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Uses and functions of video games and why people play them: Uses and gratifications theory. Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Date Introduction Video games are amo... ng the most popular forms of entertainment both for children and adults around the world. The video gaming market has evolved significantly since the early days of computer games, the first versions of Nintendo and Atari. As technology is advancing, so are video games, and more changes are expected in the future markets. The video games industry is one of the highest riches industries in the world. In 2020, the industry made an estimate of 114 billion dollars globally, both in the P.C. and mobile gaming market. According to an industry poll conducted globally, 50% percent of the population in most countries play video games, with the average age of players being 29 years. Currently, it is very likely to find that almost all households have video games in all Kuwait homes. In the past, children were interested in outdoor activities as a form of relaxation. However, in the modern world, children are no longer interested in the traditional form of play as the children spent most of their time glued to their screens, either watching T.V. or playing video games. Even though video games are very popular in the modern world, many studies are being done to establish why people gravitate to certain types of video games and the effects caused by playing video games. In the past, studies have focused on the violent nature of video games, and they cause aggression among users. Many questions by researchers concerning the reasons the individual use of video and gravitation towards specific types are still under research. The researchers have been using the user and gratification theory to answers some of these questions. The following study will explore the different reasons why people play video games. It will show why the reasons are affected by different factors like user preferences through the amount of time devoted to playing the video game. The study will also show the effects that are caused by playing a video game, and this will be done through the user and gratification theory. Theory and theoretical background User and gratification theory assumes that users use different sources of media to satisfy certain needs and wants. The theory provided insights on the use and impacts of media technologies. In the media space, the selection and usage of media are goal-oriented, in that people do not just find themselves engaging in a particular media space; rather, they go to space they want to get a certain type of satisfaction from it (Tanta et al., 2014). For example, someone will log in to their social media accounts because they want to experience the aesthetics of the posts, or they just want to pass the time, making their actions purposive and with motives. Suppose an individual uses a media source and the satisfaction from it. In that case, their likely hood of coming back to get the same experience is high, and this is what the gratification theory uses to make their arguments. Through results of the theories done globally, it has been found that people aged 9-13 like to play video games because of the challenges and quests in the video games, and they are therefore driven by finishing challenges. People above that age are driven by fantasy, arousal, diversion, social interaction, and competition. Researchers have found that gratifications to the individual's reactions to the experience of media use influence continuance motivation for the media use. I chose the user and gratification theory for this topic because it will successfully show the reasons why certain individuals different people play video games. The theory comprises elements such as enjoyment, social interaction, and enjoyment, which will be important in this study. Literature review To date, there have been few attempts at developing sets of video game uses and gratifications traits to determine the main reasons why people video games. For example, Selnow, a researcher in media usage, published the first video game uses and gratifications study in which he surveyed 244 ten- to 24-year-olds about the needs and gratifications met by video games. The study was to find out the factors that prompted the survey group to play video games. Because most video game play in the early 1980s occurred at arcades, and the home console systems that currently dominate game play did not exist, the study was limited to patterns of arcade game use (Cooper & Mackie, 1986). The researcher used television uses and gratifications scales, adding a few additional video game-specific dimensions to make the study specific for playing video games. The study's exploratory factor analysis yielded five arcade video game play factors. It was found that video game play is preferable as it creates a sense of companionship or social interaction among human beings; game play provides activity/action, passing free time, and playing video games provided solitude/escape. Researchers in the U.S. did another significant study through the user and gratification theory. The study focused on arcade use, and their main was to understand why adolescents preferred playing the arcade rather than outdoor games. Based on the existing literature in the early 1980s, the research found that the main reasons for using video games at arcades were excitement, satisfaction, and tension-reduction (Funk, 1993). A later was done in the early nineties, and it established that people played the video as a form of fulfilling their fantasies, completing challenges, and interacting with other players who played video games. All four factors were significantly related to the amount of game play, with challenge consistently having the highest rankings. More recently, researchers have done studies using the users and gratification theory to find out why people play video games. For example, research was done in the U.K. touching on console video game play (Granic et al., 2014). The results from the survey suggested that people played video games as a form of passing the time, avoiding engaging in other activities, cheering themselves up, and enjoying themselves. Furthermore, through further research on video game addicts, it was that these types of people play video games because of proposed arousal, social rewards, skill testing, displacement, and stress reduction. Most recently, through a global study on video games, it was found that competition is the chief gratification obtained by playing video games (Korhan & Ersoy, 2016). The findings of other studies are true because playing video creates the gratifications that are named in the study. For example, social interaction is a form of entertainment, one of the fulfilments that come from playing video games. The social element creates new channels of communication or socializing by making new friends in the online world or fostering relations with existing ones (Gee, 2003). Online games provide an outlet to some online gamers who are low on self-esteem and feel lonely as online games offer the possibility to interact with others online instead of in real life, and therefore giving them the fulfillment, they would get from social life. Completing challenges comprises deriving pleasure from performing the task. Challenges play an important role in deciding the disposition to use an information system by an individual. Individuals will always come back to play a video game because they want to move forward with a quest. This study will use a set of data survey questions to find out why people play video games using the user and gratification theory. From the literature review, it is evident that people play video games for different reasons, some of them being to pass/waste time, entertainment, escapism, and win challenges. Due to this, I expect that the study will find the same reasons presented in the survey to expect that the may motivators mentioned will align with the survey. Research questions and hypotheses Based on the previous literature review, the following research questions and hypotheses are proposed; 1. Based on the user and gratification theory, what are the main reasons for playing video games? Based on the evidence from the literature review, people play games as a form of entertainment, social interaction, passing time, and a form of escapism. 2. Does playing video games have any effects on players? The review has identified several effects of playing video games, such as cognitive development, social skills advancement, and assistance in learning. Therefore, the hypotheses of the study are: H1: There are different reasons for playing video games among individuals H2: Video games result in social and cognitive development among users. Methods To conduct the study, the researchers used a survey to collect information from a sample group on the reasons they play video games. The survey was conducted through cloud-based online software, survey monkey, which is used in creating surveys and taking polls for any audience. 31 people answered the survey questions. The questions in the survey were closed-ended, and they had multiple choices where the sample population had to choose. The questions were asked in order to find the gender, the age, frequency of playing video games, preference of a video game, any effects experienced so far from playing video games, effects in day-to-day activities from playing video games, the reason for playing, the competitive nature of the player, a new skill learned from playing video games if skills learned can be applied on real-life, who the player mostly plays with. The target group of the survey was close friends in my personal phone contact in Kuwait. The dependent variable of the study was playing video games, and the independent variable was the functions and effects of playing to an individual. The number of questions in the survey was ten, and they were all closed-ended. Some of the variables used in the questions were yes/no, not at All, or a lot. The samples used for the study were selected using a random approach to avoid biasness in the findings. Results The results for the study suggested that out of the 31 people that took the survey, 24 were male, and seven were female, with a percentage representation of 77% for male and 23% for female. 23% of the population was below 18 years, 63% between the ages of 18-25, and 13% between the ages of 26-35. 23% of the population always plays video games, 23% play on often occasions, 33%, play sometimes and 20% of the population rarely plays video games. 13% of the population preferred adventure as a type of video game, 3% preferred arcade, 63% for action games, 7% for role play, and 13% for sports. No one in the sample group played strategy video games. 62% of the population's behaviour had not been affected by playing video games, 24% of the population was slightly affected, and 14% of the was highly affected. The results from this research question confirm H1 that people play video games for different reasons. The survey suggests that 35.48% of the population is very competitive when playing video games, 35.48 a little competitive, and 29.03% of the population confirms that they are not very competitive. Figure 1 As seen in figure 1, 45% of the population's daily activities of the population had not been affected by playing video games, 38% of the population was slightly affected, and 16% of the population was highly affected by video games. Based on the finding in the literature review, it is therefore evident that an individual's normal activities can be affected by playing video games. According to (Squire 2003), video games might cause distractions from normal activities, which eats up the time made for other activities; and from the results, more than 50% of the population report that their activities might be affected by playing video games. People in the population sample showed different reasons for watching video games. 3.23% played for stress relief, 29.03% of the population played to pass time, 54.84% for entertainment, 6.45% for information, 6.45% for socializing and getting to know other gamers. According to user and gratification theory, people play video games to fulfill different desires and needs, and according to the information from this study, different people play to fulfill different needs. According to (Dyer-Witheford & De Peuter, 2009), many people play as a form of entertainment, and from the study, it is evident that most people play as a form of entertainment. Some of the effects of playing video games include the development of cognitive skills, and according to the survey, 70% of the population develop their cognitive skills because they have to concentrate so that they perform well in their sessions. 9.68% of the population say that the skills they have learned in the video can always be applied in video games, 45.16 say that the gift can be applied in certain times, and 45.16 say that the skills cannot be applied in real life. Because most of the population plays video games as a form of entrainment, they do not pay attention to learning skills that they can apply in real life. According to figure 2, 12.9% of the population prefer playing video games alone, 16.13% with family, 64.52% of the population with personal friends, and 6.45% with online strangers. Figures 2 According to the user and gratification theory of playing video games, most people play video games as a form of social interaction, and in this case, it is evident that people play video games as a form of creating an interactive environment with people in their environment (Bogost, 2008). The number of people that prefer playing alone is very low while playing with friends is very high, and this confirms the theory. Therefore, the findings in the study have been supported by the literature review, which suggests that people play video games for different reasons, some of them being to pass/waste time, entertainment, as a form of escapism, and to win challenges. The results of the study are also supported by the user and gratification theory because players showed different reasons for playing video games. Discussion and conclusion The findings of the study support the two hypotheses of the study; There are different reasons for playing video games among individuals, and video games result in social and cognitive development among users. According to the study, there are several reasons why people video games, where some watch to pass time, entertainment and socialize with others (Bavelier et al., 2011). The study also suggests that the players' way of life is affected by playing video games. Many of the players become very competitive with time, and this develops their cognitive skills. People also reported playing video games as a form of being social with their friends and their family. Therefore, the overall effects of this behaviour are developmental skills, and consequently, the study confirms the second hypothesis. In conclusion, the study has confirmed that there are different reasons people play video games regarding user and gratification theory. The theory suggests that there are different reasons why people choose different types of media, and their study has confirmed the theory. People are influenced by different factors like passing time, socializing, and entertainment to play video games. At the same time, people have specific preferences of the type of video games they prefer, and the continuous use of a certain video game makes it possible for gratification theory to be used in the study. References Bavelier, D., Green, C. S., Han, D. H., Renshaw, P. F., Merzenich, M. M., & Gentile, D. A. (2011). Brains on video games. Nature reviews neuroscience, 12(12), 763-768. Bogost, I. (2008). The rhetoric of video games (pp. 117-40). MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Learning Initiative. Cooper, J., & Mackie, D. (1986). Video Games and Aggression in Children 1. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 16(8), 726-744. Dyer-Witheford, N., & De Peuter, G. (2009). Games of empire: Global capitalism and video games. U of Minnesota Press. Funk, J. B. (1993). Reevaluating the impact of video games. Clinical Pediatrics, 32(2), 86-90. Gee, J. P. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. Computers in Entertainment (CIE), 1(1), 20-20. Granic, I., Lobel, A., & Engels, R. C. (2014). The benefits of playing video games. American psychologist, 69(1), 66. Korhan, O., & Ersoy, M. (2016). Usability and functionality factors of the social network site application users from the uses and gratification theory perspective. Quality & quantity, 50(4), 1799-1816. Squire, K. (2003). Video games in education. Int. J. Intell. Games & Simulation, 2(1), 49-62. Tanta, I., Mihovilović, M., & Sablić, Z. (2014). Uses and gratification theory–why adolescents use Facebook?. Medijska istraživanja: znanstveno-stručni časopis za novinarstvo i medije, 20(2), 85-111. [Show More]

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