{"id":6131,"date":"2017-02-21T14:30:28","date_gmt":"2017-02-21T19:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/?p=6131"},"modified":"2017-02-21T19:09:14","modified_gmt":"2017-02-22T00:09:14","slug":"how-scary-video-games-build-social-bonds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/2017\/02\/21\/how-scary-video-games-build-social-bonds\/","title":{"rendered":"How Scary Video Games Build Social Bonds"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by Valentin Ottone, Flickr CC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The release of the video game\u00a0<\/span>Resident Evil 7: Biohazard<\/span><\/i>\u00a0represents a\u00a0greater renewed interest in horror media. While horror films are the\u00a0<\/span>best return on investment in Hollywood<\/span><\/a>, horror video games have also\u00a0<\/span>seen a resurgence<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in more recent years.\u00a0The popularity of this gaming genre is explored by sociologist\u00a0<\/span>Margee Kerr<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0as she\u00a0<\/span>explains to The Observer<\/em><\/span><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf we were really running for our life, we\u2019re not thinking critically\u00a0… It\u2019s really the ability to know that we\u2019re safe while we\u2019re doing this, we can enjoy these reactions. It feels invigorating — like we\u2019re primal. Like we\u2019re in that animal state again. A good scary game can hit that sweet spot where the stress is advantageous to gameplay. We hyperfocus on the game. It can be really rewarding.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In other words, we <\/span>like <\/span><\/i>to be scared in horror games; and more importantly, we like to be scared with others. <\/span>One of the most popular ways of consuming horror games is with other people, and this is often achieved by watching Let\u2019s Play<\/a> videos on YouTube. The idea behind these videos\u00a0is that you\u2019re watching a content creator’s gameplay as they played it — often accompanied with a recording of their face for all of their reactions. It essentially allows people to experience these horror games with other people, regardless of their access to gaming\u00a0consoles or other players. This fulfills an important aspect of horror games — getting through struggles.\u00a0As Kerr explains:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal-directed behavior and having a common goal — we bond closely with others when we\u2019re in stressful situations\u00a0… We feel more united with people we go through tough times with. I\u2019ve heard from a lot of people that playing a game with someone opens them up. They do end up talking to their friends on a deeper level.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So next time you pop that disc into your game system, go ahead and invite some people over\u00a0— you might\u00a0get more out of it if you share your scare with friends.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The release of the video game\u00a0Resident Evil 7: Biohazard\u00a0represents a\u00a0greater renewed interest in horror media. While horror films are the\u00a0best return on investment in Hollywood, horror video games have also\u00a0seen a resurgence\u00a0in more recent years.\u00a0The popularity of this gaming genre is explored by sociologist\u00a0Margee Kerr,\u00a0as she\u00a0explains to The Observer: \u201cIf we were really running for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1957,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[39112,2716,43040,96139,96140,3661],"class_list":["post-6131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","tag-culture","tag-fear","tag-horror","tag-resident-evil","tag-social-bonds","tag-video-games"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1957"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6131"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6144,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6131\/revisions\/6144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}