Wannes Ribbens | KU Leuven (original) (raw)
Papers by Wannes Ribbens
This study explores the various ways in which male young adults engage with violence in videogame... more This study explores the various ways in which male young adults engage with violence in videogames. Based on an ethnographic study (N=26) with triangulation of diary reports, focus group interviews and a video commentary model, three conceptual axes are distinguished along which players differ in their enactment of videogame violence: narration vs. action, discovery vs. mission-based play and reaction vs. strategic play. The results suggest that individual playing styles result in exposure to different quantities and a different quality of virtual violence.
Motivated by the unprecedented peak in photoblogs’ popularity, in this paper we attempt to come t... more Motivated by the unprecedented peak in photoblogs’ popularity, in this paper we attempt to come to grips with the consequences of photoblog use for young people’s development of identity. In particular we studied the case of Fotolog, a popular photoblog application in Chile. Our results suggest that Fotolog is an important constituent of adolescents’ daily media consumption which helps them to fulfil several of the developmental needs typical of their age. In particular, we found that adolescents employ Fotolog as a mechanism to receive social validation, to gain social control, to achieve self-clarification, and to maintain social relationships, four of the most important functions of self-disclosure during adolescence
Game journalism has become increasingly important for both consumers and producers of games. Cons... more Game journalism has become increasingly important for both consumers and producers of games. Consumers use reviews as a buyers’ guide while publishers use reviews to evaluate their developers. In this article we explore the difficulties game journalists face when writing a review and the effect of these reviews on game sales figures. More specifically, in Study 1 we describe the processes that affect the writing of game reviews based upon interviews with eight prominent game journalists. The results indicate that game journalists need to take into account the highly subjective experience of playing digital games, the rapidly evolving digital game audience, and the strong dependency on the industry. Study 2 complements Study 1 in that we examine whether game journalists influence game sales figures with their writings. Game review scores, advertising efforts and content characteristics were regressed on the official game sales figures in Belgium. The results suggest that review score and advertising efforts are good predictors of game sales while content characteristics do not influence game sales.
In deze paper wordt nagegaan in welke mate de politieke boodschap van het oorlogsspel America’s A... more In deze paper wordt nagegaan in welke mate de politieke boodschap van het oorlogsspel America’s Army een invloed heeft op politieke cognities en attitudes bij de spelers. We concluderen dat de ervaringen en percepties van de speler een grotere rol spelen in het proces van beïnvloeding dan louter de blootstelling aan America's Army.
In this paper a quantitative exploration is presented of the concept of perceived digital game re... more In this paper a quantitative exploration is presented of the concept of perceived digital game realism, based upon the frameworks described by Malliet (2006) and Shapiro, Peña-Herborn, & Hancock (2006). The concepts and categories outlined in both studies are complemented with an additional literature study and subjected to an exploratory factor analysis. Principal axis factoring was performed on items completed by 385 respondents whose ages ranged between 15 and 19 years. Seven factors of perceived game realism were identified: simulation, freedom of choice, character involvement, perceptual pervasiveness, authenticity regarding subject matters, authenticity regarding characters, and social realism. These findings are to a considerable extent congruent with the theoretical framework.
Perceived realism is considered a key concept in explaining the mental processing of media messag... more Perceived realism is considered a key concept in explaining the mental processing of media messages and the societal impact of media. Despite its importance, little is known about its conceptualization and dimensional structure, especially with regard to digital games. The aim of this study was to test a six-factors model of perceived game realism comprised of simulational realism, freedom of choice, perceptual pervasiveness, social realism, authenticity and character involvement and to assess it against an alternative single- and five-factors model. Data were collected from 380 male digital game users who judged the realism of the first-person shooter Half-Life 2 based upon their previous experience with the game. Confirmatory factor analysis was applied to investigate which model fits the data best. The results support the six-factors model over the single- and five-factors solutions. The study contributes to our knowledge of perceived game realism by further developing its conceptualization and measurement.
This study explores the various ways in which male young adults engage with violence in videogame... more This study explores the various ways in which male young adults engage with violence in videogames. Based on an ethnographic study (N=26) with triangulation of diary reports, focus group interviews and a video commentary model, three conceptual axes are distinguished along which players differ in their enactment of videogame violence: narration vs. action, discovery vs. mission-based play and reaction vs. strategic play. The results suggest that individual playing styles result in exposure to different quantities and a different quality of virtual violence.
Motivated by the unprecedented peak in photoblogs’ popularity, in this paper we attempt to come t... more Motivated by the unprecedented peak in photoblogs’ popularity, in this paper we attempt to come to grips with the consequences of photoblog use for young people’s development of identity. In particular we studied the case of Fotolog, a popular photoblog application in Chile. Our results suggest that Fotolog is an important constituent of adolescents’ daily media consumption which helps them to fulfil several of the developmental needs typical of their age. In particular, we found that adolescents employ Fotolog as a mechanism to receive social validation, to gain social control, to achieve self-clarification, and to maintain social relationships, four of the most important functions of self-disclosure during adolescence
Game journalism has become increasingly important for both consumers and producers of games. Cons... more Game journalism has become increasingly important for both consumers and producers of games. Consumers use reviews as a buyers’ guide while publishers use reviews to evaluate their developers. In this article we explore the difficulties game journalists face when writing a review and the effect of these reviews on game sales figures. More specifically, in Study 1 we describe the processes that affect the writing of game reviews based upon interviews with eight prominent game journalists. The results indicate that game journalists need to take into account the highly subjective experience of playing digital games, the rapidly evolving digital game audience, and the strong dependency on the industry. Study 2 complements Study 1 in that we examine whether game journalists influence game sales figures with their writings. Game review scores, advertising efforts and content characteristics were regressed on the official game sales figures in Belgium. The results suggest that review score and advertising efforts are good predictors of game sales while content characteristics do not influence game sales.
In deze paper wordt nagegaan in welke mate de politieke boodschap van het oorlogsspel America’s A... more In deze paper wordt nagegaan in welke mate de politieke boodschap van het oorlogsspel America’s Army een invloed heeft op politieke cognities en attitudes bij de spelers. We concluderen dat de ervaringen en percepties van de speler een grotere rol spelen in het proces van beïnvloeding dan louter de blootstelling aan America's Army.
In this paper a quantitative exploration is presented of the concept of perceived digital game re... more In this paper a quantitative exploration is presented of the concept of perceived digital game realism, based upon the frameworks described by Malliet (2006) and Shapiro, Peña-Herborn, & Hancock (2006). The concepts and categories outlined in both studies are complemented with an additional literature study and subjected to an exploratory factor analysis. Principal axis factoring was performed on items completed by 385 respondents whose ages ranged between 15 and 19 years. Seven factors of perceived game realism were identified: simulation, freedom of choice, character involvement, perceptual pervasiveness, authenticity regarding subject matters, authenticity regarding characters, and social realism. These findings are to a considerable extent congruent with the theoretical framework.
Perceived realism is considered a key concept in explaining the mental processing of media messag... more Perceived realism is considered a key concept in explaining the mental processing of media messages and the societal impact of media. Despite its importance, little is known about its conceptualization and dimensional structure, especially with regard to digital games. The aim of this study was to test a six-factors model of perceived game realism comprised of simulational realism, freedom of choice, perceptual pervasiveness, social realism, authenticity and character involvement and to assess it against an alternative single- and five-factors model. Data were collected from 380 male digital game users who judged the realism of the first-person shooter Half-Life 2 based upon their previous experience with the game. Confirmatory factor analysis was applied to investigate which model fits the data best. The results support the six-factors model over the single- and five-factors solutions. The study contributes to our knowledge of perceived game realism by further developing its conceptualization and measurement.