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Chapter 8. Identifying with in-game characters

Exploring player articulations of identification and presence
  • Jasper van Vught and Gareth Schott
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Narrative Absorption
This chapter is in the book Narrative Absorption

Abstract

This chapter explores the concepts of identification and presence in videogames by drawing on interview data from players playing a first- and third-person ‘violent’ game. Other than the more uniform relationships between perspective and identification claimed in game violence effect research, our data suggest that identification is a more complex and selective process. The third-person perspective allowed for an assessment of, and identification with, the character’s physical characteristics and fostered a greater interest in the game’s narrative unfolding (narrative involvement), while the first-person game allowed for identification with the character’s point-of-view encouraging players to adopt the character’s spatial position as their own (spatial presence). This chapter thus calls for a reassessment of the complex relationships between perspective, identification and presence.

Abstract

This chapter explores the concepts of identification and presence in videogames by drawing on interview data from players playing a first- and third-person ‘violent’ game. Other than the more uniform relationships between perspective and identification claimed in game violence effect research, our data suggest that identification is a more complex and selective process. The third-person perspective allowed for an assessment of, and identification with, the character’s physical characteristics and fostered a greater interest in the game’s narrative unfolding (narrative involvement), while the first-person game allowed for identification with the character’s point-of-view encouraging players to adopt the character’s spatial position as their own (spatial presence). This chapter thus calls for a reassessment of the complex relationships between perspective, identification and presence.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements ix
  4. Narrative absorption 1
  5. Part I. Conceptualization of narrative absorption
  6. Chapter 1. Beyond metaphors and traditions 11
  7. Chapter 2. Towards a new understanding of absorbing reading experiences 29
  8. Chapter 3. Narrative persuasion 49
  9. Chapter 4. Immersion into narrative and poetic worlds 69
  10. Chapter 5. Into film 97
  11. Chapter 6. “Spellbound in darkness” 119
  12. Chapter 7. Antecedents of identification 133
  13. Part II. Empirical studies on narrative absorption
  14. Chapter 8. Identifying with in-game characters 157
  15. Chapter 9. The effect of suspense structure on felt suspense and narrative absorption in literature and film 177
  16. Chapter 10. Elaboration, emotion, and transportation 199
  17. Chapter 11. Forms of absorption that facilitate the aesthetic and explanatory effects of literary reading 217
  18. Part III. Outcomes of narrative absorption
  19. Chapter 12. Absorption and meaningfulness 253
  20. Chapter 13. The role of absorption processes in narrative health communication 271
  21. Chapter 14. Absorption in narrative fiction and its possible impact on social abilities 293
  22. Index 315
https://doi.org/10.1075/lal.27.09van

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements ix
  4. Narrative absorption 1
  5. Part I. Conceptualization of narrative absorption
  6. Chapter 1. Beyond metaphors and traditions 11
  7. Chapter 2. Towards a new understanding of absorbing reading experiences 29
  8. Chapter 3. Narrative persuasion 49
  9. Chapter 4. Immersion into narrative and poetic worlds 69
  10. Chapter 5. Into film 97
  11. Chapter 6. “Spellbound in darkness” 119
  12. Chapter 7. Antecedents of identification 133
  13. Part II. Empirical studies on narrative absorption
  14. Chapter 8. Identifying with in-game characters 157
  15. Chapter 9. The effect of suspense structure on felt suspense and narrative absorption in literature and film 177
  16. Chapter 10. Elaboration, emotion, and transportation 199
  17. Chapter 11. Forms of absorption that facilitate the aesthetic and explanatory effects of literary reading 217
  18. Part III. Outcomes of narrative absorption
  19. Chapter 12. Absorption and meaningfulness 253
  20. Chapter 13. The role of absorption processes in narrative health communication 271
  21. Chapter 14. Absorption in narrative fiction and its possible impact on social abilities 293
  22. Index 315
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