Video game designers are investing a lot of time researching ways to improve player interaction with the games they play by game controller function. The aim of these new devices is to control the game through natural movements which may allow for a faster learning curve and appeal to a larger audience. Nadia Bianchi et al. provide insight on the importance of video game controller design when they state “the way our body interacts with the environment is affecting the way we perceive the environment” (2).
Gaming systems, such as Wii and X-box, have looked at unique ways players can be physical and essentially act as the controller. Some games, such as Guitar Hero have actually designed controller’s specific to their game. In Guitar Hero you hold a controller shaped like a real guitar and push buttons that are on the “fret board” to create a more authentic experience. A study by Bianchi et al. reported that players who used the guitar shaped controller enhanced the level of engagement. This enhanced level of engagement may derive from the feeling of fantasy by becoming a guitar player which has higher levels of arousal and positive experience.
Body posture is a good indicator of emotions, is well understood across cultures, and influencing how designers create video game controllers. Bianchi et al. declare that “changes in posture can induce changes in affective states or have a feedback role affecting motivation and emotion”. For example, someone who repeatedly sits in a slummed position may develop the feeling of helpless to occur more frequently. Based on more postural studies, it is concluded that posture has an effect on verbally reported self-perceptions. Posture plays an essential role in the feelings that occur without game play and during game play.
New controllers influenced by body motion support the cognitive task at hand even if they are not required to complete the task. The ultimate goal for game designers is to create a controller that is invisible. Removing any tangible controller allows for full immersion during game play. This goal has already been achieved in 2010 with the X-box Kinect. A highly developed sensor notes every move you make in real time to respond to the artificial environment. Designers have now asked themselves how they can create less of a gap between reality and fiction through the way the body interacts physically and visually with the environment. This can be seen with new virtual reality headsets. There is an infinite limit to meshing artificial and genuine environments in game play. What’s next? 4-D? 5-D?
SOURCE: "Does Body Movement Engage you more in Digital Game Play? And Why?" by Nadia Bianchi, Whan Wong, and Darshark Patel. 2007.
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