The Relationship between Video Game Characteristics and Player Ability

Abstract

Video game production has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry. While consumer demand for video games remains strong, an explanation for the demand is not so clear. It is likely, however, that a user's degree of “engagement” with the game is relevant. An Engagement Questionnaire (EQ) was recently introduced to capture those dimensions that determine a user's engagement while playing a video game. The goal was to develop a metric that could be applied to a broad range of games and players. The focus of the present study was to determine to what extent there were systematic differences between gamers of high-and low-ability with respect to the way they rated their most and least favorite video games. Specifically, we were interested in identifying whether ratings along the five factors of the EQ were related to self-reported video-game ability. The results of the analyses indicated that difference scores between favorite and least favorite games on four of the five factors predicted self-reported ability. The findings allow us to define more clearly what high- and low-ability gamers think is important in video games.