Video game U&G 19
away from the unrealistic concept of what video games do to players and moves us toward
greater understanding of what players do with the games. As a result, we can begin to theorize
more realistically about the effects of video games.
Video games offer a number of gratifications, both personal and social. Players enjoy the
challenge of ‘beating the game’, but also of beating friends. For many, it is not enough to win
the game; one’s exploits must be known amongst one’s friends. Like other contests, such as
sports, game players can establish a place on a peer pecking order by being the best at a game.
Focus group data suggests that competition is most acute among sports and fighter genres—
games in which players compete through both agility and knowledge of the game. Unlike real
world sports and fighting, the video game world does not distinguish by height and strength,
offering a more level playing field than is found in the real world. Like the real world, games are
used as a source of social interaction. In fact, social interaction and diversion gratifications were
the strongest predictors of time spent playing video games. Therefore, the diversion from life that
video games provide is not necessarily diversion from other people. Instead, gaming appears to
be a type of diversion that involves other people in social interaction. This finding contradicts the
idea of the solitary player isolated from social contact. In fact, frequent game play appears to be
highly social; perhaps the practice of shooting baskets at the park has shifted indoors to video
game play. The ritual is the same; the location has changed.
Unlike findings from previous studies of television and film gratifications, video game
players did not mention using video games for learning. In most television uses and
gratifications studies, respondents report that a major reason for using television is to learn about
the world and about themselves. Television viewers seek role models from television characters
and personalities, modeling their behaviors in real life. Given the purposeful use of television for
Convention