Clinical Use of Video Games

Author(s):  
Ben Tran

In the United, despite the extreme popularity of video games among adolescents, however, researchers in the fields of developmental and social psychology examining video game have focused mainly on the association between video game use and negative outcomes, while research on positive outcomes is more limited. Video game, and the usage of video games, in (adolescent) therapy and (adolescent) psychotherapy is any but ubiquitous. The research and clinical potential for combining video games and the communicative possibilities of the internet are immense. Hence, the purpose of this chapter is on video game and their usages in (adolescent) therapy and psychotherapy. This chapter will cover the history of video games, video games in psychotherapy, and the different types of video games and their usages in psychotherapy.

Author(s):  
Ben Tran

Despite the extreme popularity of video games among adolescents, researchers in the fields of developmental and social psychology examining video games have focused mainly on the association between video game use and negative outcomes, while research on positive outcomes is more limited. Video game, and the usage of video games, in (adolescent) therapy and (adolescent) psychotherapy is anything but ubiquitous. The research and clinical potential for combining video games and the communicative possibilities of the internet are immense. Hence, the purpose of this chapter is on video game and their usages in (adolescent) therapy and psychotherapy. This chapter will cover the history of video games, video games in psychotherapy, and the different types of video games and their usages in psychotherapy.


2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 742-762
Author(s):  
Michael Ryan Skolnik ◽  
Steven Conway

Alongside their material dimensions, video game arcades were simultaneously metaphysical spaces where participants negotiated social and cultural convention, thus contributing to identity formation and performance within game culture. While physical arcade spaces have receded in number, the metaphysical elements of the arcades persist. We examine the historical conditions around the establishment of so-called arcade culture, taking into account the history of public entertainment spaces, such as pool halls, coin-operated entertainment technologies, video games, and the demographic and economic conditions during the arcade’s peak popularity, which are historically connected to the advent of bachelor subculture. Drawing on these complementary histories, we examine the social and historical movement of arcades and arcade culture, focusing upon the Street Fighter series and the fighting game community (FGC). Through this case study, we argue that moral panics concerning arcades, processes of cultural norm selection, technological shifts, and the demographic peculiarities of arcade culture all contributed to its current decline and discuss how they affect the contemporary FGC.


2020 ◽  
pp. tobaccocontrol-2019-055300
Author(s):  
Susan Forsyth ◽  
Patricia A McDaniel

BackgroundSince 1972, Philip Morris (PM) has sponsored motorsports. Racing video games are a popular genre among youth and often emulate the branding of their real-life counterparts, potentially exposing youth to tobacco imagery. We examined racing video games for the presence of Marlboro imagery and explored the history of efforts to remove or regulate such imagery.MethodsWe searched the Truth Tobacco Industry documents for relevant documents and used information from video game-related websites and game play videos to identify racing video games that contained Marlboro trademarks and imagery. We also collected information on the Entertainment Software Ratings Board’s (ESRB) tobacco-specific and overall game ratings.FindingsIn 1989, negative publicity surrounding the presence of Marlboro logos in racing games led PM to threaten legal action against two game makers for copyright infringement. PM also launched a media campaign promoting this intervention as evidence of its commitment to youth smoking prevention. Nonetheless, we identified 219 video games from 1979 to 2018 that contained Marlboro trademarks and/or Marlboro-sponsored drivers and livery. Among the games in our sample with an ESRB game rating, all but one received an ‘E,’ indicating appropriateness for everyone, and all but three lacked tobacco content descriptors.ConclusionRacing video games have been and continue to be a vehicle for exposing adolescents to the Marlboro brand. Because voluntary efforts by PM and the video game industry to prevent youth exposure to tobacco brands in video games have been ineffective, USA and international policy-makers should prohibit tobacco content in video games.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-48
Author(s):  
Rahmawan Jatmiko

Assassin’s Creed is a historical fiction video game developed and published by Ubisoft. This video game has been so far considered as one of the most violent video games. Assassin’s Creed III is the third sequel of which plot is set in a fictional history of real world events and follows the centuries-old conflict between the Assassins and the Templars. Based on this study, the plot, characters, characterization, and scenes in Assassin’s Creed III are deemed to be able to give positive teachings to the young generation, despite the fact that there are violent and sadistic scenes in the story. Haytham Kenway, who is “evil” protagonist in Assassin’s Creed Forsaken, is portrayed as an expert in using weapons, since he was kid. Separated from his family, Kenway was taken by mysterious mentor, who trained him to be the most deadly killer. Comparisons with classic characters such as Oedipus, Hamlet, or Indonesian legendary character Sangkuriang are intentionally made to sharpen the analysis. The finding of this study is that heroic value might be found in either protagonist or antagonistic characters, whose roles involved numerous violent actions. Comments from the official website and social media which claim that Assassin’s Creed has brought negative impacts on the consumers might not be totally true.


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2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (23) ◽  
pp. 15-35
Author(s):  
Jonathan Lessard ◽  
Carl Therrien

This paper looks at the emergence of video game creation in Québec prior to the industrial boom and the popularization of independent games. Built from personal archives and oral history, the paper highlights two unknown personalities from the history of video games in Québec: Christian Boutin and I-Grec. These portraits contribute to diversify the “indie” narrative and reconsider it as part of a longer history.


Author(s):  
Heather M. Schulz ◽  
Matthew S. Eastin

It is argued here that the potential connections video game advertisers can build with consumers makes this new medium a strong force in the digital media world. A meaning-based model is introduced to explain the fluctuation of meaning over time, which is caused by the individual and social interpretation and integration of signs and symbols. The history of video games will be comprehensively interpreted through this model to explain the active identification going on between consumers and video games.


Media in Mind ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 19-48
Author(s):  
Daniel Reynolds

This chapter proposes a theoretical approach to media use that treats media and their users’ minds as continuous with one another. It calls this approach “transactionism.” It shows how the philosophy of John Dewey is relevant to the study of contemporary media. The chapter shows how Dewey’s ideas can clarify historical problems from throughout the history of media studies. It uses examples from video games and films to illustrate the utility of transactionism in thinking about individual media and in thinking about relationships among media. It shows how contemporary philosophy of mind extends concepts from Dewey’s philosophy. This clarifies the relationship between Dewey’s ideas and the film and video game examples that the chapter presents.


2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (9) ◽  
pp. 17-20
Author(s):  
Ryan Cassidy ◽  
Matthew McEniry

Purpose – This two-part study aims to expose the challenges and establish the necessity of preserving digital content, with a focus on console video games. Design/methodology/approach – Through a method of establishing the history of video game consoles, identifying the challenges presented by the format and addressing the current preservation efforts, this article serves as a brief retrospective of the issues and a guide to extending the conversation. Findings – Representing a unique format, heavily reliant on advances in technological and industrial standards, console video games have experienced a demonstrated lack of preservation. Originality/value – With special attention to the non-gamer, this is an introduction to the conversation and an invitation to lend expertise to not only an often overlooked area of popular culture, which is facing (and in some cases, has experienced) irretrievable loss of information, but also to other formats facing adjustment to the digital, always-online environment.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Tuakana Metuarau

<p>This research begins with the premise that while video-games have become a pervasive cultural force over the last four decades, there is still a dearth of educational and historical material regarding the emergence of video game home consoles and their content. Games have an extensive history, dating back to early radar displays and oscilloscopes of the 1960s (Tennis for Two, 1958) and early home video game consoles of the 1970s (Magnavox Odyssey, 1972). From the JAMMA (Japanese Amusement Machine and Marketing Association) arcade standard of the 80s to the high powered processors of Sonys PS4, video games have come a long way and left a wealth of audio-visual material in their wake. Much of this material, however, is archived and engaged within a traditional manner: through text books or museum exhibitions (Games Master, ACMI 2015). Through interactive design however, this data can be made easily comprehensible and accessible as interactive data-visualisation content. This design research project explores processes of data visualization, interactive design and video game production to open up video game history and communicate its developmental stages in a universally accessible manner. Though there has been research conducted utilising game engines for visualizations in other fields (from landscape architecture to bio-medical science) it has rarely been used to visualize the history of gaming itself. This visualization (utilising the Unreal Engine and incorporating historical video content) creates an accessible preservation and catalogue of video game history, and an interactive graphical interface that allows users to easily learn and understand the history of console development and the processes that lead video games to their current state.</p>


2019 ◽  
pp. 77-104
Author(s):  
Heather Lea Birdsall

Heather Lea Birdsall explores the Disney theme parks as a branded franchise space through a number of its video game appearances, including Kinect Disneyland Adventures (Microsoft Studios, 2011) and its 2017 re-release Disneyland Adventures. Her essay makes clear that franchise management unites multiple physical and digital spaces in its strategic global expansion. She argues that tracing the history of Disney park-based games and apps, and considering other ways that the parks have been ‘gamified,’ reveals an ever-deepening trend of using digital game modalities to expand the Disney parks beyond their physical limitations as a means by which to establish and further them as a super-media franchise.


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