Affective Gaming And Ghosts In The Machine

Thanks to the IGDA for its 'Ivory Tower' column discussing the concept of 'affective gaming' - provoking more intense emotions in videogame players. The academic-authored piece reveals: "At Glasgow Caledonian University, we are currently looking specifically at those environments which are renowned for producing supernatural experiences. By modelling and adapting reputedly haunted places in Edinburgh, UK we have been able to create game environments which evoke ghostlike experience for approximately 60% of people who experience it." They also claim game creators could change content based on the gamer's mood, since "...the affective state of the player can be determined by how they use the gamepad. Not only does the pressure of button depression indicate the level of player arousal, but also the rate at which a button is pressed and eventually released indicates the emotion felt by a player."

Comments

Dynamic Content

[Umgawa71]

Reading through the Dynamic Content section of the article, I came to the conclusion that this could make videogames fantastically bizarre. Imagine for a moment the Xbox processor during a game of DOA Xtreme Beach Volleyball:

"Hmm, we're just not getting the right emotional state out of this guy... Mesh Engine, can you go up a cup-size or two on that one? ... nope, that didn't work. Physics Engine, we're looking for a little more jiggle, here... Now, AI, could you spike the ball a couple of times? Aha! There he is, he's back now."

Greatest emotional response from a game

[servognome]

The greatest emotional response I have ever gotten out of a game, was playing Eternal Darkness on the Gamecube. Anybody who has played the game will know how the insanity system not only affects the character but the player.

After playing a few hours I go to save and end up deleting the file. Ooops wrong button. Then I see all the save games in my directory get deleted. SON OF A ******. Controller flies out of my hand, then the screen flashes back to reality... the save games are there, darn machine tricked me!