Brain training for silver gamers: effects of age and game form on effectiveness, efficiency, self-assessment, and gameplay experience.
In recent years, an aging demographic majority in the Western world has come to the attention of the game industry. The recently released "brain-training" games target this population, and research investigating gameplay experience of the elderly using this game form is lacking. This study employs a 2 x 2 mixed factorial design (age group: young and old x game form: paper and Nintendo DS) to investigate effects of age and game form on usability, self-assessment, and gameplay experience in a supervised field study. Effectiveness was evaluated in task completion time, efficiency as error rate, together with self-assessment measures (arousal, pleasure, dominance) and game experience (challenge, flow, competence, tension, positive and negative affect). Results indicate players, regardless of age, are more effective and efficient using pen-and-paper than using a Nintendo DS console. However, the game is more arousing and induces a heightened sense of flow in digital form for gamers of all ages. Logic problem-solving challenges within digital games may be associated with positive feelings for the elderly but with negative feelings for the young. Thus, digital logic-training games may provide positive gameplay experience for an aging Western civilization.
Nacke
Lennart E
LE
Game Systems and Interaction Research Laboratory, School of Computing, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden. Lennart.Nacke@acm.org
Nacke
Anne
A
Lindley
Craig A
CA
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010988:Play and Playthings / Q000523:psychology*; D011340:Problem Solving; D012647:Self-Assessment; D018910:Video Games / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult