I like to play video games, but have sparingly played the horror variety. This is only because I am a coward and do not want to play them, but one of my friends mentioned how they play them daily for the feeling of being scared. They spoke about this feeling comparable to riding on a roller coaster, which made me curious if there was any actually studies done around the effect of horror games physiologically. I came across many studies, but there was a distinction that I noticed between the different types of horror games. I was not very well versed with the horror genre, so I never even thought about how a VR horror games could affect you versus one on a computer. The study surrounding the VR horror games did not go too in depth in the physiological side of things, but does open up the idea of different types of fear someone could experience while playing a horror game. For example, the fear of being chased would motivate someone to run, while seeing something scary might motivate the player to keep watching in some sort of messed up way.
There is also the idea that many companies know of this addictive feeling of fear because it could trigger adrenaline in the player. One study wanted to study the specific stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) that players experience, but discovered the importance of emotional value in these types of games. Through using this method of research, they were able to discover the game designs that would impact a players perceived control and play intention in a way to target their emotions. Balancing the controls and intentions a player can have while also including the fear aspects becomes a sort of balance that companies try to perfect to make a game the right amount of addicting. If a player doesn't have enough control, or if the fear content is more frustrating than actually scary, they could lose players because they aren't getting the horror game high.
Horror videos games seem to try and create the perfect atmosphere to give their players the addicting feeling of adrenaline with many different forms of stimulus. Currently, there is not an issue with this system. There is not video game who has been able to keep the same adrenaline high once a player gets used to it, which leads to companies still developing more and more horror games. If a company was ever able to perfect a horror game where people were able to always get an adrenaline high from it, they could theoretically form an actual addiction even worse than what players can have for video games right now.
References
Nemeth, K., & Szucs, J. (2024). Gaming Under Stress: Sensor-Monitored Physiological Responses to a Horror Gameplay. 2024 IEEE 28th International Conference on Intelligent Engineering Systems (INES), Intelligent Engineering Systems (INES), 2024 IEEE 28th International Conference On, 000059–000064. https://doiorg.dml.regis.edu/10.1109/INES63318.2024.10629131
Zhang, H., Li, X., Fu, X., Qiu, C., Zhang, J., & Carroll, J. M. (2024). Understanding Fear Responses and Coping Mechanisms in VR Horror Gaming: Insights From Semistructured Interviews. IEEE Transactions on Games, Games, IEEE Transactions on, IEEE Trans. Games, 16(4), 868–881. https://doi-org.dml.regis.edu/10.1109/TG.2024.3403768
Savino, K. N. N., Mateo, R. A. B., & Ong, A. K. S. (2025). Chasing the Rush: How horror games trigger adrenaline and fuel Fear-Inducing elements. Entertainment Computing, 55. https://doi-org.dml.regis.edu/10.1016/j.entcom.2025.101001
No comments:
Post a Comment