Abstract
Recent developments in digital games technology, economy, and content have further expanded the popularity of the medium. At the same time, requirements for competent gaming or digital game literacy need to be reconsidered in the light of the rapid evolution of digital games. The paper outlines three important dimensions of contemporary video game literacy: (1) Resilience against effects of game content on automatic cognition (such as stereotypes and aggressive thinking), (2) the ability to cope with social affordances of multiplayer games, and (3) the ability to manage inertia processes in playing motivation that result in a perceived risk of losing investments of time and effort when deciding against playing. Finally, the importance to substantiate game literacy concepts with scientific theory and empirical research is articulated.
Highlights
The history of digital games is dominated by two key developments: One is the rapid increase of popularity – the majority of the young generations in the industrialized countries belongs to the frequent or at least occasional game players
In the context of digital game play, media literacy has been proposed as potentially effective mechanism that could protect players from undesirable game effects, most importantly, from the impact of game violence
While there is a broad consensus about the importance of preventing negative effects game violence, other relevant dimensions of media literacy that competent gamers need to develop in order to meet the challenges implied by the recent developments of the digital game sector have received less attention
Summary
The history of digital games is dominated by two key developments: One is the rapid increase of popularity – the majority of the young generations in the industrialized countries belongs to the frequent or at least occasional game players (e.g., for Germany: MPFS, 2009a, MPFS, 2009b). In the context of digital game play, media literacy has been proposed as potentially effective mechanism that could protect (adolescent) players from undesirable game effects, most importantly, from the impact of game violence.
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