title: An Exploratory Study of the Impact of Contextual Cues of Violence in an Active Videogame.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  With the expanded genres of active videogames, one inevitably raises the question of whether it is worthwhile to use active videogames to promote physical activity if games involve violent themes. The purpose of the current study was to explore the effects of contextual cues of violence in an active videogame on (1) state hostility, (2) perceived arousal, (3) game enjoyment, (4) perceived effort in the game, and (5) activity intensity in the game.
  
  
  METHODS
  A one-factor between-subjects experiment with three conditions (minimal, moderate, and extreme contextual cues of violence) of playing an in-house-developed active videogame was conducted. Activity intensity was objectively measured using the ActiGraph (Pensacola, FL) model GT3X accelerometer. Psychological outcomes were measured using established scales.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We did not find that the level of contextual cues of violence had any effect on the outcome variables, although the moderate level of contextual cues of violence resulted in a greater amount of feeling mean (P=0.011) and unsociable (P=0.038) among the players immediately after gameplay than players in the minimal contextual cues of violence condition. We did not find any statistically significant difference among the three conditions in terms of enjoyment, perceived arousal, or activity intensity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study empirically examined the effects of contextual cues of violence in active videogames on player hostility, arousal, and enjoyment after gameplay as well as their physical activity intensity during gameplay. These findings provide some initial evidence to guide active videogame designers and researchers on how to design the games to be more engaging and thus elicit more activities among the players.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media, Michigan State University , East Lansing, Michigan.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Kinesiology, Michigan State University , East Lansing, Michigan.
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pfeiffer
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media, Michigan State University , East Lansing, Michigan.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Winn