Rewards are always fun

There are many different reasons why people play digital games but people would assume that the main reason is because they are fun, because we enjoy them and because they stimulate us. Although Steven Johnson (2005) suggests that perhapse games aren't always as fun as we want them to be. Sometimes they can be repeatitive if the player can't get past a certain level or section and sometimes the can be frustraighting because there are only certain choices you can make.

The key aspect of why games are fun and stimulatng that I am going to consider is Steven Johnson's theory of Reward. That we play games for the rewards that we are offered. These rewards can vary from the abilty to enter a new realm or level, recieving information to help you, recieving weapons and ammo or simply aquiring new skills to help with your mission. These are often referred to as 'power ups' and 'power ups take the form of physical objects in the game world but functionally they remain the same sort of animal as the large blobs in PacMan' Poole (2000, p. 194). The 'power up blobs' in PacMan allow the player to move on to new levels and also to regain strength and build up points.

As well as this, these rewards are also 'signs of possible symbolic relationship changes in the game' Poole (2000, p.194). As the player continues to collect their rewards their relationship with the game increases. For example, by being given a more powerful weapon the player can expect to challenge more powerful enimies.

The game that i can best relate this idea to is Crackdown, a cop shooter game where your character must protect the city from gangs at all costs. There are stages in the game where the player must drive the police car around the city, firing at enemy cars and racing to their destination. Jonhson's theory applies here becase this is an example of reward of faculty. The more driving you do, the better you become at it. The same applies to shooting, at the beginning of the game it is likely that you will miss your target but the more you shoot the more accurate you and your weapon become.

Word Count: 383
Bibliography:
Poole, S., (2000). Trigger Happy - Videogames and the Entertainmnt Revolution. USA; Arcade Publishing Inc.