As part of the outcomes for this research, i've been trying to think of frameworks through which to analyse the various dimensions and behaviours of shared gaming. The ways that people have generally tried to anaylse gaming behaviour has been through typologies of gamer; i'm sure most people have heard the terms 'hardcore' or 'casual' banded around fairly frequently...
The Guardian blogged today, referencing Forbes magazine, who, rather ambitiously, tried to proclaim that European and US gamers were two distinct beasts:
The Guardian blogged today, referencing Forbes magazine, who, rather ambitiously, tried to proclaim that European and US gamers were two distinct beasts:
"Guns and gore also don't sell as well in Europe because Europeans like short, so-called casual games, rather than the long, epic tales that keep gamers pounding on their consoles for hours at a stretch. Casual games also fit the European lifestyle better: People can play these short games on trains and subways on their way to work."Suggesting that a continent so culturally diverse as Europe can have a population that conforms to a certain type of gamer is probably not the greatest assumption.
Other ideas about typologies of gamers include Wired's theory
that there are Hardcore, Casual, Expanded Audience and Kids. Whilst i
like the idea of 'Expanded Audience'; representing the emerging
demographic of gamers that probably never used to play video games
before, seem to have been consumed by the Wii, i'm not sure what
'casual', 'hardcore' and especially 'kids' add to the party. The
categories don't seem to be very distinct and they don't really have
any defining features:
Gamasutra develop a slightly more granulated approach to game typologies: 6 types of gamers are identified but it still seems rather higgledy-piggledy. For example, take power gamers, social gamers and leisure gamers: does this mean that power gamers don't play with other people? What are the different types of games that these groups play: does it mean that someone who plays Bejewelled for 6 hours a day isn't a power gamer becuase it's a 'casual' title? Why not? I don't think that these descriptions really tell you enough about the behaviours about gamers and aren't particularly helpful when it comes to designing games for them.
Richard Bartle wrote a few years ago about different types of player of one of the first MMOGs - MUDS. He argues that there are 4 different types of player behaviour: achievers, explorers, socializers and killers. Although written in 1990, I think this analysis is pretty applicable to pretty much any MMOG or piece of social software. You need a combination of all 4 of these types in order for a piece of social media to 'tick'.
i) Achievement - players like to set themselves game relate goals and aggresively set out to achieve them.
ii) Exploration - players try to find out as much as possible about the virtual world.
iii) Socialising - using the games communicative features
iv) Killing - using the in game tools to inflict damage or sometimes to help other players.
He identifies discreet behavioural types which is much more fruitful way of analysing behaviour than just saying 'casual', but if we are looking specifcally at social gaming, then terms such as 'socialising' is too broad and doesn't tell us anything about the different sorts of communication going on, or the underlying social dynamics - who is talking to who, what sort of activities are they doing and why?
Although it's not really a model for social gaming, Matt Locke's well thought out Six Spaces of Social Media is a good starting point for thinking about the way groups of people behave with social technologies. It focuses on the behaviours of groups of users rather than trying to shoe-horn people into 'types' that don't really have specific behaviours attached to them. It also makes us think more critically about social gaming behaviour. Yes, players are playing with each other and they're communicating, but how exactly are they doing this, with whom and why?
I'd be really interest to hear if anyone has any thoughts on any different typologies of gamers or models for analysing social gaming.
"[Kids] Are sort of like a combination of #2 Casual Gamers and #1 Hardcore Gamers because while games might be an obsession for them, it's also an obsession for all of their classmates."
Gamasutra develop a slightly more granulated approach to game typologies: 6 types of gamers are identified but it still seems rather higgledy-piggledy. For example, take power gamers, social gamers and leisure gamers: does this mean that power gamers don't play with other people? What are the different types of games that these groups play: does it mean that someone who plays Bejewelled for 6 hours a day isn't a power gamer becuase it's a 'casual' title? Why not? I don't think that these descriptions really tell you enough about the behaviours about gamers and aren't particularly helpful when it comes to designing games for them.
Richard Bartle wrote a few years ago about different types of player of one of the first MMOGs - MUDS. He argues that there are 4 different types of player behaviour: achievers, explorers, socializers and killers. Although written in 1990, I think this analysis is pretty applicable to pretty much any MMOG or piece of social software. You need a combination of all 4 of these types in order for a piece of social media to 'tick'.
i) Achievement - players like to set themselves game relate goals and aggresively set out to achieve them.
ii) Exploration - players try to find out as much as possible about the virtual world.
iii) Socialising - using the games communicative features
iv) Killing - using the in game tools to inflict damage or sometimes to help other players.
He identifies discreet behavioural types which is much more fruitful way of analysing behaviour than just saying 'casual', but if we are looking specifcally at social gaming, then terms such as 'socialising' is too broad and doesn't tell us anything about the different sorts of communication going on, or the underlying social dynamics - who is talking to who, what sort of activities are they doing and why?
Although it's not really a model for social gaming, Matt Locke's well thought out Six Spaces of Social Media is a good starting point for thinking about the way groups of people behave with social technologies. It focuses on the behaviours of groups of users rather than trying to shoe-horn people into 'types' that don't really have specific behaviours attached to them. It also makes us think more critically about social gaming behaviour. Yes, players are playing with each other and they're communicating, but how exactly are they doing this, with whom and why?
I'd be really interest to hear if anyone has any thoughts on any different typologies of gamers or models for analysing social gaming.
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