ABSTRACT Historically videogames were simplistic, offering only a few ways to play a game, with limited chances to interact with others unless they were sitting next to you. This simplicity led videogame research to often use a simple approach of measuring how one variable affected another. This method boasted potentially eloquent designs and assumed experimental control, however the approach has led to significant debate surrounding methodologies along with conflicting results as studies either showed an effect or do not. Now videogames are complex and, most importantly, social. Most games have multiplayer modes in which you can play and communicate with friends or strangers and many games can only be played online with others. Coupled with the social networks that have evolved around videogames, it is clear social influences are of profound importance in gaming research. In this commentary, I will encourage the field to evolve by incorporating social stimuli and measures of social variables while measuring target variables. This dynamic approach can help provide valuable nuance and future directions to old questions, allow better understanding of novel issues and more applicable solutions to societal problems.
Patrick J. Ewell (Thu,) studied this question.