Replayability of Video Games Douglas John Griesbach Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Worcester Polytechnic Institute Digital WPI Interactive Qualifying Projects (All Years) Interactive Qualifying Projects May 2011 Replayability of Video Games Douglas John Griesbach Worcester Polytechnic Institute Jonathan David Leith Worcester Polytechnic Institute Timothy Dresden Shaffer Worcester Polytechnic Institute Timothy Richard Frattesi Worcester Polytechnic Institute Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wpi.edu/iqp-all Repository Citation Griesbach, D. J., Leith, J. D., Shaffer, T. D., & Frattesi, T. R. (2011). Replayability of Video Games. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.wpi.edu/iqp-all/923 This Unrestricted is brought to you for free and open access by the Interactive Qualifying Projects at Digital WPI. It has been accepted for inclusion in Interactive Qualifying Projects (All Years) by an authorized administrator of Digital WPI. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Replayability of Video Games Timothy Frattesi Douglas Griesbach Jonathan Leith Timothy Shaffer Advisor Jennifer deWinter May 2011 i Table of Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... 4 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 5 2 Games, Play and Replayability .................................................................................................................. 9 2.1 Play ..................................................................................................................................................... 9 2.2 Categories of Play ............................................................................................................................. 11 2.2.1 Playfulness ................................................................................................................................. 11 2.2.2 Ludic Activities .......................................................................................................................... 12 2.2.3 Game Play .................................................................................................................................. 13 2.3 Game ................................................................................................................................................. 14 2.3.1 Structure ..................................................................................................................................... 15 2.3.2 Rules .......................................................................................................................................... 16 2.3.3 Goals .......................................................................................................................................... 17 2.3.4 Activity ...................................................................................................................................... 18 2.4 Computer Games .............................................................................................................................. 18 2.5 Aspects of Replayability ................................................................................................................... 20 2.5.1 Difficulty .................................................................................................................................... 21 2.5.2 Completion ................................................................................................................................. 23 2.5.3 Social Aspects ............................................................................................................................ 25 2.5.4 Randomization ........................................................................................................................... 26 2.5.5―The Experience‖ ........................................................................................................................ 27 2.6 Business of Replayability.................................................................................................................. 30 2.7 Game Design at the Production Stage ............................................................................................... 32 2.8 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 33 3 Survey, Interview and Market Data ......................................................................................................... 35 3.1 Consumer Surveys ............................................................................................................................ 38 3.2 Demographic Data ............................................................................................................................ 38 3.3 Play & Replay from a Consumer Viewpoint .................................................................................... 41 3.4 Designer Interviews .......................................................................................................................... 45 3.5 Survey Style Questions ..................................................................................................................... 46 3.6 Play & Replay from a Design Perspective ........................................................................................ 47 ii 3.7 Market Perspective ............................................................................................................................ 50 3.8 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 52 4 Perceptions of the Importance of Replayability ....................................................................................... 54 4.1 Reporting on Numerical Data ........................................................................................................... 55 4.2 Commonality of Play within Replayability ...................................................................................... 59 4.1.1 Indistinguishable Nature of Play and Replay ............................................................................. 61 4.1.2 Distinction made through Completion ....................................................................................... 64 4.2 Genre Specificity .............................................................................................................................. 66 4.3 Difficulty ........................................................................................................................................... 69 4.4 Completion ........................................................................................................................................ 71 4.5 Social Aspects ................................................................................................................................... 73 4.6 Randomization .................................................................................................................................. 77 4.6 ―The Experience‖ .............................................................................................................................. 78 4.4 Marketing and Customer Influences ................................................................................................. 82 4.4.1 Brand Loyalty ............................................................................................................................ 83 4.4.2 Nostalgia .................................................................................................................................... 85 4.4.3 Reviews ...................................................................................................................................... 86 4.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 87 5 Conclusion and Recommendations .......................................................................................................... 89 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................... 95 Appendix A: Numerical Survey Data ....................................................................................................... 105 Appendix B: Verbal Survey Data ............................................................................................................. 117 Appendix C: Likert-Scale Survey Data .................................................................................................... 232 Appendix D: Graphical Representations of Survey Data ......................................................................... 239 iii Table of Figures Figure 1 – Cycle of a game‘s life and influence on future works ............................................................... 37 Figure 2 – Possible overlaps helping us define if replayability is biased for specific groups ..................... 40 Figure 3 – Determining if Play eclipses Replay or if Replayability has a solid foothold in industry ......... 43 Figure 4 – The factors, and weighting, of the aspects that go into a successful game. ..............................