Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 13
Player-Game Interaction
Through Affective Sound
Lennart E. Nacke
University of Saskatchewan, Canada
Mark Grimshaw
University of Bolton, UK
AbstrAct
This chapter treats computer game playing as an affective activity, largely guided by the audio-visual
aesthetics of game content (of which, here, we concentrate on the role of sound) and the pleasure of
gameplay. To understand the aesthetic impact of game sound on player experience, definitions of emotions
are briefly discussed and framed in the game context. This leads to an introduction of empirical methods
for assessing physiological and psychological effects of play, such as the affective impact of sonic player-
game interaction. The psychological methodology presented is largely based on subjective interpretation
of experience, while psychophysiological methodology is based on measurable bodily changes, such
as context-dependent, physiological experience. As a means to illustrate both the potential and the dif-
ficulties inherent in such methodology we discuss the results of some experiments that investigate game
sound and music effects and, finally, we close with a discussion of possible research directions based on
a speculative assessment of the future of player-game interaction through affective sound.
INtrODUctION
playing sports. Games also impose new research
challenges to many scientific disciplines - old
and new - as they have been hailed as drivers
of cloud computing and innovation in computer
science (von Ahn & Dabbish, 2008), promoters
of mental health (Miller & Robertson, 2009; Pul-
man, 2007), tools for training cognitive and motor
abilities (Dorval & Pepin, 1986; Pillay, 2002), and
as providers of highly immersive and emotional
environments for their players (Ravaja, Turpeinen,
Digital games have grown to be among the fa-
vourite leisure activities of many people around
the world. Today, digital gaming battles for a
share of your individual leisure time with other
traditional activities like reading books, watching
movies, listening to music, surfing the internet, or
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