Figure 1
Demographics of Interview Subjects (N=30) and Subject Population (N=92) by Discipline and Academic Status
Interdepartmental collaboration was defined as a relationship, formal or informal, between an interview participant and a member of another department. Both formal and informal collaboration were considered: formal collaboration was defined as a relationship based on an externally recognized partnership, such as a project, grant, coauthorship on a manuscript, or serving as an academic advisor or dissertation committee member; informal collaboration was defined as unofficial or casual partnerships based on consultations, conversations, and friendships that contribute to academic work. These data were used to determine whether an interviewee’s work was confined to a single department or discipline or whether he or she had potential connections outside the interviewee’s home department. We found high levels of interdepartmental collaboration in all disciplines (see figure 2). One third of interview participants (10) reported three or more interdepartmental relationships, including an untenured instructor in arts and humanities who collaborated with faculty and students across five different departments in arts and humanities, STEM, and social sciences. A total of 20 percent of participants (6) reported no collaboration or no collaboration outside their departments, including an untenured instructor in STEM who only collaborated with graduate teaching assistants in his department. Interviewees from arts and humanities were the only group where all interviewees reported collaborative partnerships.
Figure 2 |
Number of Current Interdepartmental Relationships by Discipline (n=30) |
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The majority (21/30) of interview participants used video games in both research and teaching (see figure 3). Most participants conducted research with video games (28/30). About a quarter of interviewees (7), most from STEM and health sciences, used games solely in research, including a graduate student in STEM who received funding for research and did not teach. Five categories of game-related research emerged from the interviews (see figure 4). Interviewees who conducted research on the development of games or technology typically produced software or algorithms that could be used in games or developed games based on existing technology. Researchers who used games as instrumentation modified game technology to collect quantitative data or used video games as a cheaper alternative to another analogous instrument they could have purchased. When games were used as an object of study, researchers often applied critical analysis or theory to a video game as they would another text or primary source. When games were used to study influences on people or society, the researcher typically used qualitative methods to examine some societal impact of games. Finally, games were studied by some for their educational applications and impact on student outcomes. Some interviewees used games in more than one way, such as a graduate student in arts and humanities who studied video games as both a cultural object and a cultural influence. Similarly, an untenured faculty in STEM researched video games as an educational technology while also examining their social influence. Each discipline was represented in 3–4 research application categories. At the same time, strong disciplinary research trends were present and each category was dominated by a single discipline, with the exception of educational technology. Educational technology applications primarily included testing games and game-based learning principles in the classroom.
Figure 3 |
Areas of Academic Work Where Interview Subjects Used Video Games or Game Technology, by Discipline (n=30) |
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Figure 4 |
Role of Video Games/Technology in Research by Discipline (n=28) |
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Fewer people used video games in teaching (23/30) than in research, but interviewees who taught with games most often used them in research as well. For example, a tenured faculty researched the effectiveness of a mobile game to create and grade assignments and used the same game in several of his courses. Only two individuals used video games solely in a teaching capacity, including an instructor in STEM who had no research responsibilities. Four categories of teaching applications emerged from the interviews (see figure 5). Some instructors designed games from scratch for students to use in the classroom. Other instructors taught game design principles sometimes using commercial games and sometimes requiring students to create their own games. Games were also used as course material, analogous to texts or other primary sources: instructors assigned games in the syllabus or had students watch videos of others playing through a game. Finally, instructors discussed games, game mechanics, or their own research on games in the classroom but may not have assigned games to students to play in the course. Similar to research applications, some interviewees used games in the classroom multiple ways, like an untenured faculty in STEM who taught game design and also used video games as course material. Every disciplinary group used video games as course material and as a discussion piece in class. Some teaching applications were more common in particular disciplines; 4 of 8 STEM interviewees designed a game for their classes and 5 of 6 from the social sciences used games as course material. Overall, disciplinary trends were far less distinct. Table 2 summarizes the data from figures 3–5.
Figure 5 |
Role of Video Games/Technology in Teaching by Discipline (n=23) |
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Among the interviewees, 18 types of information were used (see table 3). Arts and humanities participants used the most information sources (13), while STEM participants used the least (6). Video games were used as primary sources by interviewees in arts and humanities and social sciences, including a tenured faculty in the social sciences who studies game symbology. Interviewees from all disciplines used colleagues, web sources, journals and Google Scholar. Dominant information sources emerged from each discipline: arts and humanities, journals and web sources (see figure 6); social sciences, journals (see figure 7); STEM, colleagues, journals, and Google Scholar (see figure 8); and health sciences, colleagues (see figure 9).
Participants identified 17 unique technology needs (see table 4). The following technology categories emerged: equipment, games, programming languages, servers, software, and web applications. Equipment included any type of hardware, from game consoles like Xbox or PlayStations, to mobile phones or personal computers (PCs). PCs were the most common piece of equipment identified as required by the whole sample, but peripherals (accessories such as game controllers) were the predominant type of equipment mentioned by participants in the health sciences. For example, a Wii balance board was used to study involuntary bodily movements. Only five interviewees used console system equipment (see figure 10).
Figure 6 |
Information Sources in Arts and Humanities (n=7) |
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Figure 7 |
Information Sources in Social Sciences (n=7) |
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Figure 8 |
Information Sources in STEM (n=11) |
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Figure 9 |
Information Sources in Health Sciences (n=5) |
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Games referred to all types of playable software, and four categories of video games emerged: PC games, played on a computer and often accessed through a platform like Steam, were the most common, followed by console games (played on a console) and web games (played through an Internet browser); mobile games (played on a phone) were the least common. Arts and humanities and social sciences participants had the strongest need for games, and they use the widest variety of platforms. For example, a graduate student in arts and humanities uses PC, console, and mobile games to study music, and a graduate student in the social sciences uses web, PC, and console games to study representations of bodies. Social sciences have the largest use of web-based games, used by 3 of 4 interviewees. Only 1 of 11 STEM participants used video games in his or her academic activities (see figure 11), a graduate student studying a prominent massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG).
Figure 10 |
Equipment Technology Requirements for Game-Related Research/Teaching by Discipline (n=30) |
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Software as a category excluded video games but included almost any other type of digital application that a researcher or instructor identified as necessary to his or her work. The subcategories were chosen with collection development needs in mind; proprietary software would likely come at a cost and include access restrictions, while open source software would be more accessible for any library or user to install. Other categories of interest included custom software, which was usually designed by the researcher or instructor and might not be widely shared or available, and game design software. Game design software might overlap with one of the other categories: some interviewees used Unity, an open source game design software; some used the Unreal engine, which at the time of the interviews cost money to download and was not open source; and some built custom game design software of their own. STEM participants had the most software needs overall; and, as a group, both STEM and health sciences interviewees reported using some type of software from every category (see figure 12). However, the needs were diverse among individuals: a graduate student in STEM used proprietary robotics software and a tenured faculty member in STEM used open source software to teach programming. Arts and humanities interviewees overall did not report many software needs; only 1 of 7 interviewees described any software needs at all. However, members of every disciplinary grouping did report a need for proprietary software.
Figure 11 |
Game Technology Requirements for Game-Related Research/Teaching by Discipline (n=30) |
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Figure 12 |
Software Technology Requirements for Game-Related Research/Teaching by Discipline (n=30) |
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Some technology used by the interviewees in this study was free or provided by the university, like a personal computer, but many technology needs required some financial resources to fulfill. To determine how interviewees currently met their technology needs, we asked about the specific methods they used to acquire technology. We split the results on technology acquisition into two categories: graduate students and faculty/staff (see figures 13 and 14). Tenured and untenured faculty and staff were combined because the methods of technology acquisition were very similar for both groups. Graduate students used many strategies to acquire technology, including borrowing from others or using their own personal property. For example, one graduate student in the social sciences used free technology, borrowed games from others, made purchases, and still did not have all the technology he needed. On the other hand, faculty and staff primarily purchase technology. One faculty member in health sciences said, “I usually have a couple thousand bucks in my ICR [indirect cost recovery] account… that’s more than enough to pay for the kinds of things we’ve been talking about [plasma screen, Xbox 360, games].” This trend holds true regardless of tenure status. Faculty and staff in STEM are using more freely available technology when compared to the other disciplinary groups. If the faculty, staff, or students had not yet acquired the technology they planned to use, those responses appear as “other.” Faculty planned to either create the technology themselves or hire someone to create it, while graduate students were still considering their options.
Funding sources differed significantly by status, and untenured faculty and staff are shown separately from tenured faculty and graduate students (see figures 15–17). In general, graduate students and untenured faculty and staff relied on a variety of methods for funding compared to tenured faculty. In arts and humanities and social sciences, many graduate students paid out-of-pocket, such as a graduate student in arts and humanities who was unable to get funding for game skins (armor, clothing, and the like), which were required for his dissertation research. In STEM, graduate students received some funding from grants, but that was not the case for graduate students from other disciplines (see figure 15). Tenured faculty mostly got their funding from grants (10 out of 11 in our sample), with some additional support from ICR funds, departmental funds (funding providing by a researcher’s or instructor’s department), and new technology funds (funds provided by the department, college, or university to acquire technology) (see figure 16). Unlike graduate students, tenured faculty did not pay out-of-pocket costs. Health sciences’ tenured faculty illustrated a depth of funding sources. Although there were only three participants in our sample, they had six sources of funding. One example is a tenured faculty member who had both an external grant and used department funding. Untenured faculty and staff appear to be seeking multiple sources of funding (see figure 17). For example, in arts and humanities, an untenured instructor was funding his work with a grant, departmental funds, and his own money. Figures 18–21 summarize the data from figures 13–17 and organize it by discipline.
Figure 13 |
Graduate Student Acquisition of Games/Technology by Discipline (n=13) |
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Figure 14 |
Faculty and Staff Acquisition of Games/Technology by Discipline (n=17) |
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Figure 15 |
Graduate Student Funding Sources for Game-Related Research and Teaching (N=13) |
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Figure 16 |
Tenured Faculty Funding Sources for Game-Related Research and Teaching (n=11) |
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Figure 17 |
Untenured Faculty and Staff Funding Sources for Game-Related Research and Teaching (n=6) |
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This research had several limitations. If an eligible participant did not mention his or her work with video games on a staff profile page or in publications, or if the participant was not located through recommendations or snowball sampling, he or she was not included among the population of 92 UMN game scholars. The interview data was more limited in scope because some eligible participants were away on sabbatical, did not respond to invitations, or declined an interview.
Figure 18 |
Flowchart of Funding Sources for Interview Subjects in Arts and Humanities (n=7) |
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Figure 19 |
Flowchart of Funding Sources for Interview Subjects in Social Sciences (n=7) |
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Figure 20 |
Flowchart of Funding Sources for Interview Subjects in Stem (n=11) |
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Figure 21 |
Flowchart of Funding Sources for Interview Subjects in Health Sciences (N=5) |
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The exploratory nature of this study limits the generalizability of the findings. However, despite being limited to this one research context, the size of the institution and broad range of disciplines and activities covered in this study provide a rich starting point for future research and the development of library services aimed at these types of researchers. Librarians serving game design or game development programs may observe different needs from those identified in this study because UMN does not have a dedicated game design program.
The open-ended, semistructured nature of the interviews resulted in rich and diverse data that posed some problems when categorizing findings and ensuring anonymity. We used broad codes and categories to capture as much data as possible while also maintaining anonymity, resulting in some loss in the granularity of the data. Additionally, determining how to assign disciplines to interviewees to maintain anonymity was challenging. For example, depending on the context, History can be considered a social science or part of the humanities as it is “multifaceted and diffuse.” 36 We chose to place it in arts and humanities because the researchers interviewed were primarily studying video games as cultural objects instead of the impact on society or human behavior.
Finally, some of the subjects discussed were sensitive (for example, institutional barriers to completing work or acquisition of funding) and some participants felt apprehensive about sharing information. Therefore, the data only represents what interviewees shared “on the record.” Occasionally, the interview location could have inhibited participants (for example, one interview occurred in a public location and two interviews occurred where interviewees’ colleagues were present). However, we have no reason to believe that interviewees concealed information or provided untruthful answers; in the cases where subjects spoke “off the record,” they were candid and honest about challenges with their work.
Four disciplines were represented in both the larger population of game scholars and our sample of 30 interviewees. All but one interviewee identified strongly with a single area of study, usually the person’s department or area of research. No single department or discipline dominated; video games were used institutionwide.
Most interviewees had strong disciplinary ties and also had strong patterns of collaboration outside their departments. Collaboration was common for those we interviewed regardless of discipline. We anticipated a higher frequency of collaboration in STEM and health sciences because previous studies showed high levels of formal collaboration in these disciplines, 37 but this did not bear out in the interview sample. Collaborative partnerships took the form of coauthorships, collaborative conference presentations, and participation on doctoral committees, as well as many informal collaborations. Informal collaborations were also commonly described by interviewees and included professional friendships, relationships with advisors and committee members, pilot projects, and interest groups.
These data on collaboration are useful to keep in mind while discussing disciplinary trends around information and technology needs. Widespread collaboration on game-related projects and other projects suggests a need for cross-departmental and cross-disciplinary collaboration among librarians on collection development and the creation of services. Some libraries that invested in game technology do serve a range of users and disciplines, 38 but other prominent collections of games and game technology in academic libraries were driven by the needs of only one or two departments. 39 Awareness of the collaborative partnerships that exist could help libraries go beyond serving one student, class, or researcher at a time, and investments in game technology have the potential to support the work of whole networks of researchers and instructors. Explicit library support of collaborative work with video games could even give fringe projects and new collaborations a space to intersect and thrive. At UMN there is the potential for many departments and subject librarians to guide the development of a possible video game collection, and this would require a very collaborative approach to collection development.
Video games were commonly used in research across all four disciplines represented in our sample. This confirmed a need for the collection development practices of universities such as UChicago, 40 University of Michigan, 41 and Carleton University, 42 which accommodated users from multiple disciplines.
We did not anticipate how common video games are in classrooms, since published information about game-related courses only identified a handful of classes at any comparable institution, unless they were focused on game design. Additionally, very few course descriptions in the UMN course catalog mentioned video games, and, of the game-related courses we found during our initial searching, most were in the social sciences or arts and humanities. We did not expect so many STEM and health science classes to integrate games as well. In fact, the use of video games in classes was present within all the disciplines, especially in introductory undergraduate courses and upper level seminars. The course descriptions were often vague enough to give the instructor leeway in how to develop his or her individual section, and those who wished to incorporate games could do so. Some departments even encouraged game-related classes due to consistently high enrollment.
Most people in our sample incorporated games into both their research and teaching. We suspect that having a research interest in games may make it more likely for them to incorporate video games into the classroom as well. This may explain why only two people in our sample were using video games exclusively in the classroom.
Overall, knowing how scholars are using video games and gaming technology on campus formed the backbone of this needs assessment. Any effort to provide library support for video game–related work will impact both research and classroom/student needs. Since we know that most scholars are using games in both research and teaching capacities, the support of this work may have double the impact.
There were clear disciplinary trends in the types of research done with video game technology. The development of video games primarily occurred in STEM, while video games were most often used as a text or an object of study in arts and humanities research. There were also some strong similarities among the disciplinary groups. At least one interviewee in every discipline conducted research that studies “educational technology” or “the influences on people and society.” Since video games were used by different disciplines in different ways, the type of support the library offers should not be done through the lens of a single department or discipline, and a variety of materials need to be available for many different applications including development, study, and experimental design.
Disciplinary differences were more difficult to discern when examining the role of games in teaching. Many classes were new or were only offered once; even so, teaching game design or designing games from scratch occurred not only in STEM but also in social science and arts and humanities classrooms. Incorporating game technology as course material was common, and interviewees identified a number of different ways in which games were used: readings, storytelling devices, and technology in labs. Students were impacted by these course requirements as well. Many interviewees described accommodations for students who did not own a console or a computer equipped to run graphics-intensive games, but some required students to figure out how to access the games on their own (such as via a personal account on the Steam game distribution system). 43
Game design was taught in four classes from three disciplines, which was unexpected because there is no game design program or certificate at UMN. Supporting classes that incorporate game design would be easier if they were all in one area of study, but a subject liaison might only be aware of the one class in his or her discipline. Regular environmental scans might be needed to uncover common technology and material requirements for classes across disciplines for courses that use video games and other emerging technologies.
The most commonly used information sources were Google Scholar, journals, and web sources. The interviewees in the social sciences and arts and humanities were the strongest users of “traditional” library materials such as books and journals. Several interviewees described having to acquire the majority of their texts through interlibrary loan (ILL) because their library did not have the journals or books they needed. Libraries need to review collections in this and other emerging areas to minimize the need for backchannels and shortcuts.
Colleagues were the single most common source of information for interviewees, especially in STEM and health sciences. In one case, a project in health sciences was developed entirely with information and skills contributed from existing relationships. The frequency with which interviewees in this sample collaborate outside their department emphasizes the importance of colleague networks in new and emerging areas. Libraries cross departmental and disciplinary borders and can cultivate a role as a connector for scholars doing similar work in different subject areas with events, experimental technology space, or other strategies.
Libraries should pursue partnerships with existing video game archives and other libraries or investigate shared collection development efforts to help researchers and the public overcome barriers to accessing game-related information sources. Interview participants identified video games as both a kind of technology and a type of information. Games are available in some academic libraries and public libraries, but it is unclear how accessible they are outside their immediate communities or institutions through ILL. Game manuals and trade magazines like Nintendo Power were also used by several interviewees. Public libraries typically collect trade magazines but, according to Worldcat, many often only keep the last 1–2 years. Locating game manuals is even more difficult, as they typically lie only in the hands of hobbyists and collectors. A search on Worldcat shows that relatively few libraries have holdings for either game magazines or manuals, raising the question of how libraries can facilitate access to these materials.
The depth and variety of sources used makes it clear that libraries cannot be the sole gatekeepers of information on this subject. The people in our sample used subscription journals but also ephemeral, noncurated materials (such as game manuals, gaming websites, and streaming games). Other library resources like subscription databases were not as valuable for most interviewees, possibly because they are too narrow in scope or interviewees are simply not aware of them. Rather than collect all of the sources scholars need, libraries can create guides to help scholars locate these materials elsewhere, akin to the University of Michigan CVGA LibGuide. 44
Interviewees’ needs for devices, displays, and peripherals show no disciplinary trends. Investing in a range of equipment would benefit the largest range of users at UMN. Arts and humanities and social science scholars had a greater need for video games, while those in STEM and health sciences had more software needs. In fact, only one person in STEM identified games as a need, and only one interviewee in arts and humanities used software of any kind.
Disciplinary trends ought to factor into decisions related to purchasing and marketing game technology. For example, at UMN, subject librarians and users in the arts and humanities and social sciences disciplines might be primarily responsible for selecting game titles. Subject librarians for STEM and health sciences should weigh in on video game software selection, since usage would be most expected from STEM and health sciences disciplines.
Among our interviewees, the PC was the most common technology necessary to research and teaching. PCs are necessary to academic work, but there was some nuance to how interviewees used them. PC games are used almost as much as nearly all other types of games combined (console, mobile, and web-based). Mobile games are a growing industry, 45 but they are not used heavily on this campus for academic purposes. Other technology needs are tied to PC games as well; PC accessories, most often graphics cards, were the third highest need in the equipment category. PC games do not require much additional technology besides a computer (unless a powerful game requires faster processing or graphics cards), so they may be more attractive to the researchers and instructors from arts and humanities and social science, who make up the majority of game users. Guidance on collecting PC games is limited, since few academic libraries currently collect them. Most libraries with game collections and services collect console games almost exclusively, likely because console games do not have restrictive digital rights management (DRM) or require an account to play and are easier to collect and lend.
Peripherals were a common technology need, especially in health sciences. Interviewees shared a diverse range of applications for peripherals that have nothing to do with consoles: to control robotics, play PC games, and modify to use as instrumentation. Interviewees also preferred them for their low cost and ability to interface with a number of technologies. Since they are flexible and relatively cheap, libraries and makerspaces could provide a variety of peripherals (with or without consoles) for on-site use or rental.
In general, interviewees found they could purchase games or technology at stores or online but did not always have funding to do so. The acquisition of games and video game technology was intrinsically tied to funding, which was mentioned as the largest barrier to acquiring technology.
Graduate students used a variety of creative strategies to acquire technology (such as using their personal game collection, borrowing from friends, and other means), whereas faculty and staff simply purchased technology with grants or other funds as needed or used freely available games and technologies, such as online emulators. Graduate students may have less funding available, or they do not know how to access existing funding. The majority of graduate students, all from the social sciences and arts and humanities, were paying out-of-pocket.
Graduate students had the same technology needs as faculty and staff and conduct their own research, often independent of their faculty advisors and any associated funding. STEM graduate students were the only ones receiving grants or new technology funds. We argue that graduate students would be the primary beneficiaries of having video games and technology available, as this would break down disciplinary acquisition and funding barriers. Underfunded graduate students are probably not unique to UMN; and, if libraries made these games and technologies available, graduate students would have much more flexibility in their research. The arts and humanities students who purchased video games out-of-pocket likely used the games as primary research materials, analogous to texts. Since many libraries purchase books for research, it should be easy to purchase games for analogous reasons.
Libraries can also help connect graduate students with funding. Many academic units at UMN provide grants to fund graduate research, and the UMN Libraries subscribe to grant databases and offer workshops on locating grant funding. Since graduate student research is highly valued, it makes sense to assist them in their efforts to acquire game technology by building their grant-seeking skills.
Even though faculty and staff theoretically have the same opportunities for funding, untenured faculty and staff seek more sources of funding to meet their needs, whereas tenured faculty receive most of their funding from grants. Startup packages supported three untenured faculty from STEM and the health sciences, and one staff member reported having to pay out-of-pocket to buy games for classroom use. Faculty and staff for the most part were successful in finding funding to purchase the required technology, but making materials available at the library would put less pressure on faculty and staff to acquire them in other ways and would give them an option to use their funding for other purposes.
Collections in the UMN Libraries are focused primarily on meeting faculty research and teaching needs, as faculty tend to stay at the university longer than students. We recognize that these data could suggest that faculty and staff do not have many barriers to accessing technology and that it is neither necessary nor urgent to include video games and video game technology in library collections. It could also be argued that grants and other funding sources already pay for research and classroom needs and that libraries are not in the business of directly funding research costs like instrumentation, experimental design, or technology development. However, many faculty we spoke to welcomed a chance to collaborate with librarians whether or not the library could directly support their research. Some faculty incorporate games into their outreach service, and many have classes that would benefit from the availability of game materials. We also argue that libraries have a great opportunity to engage with graduate and undergraduate students who want to experiment with games before personally investing in the technology.
By focusing our study on researchers and instructors, we have missed the opportunity to explore implications for students taking classes that incorporate games and gaming technology. What we know came solely from the instructors’ viewpoints; therefore, we do not have a comprehensive picture of how these technologies were made available to students or if they encountered barriers to accessing them. In some classes the game technology was provided, like a health sciences class where Wii balance boards were available to take measurements; but, in another case, students were expected to purchase World of Warcraft and install it on their PCs. Some instructors did note that requiring students to purchase video games may be prohibitive and not directly analogous to purchasing textbooks, as it requires students to own consoles or a high-powered PC that supports gaming. Some attempted to find alternative solutions such as asking the UMN Libraries to install games on library computers and investigating Steam licensing for computer labs. It would be worthwhile to interview students from some of these classes to uncover if they encountered any barriers in attempting to access these technologies.
There is little data available about the information and technology needs of researchers and instructors who use video games in higher education. This study attempted to fill that gap with interviews with faculty, staff, and graduate students from UMN. Scholars from all disciplinary groups were represented and demonstrated both a high level of collaborative activity and use of video games in both research and teaching. As libraries build new video game collections or expand existing collections, they should consider the following findings:
This study found some consistency in video game applications between disciplines but even more differences, especially in technology and information use. This suggests that the support libraries provide should be done collaboratively through a multidisciplinary lens. We propose a strategic approach to video game services and collections focused on disciplinary needs. For UMN, this would mean building a collection focused on PC games, a few console games, cutting-edge equipment with game design software, and a collection of peripherals with or without consoles, perhaps associated with a makerspace. Each academic game collection should reflect its institution, based on an evaluation of the unique needs of its population.
Since this study was limited to the UMN campus, we would like to see similar studies undertaken at various institutions that look at how students use and acquire games for classroom use, as well as a large-scale multi-institution look at the use of games in higher education. As technology changes and moves away from physical media, academic institutions will benefit from studies looking at the impact of DRM on scholarship and libraries. Very few video game companies have partnerships with higher education, and more exploration of this issue is needed. These studies would provide a more complete understanding of scholarly video games–related work and scholars’ information and technology needs.
APPENDIX. Interview Themes, Codes, and Definitions
1. Meave Duggan, “Gaming and Gamers” (Report, Pew Research Center, 2015), available online at www.pewinternet.org/2015/12/15/gaming-and-gamers/ [accessed 18 December 2015].
2. Laurence F. Johnson et al., “NMC Horizon Report: 2015 Higher Education Edition,” Horizon Report (Austin, Tex.: The New Media Consortium, 2015), 22, 35, available online at www.nmc.org/publication/nmc-horizon-report-2015-higher-education-edition/ [accessed 18 December 2015].
3. Association of College and Research Libraries, “ACRL Plan for Excellence,” 2015, available online at www.ala.org/acrl/aboutacrl/strategicplan/stratplan [accessed 11 January 2016].
4. Brena Smith, “Twenty-First Century Game Studies in the Academy: Libraries and an Emerging Discipline,” Reference Services Review 36, no. 2 (2008): 205–20, doi:10.1108/00907320810873066.
5. Examples include Mary Laskowski and David Ward, “Building Next Generation Video Game Collections in Academic Libraries,” Journal of Academic Librarianship 35, no. 3 (May 2009): 267–73, doi: 10.1016/j.acalib.2009.03.005 ; Kristen Mastel and Dave Huston, “Using Video Games to Teach Game Design: A Gaming Collection for Libraries,” Computers in Libraries 29, no. 3 (2009): 41–44, available online at http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ831241 [accessed 18 December 2015]; and Diane Robson and Patrick Durkee, “New Directions for Academic Video Game Collections: Strategies for Acquiring, Supporting, and Managing Online Materials,” Journal of Academic Librarianship 38, no. 2 (Mar. 2012): 79–84, doi: 10.1016/j.acalib.2012.01.003 .
6. Examples include Natalie Gick, “Making Book: Gaming in the Library: A Case Study,” in Gaming in Academic Libraries: Collections, Marketing, and Information Literacy (Chicago: American Library Association, 2008), 1–25; David Baker et al., “Lessons Learned from Starting a Circulating Videogame Collection at an Academic Library,” in Gaming in Academic Libraries: Collections, Marketing, and Information Literacy (Chicago: American Library Association, 2008), 26–38; Danielle Kane, Catherine Soehner, and Wei Wei, “Building a Collection of Video Games in Support of a Newly Created Degree Program at the University of California, Santa Cruz,” Science & Technology Libraries 27, no. 4 (Aug. 20, 2007): 77–87, doi:10.1300/J122v27n04_06; and Emma Cross, David Mould, and Robert Smith, “The Protean Challenge of Game Collections at Academic Libraries,” New Review of Academic Librarianship 21, no. 2 (May 4, 2015): 129–45, doi:10.1080/13614533.2015.1043467.
7. Mary Laskowski and David Ward, “Building Next Generation Video Game Collections in Academic Libraries,” Journal of Academic Librarianship 35, no. 3 (May 2009): 267–73, doi: 10.1016/j.acalib.2009.03.005 .
8. Andy Burkhardt, “Taking Games in Libraries Seriously,” The Academic Commons (blog), available online at www.academiccommons.org/2014/07/24/taking-games-in-libraries-seriously/ [accessed 5 November 2015].
9. Chris Nelson, “Gaming Reaches into Far Corners of Academic World as U of C Builds Huge Collection,” Calgary Herald (Mar. 16, 2015), available online at http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/gaming-reaches-into-far-corners-of-academic-world-as-u-of-c-builds-huge-collection [accessed 4 November 2015].
10. Brian McNeill, “VCU Libraries Launches Collection of Critically Acclaimed Video Games,” VCU News (blog) (Nov. 6, 2014), available online at http://news.vcu.edu/article/VCU_Libraries_launches_collection_of_critically_acclaimed_video [accessed 4 November 2015].
11. Sarah G. Wenzel, “New Library Videogame Collection,” The University of Chicago Library News (blog) (May 25, 2012), available online at http://news.lib.uchicago.edu/blog/2012/05/25/new-library-videogame-collection/ [accessed 30 November 2015].
12. Patrick Jagoda, “Videogame Collection Supports Scholarly Study,” The University of Chicago Library News (blog) (May 25, 2012), available online at http://news.lib.uchicago.edu/blog/2012/05/25/videogame -collection-supports-scholarly-study/ [accessed 30 November 2015].
13. An overview of classes and disciplinary uses is discussed in Mary Claire Morris, “Computer & Video Game Archive Celebrating Five Years of Growth,” The University Record (blog) (Nov. 5, 2013), available online at http://record.umich.edu //articles/computer-video-game-archive-celebrating-five-years-growth [accessed 2 December 2015]. A list of classes and research applications can be found in Valerie Waldron, “Computer & Video Game Archive: CVGA,” University of Michigan Research Guides (2015), available online at http://guides.lib.umich.edu/c.php?g=282987 [accessed 2 December 2015].
14. Emma Cross, David Mould, and Robert Smith, “The Protean Challenge of Game Collections at Academic Libraries,” New Review of Academic Librarianship 21, no. 2 (May 4, 2015): 135–37, doi: 10.1080/13614533.2015.1043467 .
15. David Ward, “Vintage Gaming Collection Development Policy and Description” (Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2014), available online at www.library.illinois.edu/gaming/gamearchives.html [accessed 20 December 2015].
16. Valerie Waldron, “Computer & Video Game Archive: CVGA,” University of Michigan Research Guides (2015), available online at http://guides.lib.umich.edu/c.php?g=282987 [accessed 2 December 2015]
17. University of California Santa Cruz Library, “Video Games” (2015), available online at https://library.ucsc.edu/collections/video-games [accessed 18 December 2015].
18. Diane Robson and Patrick Durkee, “New Directions for Academic Video Game Collections: Strategies for Acquiring, Supporting, and Managing Online Materials,” Journal of Academic Librarianship 38, no. 2 (Mar. 2012): 82, doi: 10.1016/j.acalib.2012.01.003 .
19. Cross, Mould, and Smith, “The Protean Challenge of Game Collections,” 134.
20. McNeill, “VCU Libraries Launches Collection.”
21. Jagoda, “Videogame Collection Supports Scholarly Study.”
22. Adam DePollo, “Play On: Changing Gamer Culture at the ‘U,’” Michigan Daily (Oct. 22, 2014), available online at https://www.michigandaily.com/arts/10computer-video-game-archive22 [accessed 2 December 2015].
23. Laskowski and Ward, “Building next Generation Video Game Collections,” 268.
24. McNeill, “VCU Libraries Launches Collection.”
25. Jagoda, “Videogame Collection Supports Scholarly Study.”
26. University of Calgary Libraries and Cultural Resources, “Video Games,” available online at http://library.ucalgary.ca/dmc/video-games [accessed 4 November 2015].
27. Emma Cross and Robert Smith, “The Evolution of Gaming at Academic Libraries,” Canadian Library Association Conference (Winnepeg, Manitoba, 2013), available online at https://prezi.com/supsungb2uil/the-evolution-of-gaming-at-academic-libraries/ [accessed 4 November 2015].
28. Burkhardt, “Taking Games in Libraries Seriously.”
29. Three examples of soliciting direct feedback from faculty and students are found in Kane, Soehner, and Wei, “Building a Collection of Video Games”; Laskowski and Ward, “Building Next Generation Video Game Collections”; and Cross, Mould, and Smith, “The Protean Challenge of Game Collections.”
30. Nelson, “Gaming Reaches into Far Corners of Academic World.”
31. DePollo, “Play On: Changing Gamer Culture at the ‘U.’”
32. Laskowski and Ward, “Building Next Generation Video Game Collections,” 268.
33. Cross, Mould, and Smith, “The Protean Challenge of Game Collections,” 133.
34. Jagoda, “Videogame Collection Supports Scholarly Study.”
35. Waldron, “Computer & Video Game Archive.”
36. Mark T. Gilderhus, History and Historians : A Historiographical Introduction , 7th ed. (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2010), 41.
37. Vincent Larivière, Yves Gingras, and Éric Archambault, “Canadian Collaboration Networks: A Comparative Analysis of the Natural Sciences, Social Sciences and the Humanities,” Scientometrics 68, no. 3 (2006): 519–33, doi:10.1007/s11192-006-0127-8.
38. Nelson, “Gaming Reaches into Far Corners of Academic World.”
39. Kane, Soehner, and Wei, “Building a Collection of Video Games.”
40. Wenzel, “New Library Videogame Collection.”
41. Mary Claire Morris, “Computer & Video Game Archive Celebrating Five Years of Growth,” The University Record (blog) (Nov. 5, 2013), available online at http://record.umich.edu //articles/computer-video-game-archive-celebrating-five-years-growth [accessed 2 December 2015].
42. Cross, Mould, and Smith, “The Protean Challenge of Game Collections,” 144.
43. For more information, see http://store.steampowered.com/about /.
44. Waldron, “Computer & Video Game Archive.”
45. John Gaudiosi, “Mobile Game Revenues Set to Overtake Console Games in 2015,” Fortune , (Jan. 15, 2015), available online at http://fortune.com/2015/01/15/mobile -console-game-revenues-2015/ [accessed 15 January 2016].
* Shannon L. Farrell is Natural Resources Librarian in the Natural Resources Library at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities; e-mail: [email protected] . Amy E. Neeser is Assistant Librarian, Library Research—Science and Engineering in the University Library at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; e-mail: [email protected] . Carolyn Bishoff is Physics, Astronomy, and Earth Sciences Librarian in the Walter Library at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities; e-mail: [email protected] ). ©2017 Shannon L. Farrell, Amy E. Neeser, and Carolyn Bishoff, Attribution-NonCommercial ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ ) CC BY-NC.
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Print ISSN: 0010-0870 | Online ISSN: 2150-6701
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ISSN: 2150-6701
February 2014, Vol 45, No. 2
Print version: page 10
Playing video games, including violent shooter games, may boost children's learning, health and social skills, according to a review of research in American Psychologist .
The study comes out as debate continues among psychologists and other health professionals regarding the effects of violent media on youth. An APA task force is conducting a comprehensive review of research on violence in video games and interactive media and will release its findings later this year.
"Important research has already been conducted for decades on the negative effects of gaming, including addiction, depression and aggression, and we are certainly not suggesting that this should be ignored," says Isabela Granic, PhD, of Radboud University Nijmegen in The Netherlands, lead author of the article. "However, to understand the impact of video games on children's and adolescents' development, a more balanced perspective is needed."
While one widely held view maintains that playing video games is intellectually lazy, such play actually may strengthen a range of cognitive skills such as spatial navigation, reasoning, memory and perception, according to several studies reviewed in the article. This is particularly true for shooter video games, which are often violent, the authors found. A 2013 meta-analysis found that playing shooter video games improved a player's capacity to think about objects in three dimensions just as well as academic courses designed to enhance these same skills, according to the study.
"This has critical implications for education and career development, as previous research has established the power of spatial skills for achievement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics," Granic says.
This enhanced thinking was not found when playing other types of video games, such as puzzles or role-playing games.
Playing video games may also help children develop problem-solving skills, the authors said. The more adolescents reported playing strategic video games, such as role-playing games, the more they improved in problem solving and school grades the following year, according to a long-term study published in 2013. Children's creativity was also enhanced by playing any kind of video game, including violent games, but not when the children used other forms of technology, such as a computer or cell phone, other research revealed.
Simple games that are easy to access and can be played quickly, such as "Angry Birds," can improve players' moods, promote relaxation and ward off anxiety, the study said. "If playing video games simply makes people happier, this seems to be a fundamental emotional benefit to consider," said Granic. The authors also highlighted the possibility that video games are effective tools for learning resilience in the face of failure. By learning to cope with ongoing failures in games, the authors suggest that children build emotional resilience they can rely upon in their everyday lives.
Another stereotype the research challenges is the socially isolated gamer. More than 70 percent of gamers play with a friend, and millions of people worldwide participate in massive virtual worlds through video games such as "Farmville" and "World of Warcraft," the article noted. Multiplayer games become virtual social communities, where decisions need to be made quickly about whom to trust or reject and how to lead a group, the authors said. People who play video games, even if they are violent, that encourage cooperation are more likely to be helpful to others while gaming than those who play the same games competitively, a 2011 study found.
— Lisa Bowen
News releases.
News Release
Monday, October 24, 2022
Additional research necessary to parse potential benefits and harms of video games on the developing brain.
On Monday, April 10, 2023, a Notice of Retraction and Replacement published for the article featured below . The key findings remain the same. The press release has been updated, in line with the retracted and replacement article, to clarify that attention problems, depression symptoms, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) scores were significantly higher among children who played three hours per day or more compared to children who had never played video games.
A study of nearly 2,000 children found that those who reported playing video games for three hours per day or more performed better on cognitive skills tests involving impulse control and working memory compared to children who had never played video games. Published today in JAMA Network Open , this study analyzed data from the ongoing Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study , which is supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and other entities of the National Institutes of Health.
“This study adds to our growing understanding of the associations between playing video games and brain development,” said NIDA Director Nora Volkow, M.D. “Numerous studies have linked video gaming to behavior and mental health problems. This study suggests that there may also be cognitive benefits associated with this popular pastime, which are worthy of further investigation.”
Although a number of studies have investigated the relationship between video gaming and cognitive behavior, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the associations are not well understood. Only a handful of neuroimaging studies have addressed this topic, and the sample sizes for those studies have been small, with fewer than 80 participants.
To address this research gap, scientists at the University of Vermont, Burlington, analyzed data obtained when children entered the ABCD Study at ages 9 and 10 years old. The research team examined survey, cognitive, and brain imaging data from nearly 2,000 participants from within the bigger study cohort. They separated these children into two groups, those who reported playing no video games at all and those who reported playing video games for three hours per day or more. This threshold was selected as it exceeds the American Academy of Pediatrics screen time guidelines , which recommend that videogaming time be limited to one to two hours per day for older children. For each group, the investigators evaluated the children’s performance on two tasks that reflected their ability to control impulsive behavior and to memorize information, as well as the children’s brain activity while performing the tasks.
The researchers found that the children who reported playing video games for three or more hours per day were faster and more accurate on both cognitive tasks than those who never played. They also observed that the differences in cognitive function observed between the two groups was accompanied by differences in brain activity. Functional MRI brain imaging analyses found that children who played video games for three or more hours per day showed higher brain activity in regions of the brain associated with attention and memory than did those who never played. At the same time, those children who played at least three hours of videogames per day showed more brain activity in frontal brain regions that are associated with more cognitively demanding tasks and less brain activity in brain regions related to vision.
The researchers think these patterns may stem from practicing tasks related to impulse control and memory while playing videogames, which can be cognitively demanding, and that these changes may lead to improved performance on related tasks. Furthermore, the comparatively low activity in visual areas among children who reported playing video games may reflect that this area of the brain may become more efficient at visual processing as a result of repeated practice through video games.
While prior studies have reported associations between video gaming and increases in violence and aggressive behavior, this study did not find that to be the case. Though children who reported playing video games for three or more hours per day scored higher on measures of attention problems, depression symptoms, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) compared to children who played no video games, the researchers found that these mental health and behavioral scores did not reach clinical significance in either group, meaning, they did not meet the thresholds for risk of problem behaviors or clinical symptoms. The authors note that these will be important measures to continue to track and understand as the children mature.
Further, the researchers stress that this cross-sectional study does not allow for cause-and-effect analyses, and that it could be that children who are good at these types of cognitive tasks may choose to play video games. The authors also emphasize that their findings do not mean that children should spend unlimited time on their computers, mobile phones, or TVs, and that the outcomes likely depend largely on the specific activities children engage in. For instance, they hypothesize that the specific genre of video games, such as action-adventure, puzzle solving, sports, or shooting games, may have different effects for neurocognitive development, and this level of specificity on the type of video game played was not assessed by the study.
“While we cannot say whether playing video games regularly caused superior neurocognitive performance, it is an encouraging finding, and one that we must continue to investigate in these children as they transition into adolescence and young adulthood,” said Bader Chaarani, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Vermont and the lead author on the study. “Many parents today are concerned about the effects of video games on their children’s health and development, and as these games continue to proliferate among young people, it is crucial that we better understand both the positive and negative impact that such games may have.”
Through the ABCD Study, researchers will be able to conduct similar analyses for the same children over time into early adulthood, to see if changes in video gaming behavior are linked to changes in cognitive skills, brain activity, behavior, and mental health. The longitudinal study design and comprehensive data set will also enable them to better account for various other factors in the children’s families and environment that may influence their cognitive and behavioral development, such as exercise, sleep quality, and other influences.
The ABCD Study, the largest of its kind in the United States, is tracking nearly 12,000 youth as they grow into young adults. Investigators regularly measure participants’ brain structure and activity using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and collect psychological, environmental, and cognitive information, as well as biological samples. The goal of the study is to understand the factors that influence brain, cognitive, and social-emotional development, to inform the development of interventions to enhance a young person’s life trajectory.
The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study and ABCD Study are registered service marks and trademarks, respectively, of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
About the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA): NIDA is a component of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIDA supports most of the world’s research on the health aspects of drug use and addiction. The Institute carries out a large variety of programs to inform policy, improve practice, and advance addiction science. For more information about NIDA and its programs, visit www.nida.nih.gov .
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov .
NIH…Turning Discovery Into Health ®
B Chaarani, et al. Association of video gaming with cognitive performance among children . JAMA Open Network. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.35721 (2022).
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Artificial Intelligence: News, Business, Research
Anonymous researchers have presented a specialized AI model called VideoGameBunny in a new paper. VideoGameBunny is a vision-language model that can understand images and answer questions about video games based on screenshots. While this technology could make gaming more accessible, it also has significant potential for abuse in competitive settings.
The open-source multimodal model is based on the Bunny architecture and was trained on an extensive dataset of over 185,000 screenshots from 413 games collected from YouTube using the search term "gameplay walkthroughs." Bunny was developed by an AI research group at the Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence and presented in a paper in February.
For training, the researchers generated nearly 390,000 image-text pairs using Gemini 1.0 Pro, Gemini 1.5 Pro, GPT-4V, LLaMA-3, and GPT-40, including long and short captions, question-answer sets, and structured JSON descriptions of visual elements.
In a benchmark with multiple-choice questions about video game images, VideoGameBunny achieved an accuracy of 85.1 percent compared to 83.9 percent for the much larger but generally trained open-source model LLaVA-1.6-34b. VideoGameBunny showed particular strengths in recognizing game-specific anomalies and understanding HUD information.
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When asked whether this game scene shows any glitches or errors, only VideoGameBunny correctly denied this. The unmodified Bunny model, on the other hand, was bothered by the glowing ball in the left half of the screen, while LLaVA claimed that the download bar at the top right was stuck.
To encourage further research, the researchers have made VideoGameBunny's source code, training data, and logs publicly available. In addition to the 8 billion parameter model , there is also an even smaller one with only 4 billion parameters .
Recently, there have been a number of efforts to have A I models play games on their own or assist humans with comments. In May, Microsoft demonstrated the ability of its C opilot to assist inexperienced players in Minecraft .
However, VideoGameBunny seems to take a more holistic approach than previous solutions due to its extensive training material. Instead of specializing in just one game, it could become a general gaming assistant.
The researchers see their model as a first step toward an AI assistant that can perform tasks such as playing, commenting on, and debugging games. However, they are also aware that they could enable cheating: "As AI models becomes more adept at understanding game contents, there is a risk that they could be used to create sophisticated cheating tools." Many such tools already exist, but models like VideoGameBunny could open up new use cases.
Automated research: the ai scientist generates papers for 15 dollars each.
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1 Department of Anatomy, Taibah University, Madinah, SAU
2 Collage of Medicine, Taibah University, Madinah, SAU
Video game addiction is defined as the steady and repetitive use of the Internet to play games frequently with different gamers, potentially leading to negative consequences in many aspects of life. As recent technological development has given easy access to gaming on many devices, video game addiction has become a serious public health issue with increased prevalence. Many studies have shown that video game addiction leads to changes in the brain that are similar to those that occur in substance addiction and gambling. Evidence has also shown that there is an association between video game addiction and depression, as well as other psychological and social problems. In light of these issues, our review article aims to increase awareness of video game addiction in society. The main objectives of this review are as follows: to describe the mechanism of addiction, to consider whether video game addiction is a real addiction, and to highlight the signs and symptoms of addiction. In addition, we identify the consequences of video game addiction and possible treatments for addicts. The information was extracted from high-quality research papers and reliable websites like PubMed and ScienceDirect.
Video game addiction falls into the category of Internet gaming disorders (IGDs), which have been strongly correlated with motivational control issues and are regularly compared with gambling [ 1 ]. Many studies have suggested that behavioral addiction can result from compulsive use of the internet [ 2 - 4 ]. Although the spectrum of internet addiction includes video gaming, online shopping, gambling, and social networking, video game addiction seems to be its most studied form [ 5 ]. Currently, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), video game addiction is defined as the steady and repetitive use of the Internet to play games frequently with different gamers, which leads to clinically significant distress and psychological changes as demonstrated by five or more criteria in a year [ 1 , 6 ].
Evidence has shown that addiction can cause changes in some areas of the brain, such as the prefrontal cortex (PFC), the ventral striatum (VS), and the dorsal striatum (DS) [ 5 ]. In 1999, neuroimaging evidence showed that increases in dopamine (DA) levels in the brain are associated with pleasure and euphoria [ 7 , 8 ].
Cross-sectional studies revealed that those with IGD played video games longer, usually missed classes in school, had lower grades, reported more sleep problems, and showed more addiction to video games than those without IGD [ 1 ]. Yee suggested that gamers are generally more youthful and may have low self-esteem or emotional disturbances, and those with emotional disturbances might be more vulnerable to addiction to gaming [ 9 ]. In video games, gamers can explore different sides of themself. They can be increasingly vocal and experience assuming the role of a leader, among others. Unfortunately, problems can arise when these youthful gamers become dependent upon the personalities they create in online games - blurring the line between reality and the game [ 10 ]. The rapid development of technology has given young gamers further access to games, such as advanced mobile phones, tablets, and personal computers (PCs). These online video games usually have tasks and achievements. As an achievement in video games occurs quickly, they are especially alluring for youthful gamers as a method for experiencing fun. Games depend on such feelings, as they often delight the individual and give them satisfaction in their accomplishment. Moreover, the use of a microphone or text chat is enabled in many games, allowing gamers to satisfy their need for relatedness by speaking with others [ 11 ]. Gamers regularly experience difficulty with social connections and feel forlorn-lacking a sense of belonging. This inclination can be particularly strong among kids and youths who have never felt like they belong to a place in reality, and most likely their only friends are also gamers [ 10 ].
Video game addiction may have both short and long-term impacts on gamers, including various emotional, psychological, and neurological effects. A few studies have demonstrated that anxiety and depression are common among individuals who are dependent on video games [ 6 , 12 ]. In the new generation of children, physical activity time is less and shorter in duration when compared with the parent's generation because children’s activities moved toward indoor more than outdoor play. There is a negative relationship between the time spent on online gaming and exercise and that leads to a sedentary lifestyle which is a risk factor for many medical health conditions such as obesity, diabetes, and coronary artery disease [ 13 ]. According to the American Medical Association, approximately 90% of young Americans play computer games. Furthermore, 15% of these gamers (i.e., over five million children) could be considered addicted [ 10 ]. Issues arising from gaming have become so serious that the first detox center for video game addiction opened in 2006 in the Netherlands [ 14 ]. As described by Keith Bakker, director of Amsterdam-based Smith and Jones Addiction Consultants and their treatment center, although video games may look innocent, they can be as addictive as gambling or drugs and just as difficult of a habit to break [ 11 ]. A study in an international school in Buraidah, Saudi Arabia showed that 16% of the 276 students were addicted to video games, and the data showed a strong relationship between video game addiction and psychological distress [ 6 ]. In light of these issues, our review article aims to increase awareness of video game addiction in society.
Mechanism of addiction
Researchers have demonstrated that at the initial phases of the intentional use of any substance, the choice to utilize it is made by the brain, specifically the PFC and the VS, as habituation to utilize and compulsion begins. In the DS, brain activity changes and become progressively activated through dopaminergic innervation [ 15 ]. There are also changes in the dopaminergic pathways of the brain, particularly those of the anterior cingulate (AC), the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and the nucleus accumbens (NAc), due to the repetitive long-term use of the substance, which may result in a decreased response to natural reward and diminished control over seeking and using the substance [ 12 , 16 ]. The long-term use of substances decreases synaptic activity [ 17 ], and the brain becomes progressively responsive by craving substance cues like accessibility [ 18 , 19 ]. In the case of video game addiction, seeing the game or the controller can lead to cravings. Cravings for substance use involve complicated interactions between various brain regions [ 20 ]. The OFC plays a significant role in such stimulation-affecting behavior, as does the amygdala (AMG) and the hippocampus (Hipp) [ 21 ]. Eventually, an increase in the amount of substance is required to create the desired impact, and the brain’s natural reward system becomes inadequate, prompting the activation of an anti-reward system that diminishes the ability of the addicted to finding biological reinforcers pleasurable [ 22 ]. Withdrawal symptoms can also develop, which are due to the absence of DA in the mesocorticolimbic pathways [ 21 ]. Research has demonstrated that changes in brain activity generally occur in substance addiction after a compulsive commitment to use [ 23 ], which suggests that there may be similar changes associated with video game addiction. However, as mentioned previously, increases in DA levels occur by various mechanisms. In this way, the DA theory of addiction explains the powerful activation of mesolimbic DA, which is a strong feature of every addictive substance. However, although the increase in DA may clarify the intense fortifying impacts of addictive substances, it does not clarify associated long-term behavioral anomalies such as desiring and relapsing, which are obvious features even when DA levels return to normal after the clearance of the substance [ 24 ]. Therefore, changes in DA levels cannot be the reason for the adaptive behavior that presents long after the substance has been cleared from the brain [ 25 , 26 ]. Accordingly, it has been proposed that the changes induced by a substance in specific neurotransmission circuits of the mesocorticolimbic area play a role in the pathological behavior of addictive patients [ 27 ].
Whether it is real addiction or not
Numerous governments see the compulsive playing of online video games as a serious general medical problem and have set up treatment facilities, particularly in China and South Korea [ 28 ]. However, whether video games can lead to a real addiction is still hotly debated, and the question arises as to whether a game can be considered an intoxicant. The neurological proof suggests that video games might act as substances, with convincing similarities between their impacts on brain chemistry [ 5 ]. Professor Nancy Petry of the American Psychiatric Association committee considered adding video game addiction to the most recent diagnostic manual but ultimately chose to wait for further consideration [ 28 ]. In recent years, the concept of becoming addicted to behavior has grown in popularity, especially with growing neuroimaging evidence of the brain’s response to such behavior. For example, gambling has been shown to activate the brain’s reward system in a way that is similar to that of a substance [ 28 ]. In 2011, a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study on 154 participating 14-year-olds by Simone Kühn of Ghent University in Belgium found that frequent gamers had increased grey matter in the left VS - a change that may result from increased DA discharge and also appears in those addicted to gambling [ 29 ]. According to the WHO, adding video game addiction to the ICD-11 depends on evidence and agreement among specialists from various countries that are associated with the procedures of specialized consultations. The inclusion of video game addiction in the ICD-11 follows the improvement of treatment programs for individuals with similar conditions in many countries, which will bring more attention to the dangers of this addiction among health professionals, as well as to available avoidance and treatment measures. For gaming addiction to be diagnosed, the signs and symptoms must be of adequate seriousness to bring impairment in different aspects of the person’s life, with the effects normally being obvious for at least one year [ 30 ].
Sign and symptoms
It is important to be able to identify the signs and symptoms of video game addiction, and the sooner one looks for help, the better the outcome. As video games are still a relatively new technology, therapists may disregard the signs of video game addiction. To be able to make informed choices and act successfully in navigating addiction, the following signs can be used as a guide [ 10 ].
Preoccupation with Gaming
Video game addiction starts when gamers become preoccupied with video games, where they will think and fantasize about the game when they are not playing it when they should be focusing on other things, such as schoolwork [ 10 ].
Lying or Hiding Gaming Use
Gamers may play games for uncountable numbers of hours and days, leading to a lack of eating, resting, or personal hygiene. They may also lie to loved ones about what they are truly doing for hours in their rooms. Gamers may tell their parents that they are getting their work done, say that they are using their PC for work, or make up many reasons why they cannot go out and socialize [ 10 ].
Loss of Interest in Other Activities
As video game addiction increases, the person’s interest in daily activities they used to enjoy decreases [ 31 ]. For example, one gamer’s mother said that her child cherished baseball and played varsity on his secondary school team until he discovered Xbox Live, which led to declining grades [ 32 ]. However, she only realized that there was a problem when he stopped playing baseball, as he cherished the sport to an extreme.
Social Withdrawal
One’s character might also change as the addiction increases. For example, social people may remove themselves from their loved ones to invest more time in play. Otherwise normal and happy children may be inclined to simply make friendships in the game, which can become more important than those in real life [ 10 ].
Psychological Withdrawal
Gaming addicts may experience loss when they cannot play a game, as they miss it and feel the need to play it. This inclination can become intense to the point that they become emotionally unstable when compelled to abandon the game. As a result, they cannot focus on anything else except playing [ 10 ].
Defensiveness and Anger
When gaming addicts need to play or when they are compelled to stop playing, they can become defensive and furious. Guardians attempting to set time limits for the game have reported that their children can become angry, unreasonable, and even brutal in response [ 10 ].
Gaming Addicts Use the Game World as a Psychological Escape
Video games, as an easy way to mitigate upsetting emotions, can turn into a safe space that is removed from real-world issues [ 10 ]. Those who feel shy or alienated from their peers can feel more confident while gaming and this fictional life can become more fulfilling than their real life [ 32 ].
Continued Use Despite Its Consequences
Frequently, gamers have the urge to be the best in the game. Therefore, the more they develop and progress in the game, the more they have to play it. This progress is found particularly in journey-type games, where gamers join each other and complete missions in the game together [ 10 ]. Ultimately, gaming addicts may continue game use despite its negative effect on their lives. Although young gamers may drop out of school and disregard their hygiene and self-care just to play, and adults may lose their jobs or relationships, they often continue to play [ 32 ].
Consequences
Video game addiction can lead to a number of serious consequences. Gamers can forget that they need to sleep and eat, or even how to communicate with people in the real world. Gamers may play for 10, 15, or even 20 hours in a single gaming session. Only a couple more minutes can turn into hours as the gamer progresses to the next challenge. They may also endure various medical issues resulting from back strain, eye strain, and carpel tunnel syndrome. For example, one addicted gamer said that he stopped washing himself, ate very little food, and experienced weight loss [ 10 ]. The gamer’s appearance had deteriorated so much that his mom said that he looked like a heroin addict. Although gamers make friends in the game, their friendships or relations in real life can end up being damaged. Furthermore, often it is not only the gamer that suffers the consequences of their addiction. In South Korea, parents were arrested because their four-month-old daughter died due to suffocation after they left her alone in the house for many hours while they played World of Warcraft at a nearby café [ 33 ]. In another similar story, parents from Reno were playing video games so obsessively that they forgot about their children - a two-year-old boy and a girl who was almost one year old - who were seriously malnourished and near death when doctors saw them. The parents pleaded guilty to child neglect and faced a 12-year jail sentence. According to the Associated Press, authorities said the parents were so distracted by video games, mainly the fantasy role-playing Dungeons and Dragons series, that they forgot to take care of their children [ 34 ].
Research on video game addiction treatment is ongoing, only a few clinical trials have been conducted. Some therapists have suggested cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) [ 35 ]. As a prevention strategy for IGD, exercises, and physical activities have been recommended. Particularly, outdoor activities and sports [ 36 ].
Based on the peer-reviewed literature, CBT seems to be the most common treatment for video game addiction and IGD [ 37 , 38 ]. Specifically, substance abuse treatment is often applied, including stimulus control, learning proper adapting reactions, self-monitoring strategies, cognitive rebuilding, addiction-related critical thinking, and withdrawal regulation methods with exposure [ 37 , 39 ]. One systematic review and meta‐analysis suggested that this treatment option is effective for IGD as a short‐term intervention for reducing IGD and symptoms of depression. However, the effectiveness of CBT in reducing the amount of time that is spent on games was unclear. Therefore, there is a need for more studies to determine the long‐term benefits of CBT for IGD [ 40 ].
Programa Individualizado Psicoterapéutico para la Adicción a las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (PIPATIC) has been used to treat addiction to technology. PIPATIC is an individualized psychotherapy program that is available for people aged 12 to 18 years who have IGD and is designed to integrate several areas of intervention. PIPATIC comprises six modules: psychoeducational, treatment as usual, intra-personal, interpersonal, family intervention, and development of a new lifestyle [ 39 ]. The program uses many psychotherapeutic strategies, one of them is CBT [ 41 ]. It was suggested that the use of many psychotherapeutic strategies is more effective than one (Dong and Potenza 2014; Orzack et al. 2006; Sheketal 2009; Therien et al. 2014). The goals of the program are to reduce the symptoms of video game addiction and to improve the well-being of adolescents, and its initial findings have been encouraging [ 39 ]. The program has a duration of six months and involves 22 to 45-minute sessions each week for video game addicts and their families. The PIPATIC intervention is a person-to-person approach that involves a qualified clinical psychologist [ 41 ], with therapeutic homework to strengthen the establishment that is related to the therapeutic changes required to help change everyday behavior. In the PIPATIC program, the family collaborates to achieve treatment progress, and it is usually them who ask for therapeutic care or psychological treatment [ 42 ]. Although the PIPATIC program appears promising, there are some limitations. First, it was designed to focus on only one specific population, adolescents. Second, it must commit to specific methodological standards for the application and evaluation of the intervention, and it is difficult for addicts to adapt to these particular needs. However, results have suggested that the treatment is effective, as data from 17 video-game addicts that went through the program showed a decrease in time spent playing video games and improvement in many important daily life activities (e.g., family and educational or occupational functioning) [ 41 ].
Pharmacotherapy
The medications trial that has been done were on drugs usually used to treat depression or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Bupropion is one of the medications used for depression. It has been investigated as a treatment for IGD in randomized clinical trials [ 43 , 44 ]. The drug was superior to the control group with no medication [ 43 ]. Also, superior compared to the placebo group in decreasing the symptoms of IGD that were maintained for four weeks after the treatment [ 44 ]. Another antidepressant is escitalopram. Compared to bupropion it was inferior in reducing the symptoms [ 43 ].
Many studies suggest that the changes that occur in video game addicts are similar to those that occur in other addictions, such as substance-related addiction and gambling. The WHO has added video game addiction to the ICD-11, with adolescents being the most susceptible. Video game addiction can lead to many serious consequences for gamers and the people close to them. Although research on video game addiction treatment is ongoing, only a few clinical trials have been conducted on the efficacy of the treatment options, for example, CBT, PIPATIC, and pharmacotherapy.
We would like to thank the Personal Excellence Pathway (PEP) committee at Taibah University in Madinah, Saudi Arabia, for giving us the chance to write this review article.
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
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