The Individual And The Group In Console Gaming

In this paper, we present results from a study of collocated group console gaming. We focus, in particular, on observed gaming practices that emphasized the individual gamer within a gaming group as well as practices that emphasized the gaming group as a whole. We relate each of these practices, where possible, to specific elements of the game design including game mechanics, interaction design, and special effects design. We argue that the classic distinction between competitive and cooperative modes of gameplay does not fully transfer to account for the interpersonal dynamics within collocated gaming groups.