set of tools that the player uses to build his or her own experience. The games we choose to play, and the way we play them, reveal a tremendous amount about us -- from our creative drives and ambitions to the dark corners of our desires."
Video games are Gate to the Dream Land , to memories , wishes , to our souls .
just like anything else conceivable , Video games are categorized in different forms and genres . Brutal , scary , funny , serious , documentary , scientific , fast , puzzling ….. . each category has its own style and fans of those particular games have their own world .
Some study has been held about the subject of personality and what video games a person would like to play .
A Study by Brad Bushman and Jeroen Lemmens were held in this regard . Their study consisted of 299 (12-17 )year olds from Belgium and the Netherlands. In both Belgium and Netherlands after grade school children are either placed in lower or higher forms of secondary education depending on their grade school performance.
The results shows that as a whole the boys were more interested in playing violent video games rather than non-violent ones. The researchers also found that lower educated boys tended to not only wanted to play violent over non-violent games but tended to have more addictive traits. Belgian boys wanted to play more video games more than Dutch boys. Also the more empathic boys tended to want to play non-violent video games.
Now the question is : which Genre ? What characteristic ?
Based on the modern psychology gamers are classified in 7 terms :
cathartic releaser , Mild Sociopath , Dominator , Childlike , The Escapist , conductor and mixture .
they want to have fun with games , the contents are not as important as fun factor and they'd rather to play games that follow the mainstream excitement .
hijacking , murder , explosion , car chasing , riot , gun blazing , slow motion sequences . most of the cathartic releasers are male and usually considered Normal people in society . games like Call of Duty , Halo ,saint row , Need for speed , Grid , SDVR , madden NFL , FIFA , are among these people's favorites .
Mild Sociopath
These people could be found anywhere , with any occupation . for them gaming is the best entertainment , some of them have weird habits and some even could be called a freak !!! for them a gaming console means a lot and they spend long hours playing Video games .
they consider gaming as a meal for soul , the less interesting their life is the hungrier they become . these people usually like to spend as much time as possible playing Video games of different types . M rated games are favored by these individuals . they take gaming as a goal and spend multitude amount of hours thinking /discussing about video games .
Unlike what many think these people would not cause trouble for society and NO they are not murderers .
the reason is simple : they empty all their emotions /angers in the so-called Rabbit Hole
They adore games like GTA , Manhunt , Hitman , Gears Of War , The darkness ,Resistance , Metal Gear Solid , Mortal Kombat , Doom , Resident Evil , Burnout .
Dominator
These persons are usually those who do not delight their Job or social status so much (if at all ) and there is no promotion in their life , expelled students , laborers , data entry clerks ……………. .
they need to conquer and they need to promote themselves ! where can they satisfy themselves ? yes ! in the Online multiplayer community . These people usually purchase less games but instead play hours and hours of Multiplayer matches and rule the leader boards . Xbox Live and PSN is their favorite place and they can not get enough of it .
They usually choose games that have strong multi-player and online functionality .
Call of Duty , Gears Of War , Left 4 dead , Little Big planet ………. Are always on their shelves .
Childlike
The inner child does not let these people go , they miss their childhood and the good old days . life for them is not really unpleasant and they are usually smart individuals .
Mario , Zelda , Harvest moon , Braid and Arcades games ………… are their favorite .
The Escapist
They usually suffer every day of their life due to various reasons such as terrible social status , harsh illnesses like Cancer or HIV , unfulfilling job and on . they want to go far away , they do not want to look back , they want to escape .
They usually do not spend too much time following the video game news or reviews . JRPGs , MMO-RPGs are usually the only genre they tend to play since they can easily lose hours and hours worrying about gaining XP and forget about their lives .
Final Fantasy , Everquest , world of war craft ………….. is a must for their everyday life .
Conductor
These people are the smartest of all , their IQ is usually above average and they are really good at calculating and planning .
they enjoy playing with their minds rather than just a moving character model . they are not really good at action games but you should give them Sim city and wait for the result !!!
Strategy games that need constant management is for them .
The Sims , Civilization , Star Craft , Tycoon are among their favorite games .
Mixture
Mixture is not a new class in its nature and as the name suggests it is about people with mixed feelings and preferences . more than 50% of all the gamers belong to this class .
Those who love Call of Duty but also do not mind playing hours and hours of Final fantasy . Halo 3 fan boys who can not wait for Alan wake .
Those who are smart but damn crazy , girls with male preferences , middle age guys who love to play little Big Planet , and any possible combination (you name it )
Epilogue : Video games are a window to our souls and the view isn't always pretty. sometimes it is the best possible cure for our pain while other times cause a trouble and make things worse . but Over all gaming is undoubtedly the best possible entertainment in our modern world . just like anything else Video games could be misused , most of the gamers are harmless people who only seek enjoyment (and they have certainly found the right way) but also we should not forget that some take the Video games too seriously and implement them in their real lives .
Hope we are not one of them .
Daniel Beck