Week 4

When playing video games there is no denying that we can get addicted, but why is this? In this blog I will be looking at what I find the most addictive part of playing video games and that is getting to that reward, earning something. Hallford and Hallford talk of the four different rewards we experience whilst playing video games, these include Rewards of Glory, Rewards of Sustenance, Rewards of Access and finally Rewards of Facility. Rewards are seen differently in every game we play in many games such as Super Mario games, loved by children world wide, rewards are clearly in front of us, jump slightly higher and you can get that gold coin. The rewards in these games are often material, and therefore seem easily accessible and give the gamer themselves a personal boost. Rewards seen in these games are therefore Rewards of Glory due to the fact that it is not actually the amount of coins you collect that help you go forward in the game, but purely for the gamer’s pleasure. These Rewards of Glory are often found in these simple games designed for children, as I have said above Super Mario games played on the Gameboy and Nintendo use rewards of glory often by offering points.

Rewards of Glory are therefore offered in the numerous games that have been created through the years that mirror Super Mario’s simple, but fun frame. I decided to play an old game of Donkey Kong using a free internet site. The game is from the 80’s and the graphics are clearly very basic. Although I was playing the original version, created by a Japanese artist, the idea of the game has stayed very similar. Donkey Kong has escaped from a zoo and kidnapped Mario’s girlfriend. Mario is required to climb a number of levels to save his girlfriend, only to find when he reaches the top, Donkey Kong takes Pauline, Mario’s Girlfriend to a higher level. Therefore by the player getting to the top with Mario he reaches the next ‘level’ as such, here the player is experiencing the ‘Reward of Access’. In certain games a reward of access may include retrieving keys, or in more complicated games passwords to get onto higher levels e.g. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, and Crash Bandicoot which I really enjoyed playing due to the numerous different areas that I could gain access to through playing well and gaining access.

In many video games the player may find that the rewards become less attainable or less common as the game progresses. Steven Poole believes that ‘rewards must be balanced… Video games deliberately provide only partial reinforcement’. For the gamer to keep playing Poole believes ‘the gamer keeps hoping another one is just around the corner’.