I've known for a long time that game-playing is not, shall we say, my core skill. To be brutally honest, I suck - and yet I still find games fun, even when I'm repeatedly plummeting to my doom in Marble Blast. So does this mean I'm insane? Not at all! (At least, that's what the voices in my head tell me.) According to a recent study, having fun while losing is perfectly normal behaviour.
As the subjects played Monkey Ball, their pleasure spiked upward when they knocked down a lot of pins. On the other hand, if the ball closely missed the pins and landed in the gutter at the end of the lane, it produced frustration. This is pretty much what you'd expect.
But then something odd happened: When the players aimed really poorly and sent the ball zooming off the edge into space, their brains didn't register frustration. They registered pleasure.
Full article at Wired.com
ID:15873
 Jul 23 2006, 2:01 am
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Jul 23 2006, 2:02 am
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Hiead
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haha. The more you suck, the more you enjoy it!
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I enjoy a good challenge. I was depressed that Jedi Academy was so easy on hard. =(
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Hard is awesome.
It's especially hilarious when you *fail* crash mode on Burn out 2. As in, actually fail to fail, and end up driving perfectly through the lethal torrent of trucks and busses. haha. The more you suck, the more you enjoy it! Probably why I always play as the GLA on Command and Conquer: Generals, and as Daisy on Mario Kart Double Dash. Then again, I play as Daisy on Mario Tennis too. Maybe I just like Daisy. | |
I dunno, I think this is sort of a "no, duh!" thing...
If you're trying and fail, it's obviously going to be frustrating... And the effect is only strengthened by the annoyance of coming *this* close ("Why couldn't I hit the button at the right second, WHY?!?!" *cries*)... But in the cases where you fail horribly, odds are that you're not really trying (or you're actually trying to fail), so you don't care... In fact, you likely expect to lose... And even in the cases where you actually were trying, yet you fail miserably, the humor of such a poor performance is enough to override the frustration of failure... I really don't see a big revelation here (though with most studies like this one, I'm often left with this impression) Of course, I didn't go read the full article, so maybe there was something more in-depth that they "discovered"... | |
I think they enjoyed throwing the ball into space because they were mad at it >:(
Take that you sphere of a ball! Even though I have complete control of you, it's all your fault! Your mom was a marble! | |
Thats so true. Failing can sometimes be even more fun than succeeding!
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