Playing Computer and Video Games: Entertainment, Education, and Beyond

• In Event: Perception, Attribution, and Communication Technology

Abstract

Given the various impacts of computer game playing that have been found over the past years, how we can explain that educational games do sometimes also entertain and entertaining games most often also educate players is still unknown. In this paper, I will try to answer the questions in two approaches. First, I will answer the questions of how educational games can be entertaining as well as why these entertaining effects can further facilitate the educational effects. Second, I will answer the questions of how to conceptualize the enjoyment of playing games and what is the underlying mechanism to produce enjoyment. I propose a model utilizing a multi-theoretical approach to explicate how game features and individual characteristics interact and result in enjoyment.

Author

• Wei Peng, Univ of Southern California