Action video games

The presented study dwells on the issue of game theory by Roger Caillois to be applied to the contemporary dimension of digital games. The actual attempt is to find out the extent to which the game principle categories apply to media products, i.e. digital games. The paradigms by authors engaged in cultural anthropology, philosophy, psychology, and
sociology, besides others, served as key theoretical groundwork for the present paper. Nevertheless, the theories concluded within media study addressing the game and game principles in contemporary society have not been excluded either. In essence, the theoretical reflection introduces the basic terminology axis creating an apt platform for the game variants in use, to perform within the forms of new reality, i. e. virtual reality. The primary aim is to define elementary concepts like “game”, “game principles”, “media or virtual space”, “digital game”, and “game genres”. Secondary is then to explicate certain game principles designated by Roger Caillois present in the particular game. Material to be applied for this study ranks among the genre of action games. “Action game” particularly is a digital genre that belongs to frequent genre types as well as RPG games, strategy and others. Drawing from this fact, one of the actual digital games called Mafia III was chosen
for empirical study. The main purpose of the paper is through logical analysis to illustrate the issue of games, and subsequently point out the cases of their occurrence in the media space. Theoretical postulates by Roger Caillois are by author assumed to be potentially applicable to the current media reality of digital games that come under action genres.

This experimental study investigated the state (short-term) effects of action video game (AVG) training on arithmetic performance and their persistence over time. In addition, it examined group differences between experienced and novice AVGers. Twenty-nine college students without a prior AVG experience were randomly assigned to one of the two training groups: AVG and non-AVG. After a 40 min of video game training, the arithmetic problem-solving speed and accuracy of non-AVG group increased, while the AVG group's arithmetic performance decreased, thus suggesting a possibility of state effects of a non-AVG training on arithmetic performance. The state effects did not persist over time; on a delayed posttest, both groups' arithmetic performance was similar to their pre-training scores. In addition, there were non-significant differences in arithmetic performance between experienced and novice AVGers. Implications for investigating the game mechanics and transfer mechanism between the game and transfer task are discussed.

A growing body of literature demonstrates that playing action video games (AVGs) can improve attentional and cognitive abilities, thereby facilitating better learning skills that are critical to academic foundations. However, there are no evidence-based rules for selecting a game that can lead to attentional improvements. This exploratory study attempted to develop an Action Video Game Characteristics (AVGC) instrument that distinguishes AVGs from other video game genres, and examine individuals' perceptions of specific video games that were used in previous AVG training research using the AVGC instrument.

A growing body of literature demonstrates that playing action video games (AVGs) can improve attentional and cognitive abilities, thereby facilitating better learning skills that are critical to academic foundations. However, there are no evidence-based rules for selecting a game that can lead to attentional improvements. This exploratory study attempted to develop an Action Video Game Characteristics (AVGC) instrument that distinguishes AVGs from other video game genres, and examine individuals' perceptions of specific video games that were used in previous AVG training research using the AVGC instrument.

The prevalence and long-term consequences of dyslexia make it crucial to look for effective and efficient ways of its therapy. Action video games (AVG) were implied as a possible remedy for difficulties in reading in Italian and English-speaking children. However, the studies examining the effectiveness of AVG application in dyslexia suffered from significant methodological weaknesses such as small sample sizes and lack of a control group with no intervention. In our study, we tested how two forms of training: based on AVG and on phonological non-action video games (PNAVG), affect reading in a group of fifty-four Polish children with dyslexia. Both speed and accuracy of reading increased in AVG as much as in PNAVG group. Moreover, both groups improved in phonological awareness, selective attention and rapid naming. Critically, the reading progress in the two groups did not differ from a dyslexic control group which did not participate in any training. Thus, the observed improvement ...