Gaming culture - part 2. ''Flow''.

Having previously looked at the process and evolution of gaming culture and how important it's become to modern culture. This week we looked at why people play games and what it means for them and for society. With such a wide variety of the genre of games aimed at different audiences, there are many different reasons as to why someone might play games.

These ideas have been turned into theories which relate to why different people play games and for what reason. One of these theories is that of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi who is a Hungarian professor of Psychology.  He is famous for studying happiness and creativity. He is also most famous for coming up with the concept of 'flow'.


''What makes a life worth living?''



Flow generally relates to the balance between your level of skill and your level of challenge being presented to you. When you're in 'flow' it means you're being the most productive without being stressed. This then links to balance between boredom and anxiety/panic. This relates to games as we like playing games that challenge us in different ways as we are stimulated and we get more enjoyment out of it. However when it becomes too challenging or stressful we tend to get bored quicker and panic depending on the game. This concept can also apply to every day life as we all like a challenge that tests us however when it gets too much it's a human trait to become stressed and anxious and generally give up.



This can explain the evolution of games, in that simple games such as Pong or Pacman work well in flow as they get harder with each levels however the actual content is fairly boring and you find yourself unable to play them for too long.


Games that offer narrative and special effects are on top of markets in the 21st century. These games more often than not revolve around the theme of war and or fantasy. A list of the US best selling games show:

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii U)
2. Madden NFL 13 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, Vita, Wii U)
3. Halo 4 (Xbox 360)
4. Assassin's Creed 3 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii U)
5. Just Dance 4 (Xbox 360, Wii, Wii U, PS3)
6. NBA 2K13 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PSP, Wii U, PC)
7. Borderlands 2 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
8. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PC)
9. Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (Wii, Xbox 360, NDS, PS3, 3DS, Vita, PC)
10. FIFA 13 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, Vita, 3DS, Wii U, PSP)

These games, apart from Just Dance 4 are predominantly male orientated, with the stereotypical view that mainly men enjoy gaming that involves shooting, racing and sport, however females are not ruled out of the gaming audience. These games, as previously mentioned all have narrative and story lines, as well as being so technologically and graphically advanced that the special effects are always new and interesting to the gamer. This means that there is a constant 'flow' as there is a constant challenge however you are enthusiastic about the challenge, and enjoying it which means you're more likely to succeed and the flow will be constant.

In our workshop we discussed flow and talked about how we could make University seminars and lectures more capable of the concept. We discussed what made a lecture boring and what made it exciting. Personally I find it incredibly boring and hard to concentrate when I just have to sit and listen to a Power point, as I never give it my full attention and always wonder what the point is in being there, as the Power points are always available online anyway. This unit in particular usually consists of this in the lectures, which I find really hard to concentrate as personally I find the content sometimes irrelevant and frankly doesn't interest me. However, whilst posting blogs some of the content does interest me and I'm really able to delve deep into the topic, which does prove the concept of flow. On the other hand, when the blog post is uninteresting I find it hard to concentrate and get enough content into the post to match the criteria as I'm simply uninterested and find it hard to care.

The fact that most units are assessed through coursework of some kind (in my case anyway), and all have deadlines around the same time at the end of the year makes it seem like an easy ride for the first 6-7 months and then a mad roller-coaster of panic, cheap energy drinks and all night cramming to get it all done. as Rhiannon discusses in her blog entitled ''Applying game theory to education'' feedback would be desirable throughout the duration of the coursework for at least some reassurance that you are on the right track.