ABSTRACT
Whereas earlier mediums allow users to engage with audio and visual content passively, video gaming required the user to act upon the technology and, subsequently, the content. Like real-world games, the user could win or lose depending on their actions. But unlike real-world games, participation did not require resources like other players, equipment, and dedicated space. Chapter 8 explores how video gaming invited the user to manipulate the content in real time, resulting in a unique interactive entertainment experience tailored for every user. Video gaming is the experience of electronically manipulating images produced by a computer program on a television screen or other display to elicit a specific outcome determined by the game. This definition is independent of the available games and devices on which games can be played and instead focuses on the novel potential of video game technology as deployed across settings. Through the psychology of controlling action and narrative, learning with games, and losing without consequences, this chapter describes how video gaming shifted the psychological expectations of interactive interfaces and “gamification,” both within and outside media.
