Excitement, fun and complexity are the defining elements of play and interactive entertainment. Modern pastimes such as reading, art, sport and entertainment media have grown as a distraction to the drudgery of modern life. Nowadays games attract a sophisticated audience.
The formative years of young adults are spent in emulating their elders and developing the skills needed to take their positions in the adult world, and play is a major part of this process. Instilled in our growth to maturity, play has come to define our spare time and proved to be a strong diversion. Leisure, hobbies, recreation and entertainment have also become established as profitable business areas.
The video-amusement industry borrows its language from fun-fairs and carnivals, end-of-the-pier and carnival game experiences and theme parks, pinball parlours and arcades. Dropping a coin into a slot to experience a short distraction in an entertainment environment is as old as the bagatelle board and skittles table of the Victorian era. The immediacy of ‘pay-to-play’ supplies much of its the appeal.
The narrative element of play explains how a brief distraction can be monetized for a wider and more sophisticated audience, one familiar with the language of play but also with virtual worlds. Charging individuals for more and more short periods of time on a game in order to hone their skills has made the operation of interactive entertainment systems a highly profitable business venture, whether in speakeasies, pinball parlours, video arcades, gamebars or the latest location-based entertainment (LBE) facilities.
Figure I.1 The hypnotic glow of the pinball playing field: Midway Manufacturing Company, Cactus Canyon (1998)
The digital out-of-home entertainment (DOE) sector looks to commercialize gaming experiences in areas that would not normally been expected to produce repeat visits. With the addition of ‘gamification’, passive non-interactive audience experiences are transformed into undertakings that the player can influence to achieve goals and rewards, which compels them to return and continue their progress.
Other applications include the addition of leagues and tournaments, familiar from sporting sectors, such as bowling, which gather players into leagues and award prizes and incentives to compete. Competition also can be supported by micro-payments – small incremental inducements to keep playing – and other ways to improve the player’s position.
Where at-home console games offer the players the comfort of their own homes, the public-play environment offers a social atmosphere and an opportunity to use dedicated hardware unique to the entertainment experience. As many are now recognizing, DOE offers a playing universe that takes up where the sedentary and transient consumer games sector left off.
Figure I.2 The draw of video amusement: socializing and competition give the genre an appeal for all generations
