Abstract
This chapter compares different profiles of video game players and studies how these groups differ in their cultural consumptions patterns. By using a unique dataset on cultural participation in Denmark, we address the problem of over-aggregation and differentiate between several profiles of video gamers based on the genre they play. We find that video gamers are far from being unresponsive to other forms of cultural consumption. In fact, they rather exhibit, on average, better cultural habits than non-players. In particular, they have higher frequencies of reading, museum and performing arts attendance, and are more likely to be involved in active music participation. The exception exists for the category of reflex game players; this could be driven by age effects, since reflex games are the most popular among (males) under 40.
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Notes
- 1.
See Sect. 1 of this book where some methodological issues regarding audience studies are discussed including those linked with the quality of the available surveys in Europe. Also, chapters on EU cinema audiences and on music listening in Spain analyse different profiles of cultural consumers trying to emphasise the importance of movie and music genres.
- 2.
This was different when games were not so complex and were often developed by single artists and designers. Consider for example the action-adventure game Another World, developed by Eric Chahi, which was highly innovative in the use of cinematic effects in the graphics. The game sold around a million copies during the 1990s and was selected as one of the first 14 titles to be exhibited in the video game art exposition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
- 3.
See Egenfeldt-Nielsen et al. (2008) for an overview of the economic organization of the video game industry.
- 4.
Fernández-Blanco et al. (2017) have found a positive correlation between reading as a leisure activity and visits to museums, expositions and monuments, active cultural participation (e.g., playing music or practicing traditional visual arts) and video watching, listening to music or attending cinema. This positive link was also significant with self-declared interest in cultural activities. Additionally, they have also found a positive correlation between video gaming and the number of books read.
- 5.
We run several tests of hypotheses comparing means to assess whether the observed mean differences are statistically significant or not.
- 6.
Music games are called “party games” in the survey. The given examples are Singstar or Dance Dance Revolution.
- 7.
See Fernández-Blanco et al. in this volume.
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Acknowledgments
This chapter has also benefited from the support of the Government of Spain (Spanish project #ECO2011-27896).
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Borowiecki, K.J., Prieto-Rodriguez, J. (2017). The Cultural Value and Variety of Playing Video Games. In: Ateca-Amestoy, V., Ginsburgh, V., Mazza, I., O'Hagan, J., Prieto-Rodriguez, J. (eds) Enhancing Participation in the Arts in the EU. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09096-2_22
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