Glued to Games: How Video Games Draw Us In and Hold Us Spellbound (New Directions in Media)

201 Pages·2011·1.09 MB·English

by  Scott Rigby

G G
LUED TO AMES
New Directions in Media
Robin Andersen, Series Editor
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Celeb 2.0: How Social Media Foster Our Fascination with Popular Culture
Kelli S. Burns
Politics on Demand: Th e Eff ects of 24-Hour News on American Politics
Alison Dagnes
American Film in the Digital Age
Robert C. Sickels
G G
LUED TO AMES
How Video Games Draw Us In
and Hold Us Spellbound
Scott Rigby and Richard M. Ryan
New Directions in Media
Robin Andersen, Series Editor
Copyright 2011 by Scott Rigby and Richard M. Ryan
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior
permission in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rigby, Scott.
Glued to games : how video games draw us in and hold us spellbound / Scott Rigby and
Richard M. Ryan.
p. cm.—(New directions in media)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-313-36224-8 (hard copy : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-0-313-36225-5 (ebook)
1. Video games—Psychological aspects. 2. Video games—Social aspects. I. Ryan,
Richard M. II. Title.
GV1469.3.R55 2011
794.8—dc22 2010040752
ISBN: 978-0-313-36224-8
EISBN: 978-0-313-36225-5
15 14 13 12 11 1 2 3 4 5
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Th is book is printed on acid-free paper
Manufactured in the United States of America
T o our wives Jasmine and Miriam, who at least pretend to believe that the many
hours we spend playing video games are for the purpose of research.

C
ONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IX
INTRODUCTION XI
1. THE EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE OF GAMES TODAY 1
2. GAMES AND THE NEED FOR COMPETENCE 15
3. GAMES AND THE NEED FOR AUTONOMY 39
4. GAMES AND THE NEED FOR RELATEDNESS 65
5. IMMERSION AND PRESENCE 81
6. DANGEROUS WATERS: THE ADDICTIVE UNDERTOW OF GAMES 97
7. THE APPEAL AND PERILS OF AGGRESSION IN VIDEO GAMES 119
8. GAMING BEYOND ENTERTAINMENT 139
9. RELATING TO GAMES: A PRACTICAL ROAD MAP 155
INDEX 175

A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS
T
his work was a collective eff ort, and we are very appreciative to all who
helped in its completion. In particular, we would like to thank Andy
Przybylski, Nicholas Murray, and Edward Deci for their important and
ongoing contributions to our research on the psychology of video games. We also
wish to acknowledge Shannon Hoefen, the members of the Motivation Research
Group at the University of Rochester, and Drew Hanson, along with the other
crack staff members at Immersyve, all of whom provided support and feedback
that helped us hone our views on video games. We also off er a sincere thanks to
Will Ryan for his help in reviewing and preparing this manuscript. Finally, we
have especially appreciated and benefi tted from the many players who have par-
ticipated in our studies and given us an open look into the direct experience of
games and virtual worlds.