Setting the digital stage: Defining game streaming as an entertainment experience
Section snippets
Video games as public spectacles: A brief history
Although discussions of game streaming tend to refer to digital spectatorship in its modern form (i.e., spectating and streaming video games via computer networks), it is important to note that the general concept of video gaming as a spectator sport is much older. Due in part to a lack of computer processing power or basic artificial intelligence systems, the very first computer games required multiple co-located players. Games such as SpaceWar! in the early 1960 s operated as digital
Defining game streaming
As of now, there is no consensus as to a definition of game streaming, and existing definitions are insufficient to describe the commonalities between different types of game streaming. Most of the existing literature has focused on esports (professional gamers who play in front of gathered and online crowds; cf. [23]) or specific live streaming technologies and platforms (such as Twitch, cf. [37]). In particular, Cryan [23] suggested that game streaming (as a form of esports) is:
“live and
Game streaming and current theories of communication and media psychology
Defining game streaming as comprised of performance, synchronicity, and interaction, we turn to scholarship from the twin areas of communication and media psychology to suggests areas of future research relevant to the motivations for and consequences of streaming.
Uses and gratifications of streaming. One of the most basic frameworks for understanding explicit motivations for engaging with media products is the uses and gratifications approach (U&G: [45]). At its core, U&G argues that audiences
Discussion and conclusion
As game streaming becomes a common way to engage in video game content, more research is needed to understand how interacting with game content through streaming influences both players and audiences’ performance and enjoyment. However, such research cannot meaningfully progress without a more specific understanding of the core elements of game streaming. In this paper, we have suggested that game streaming involves more than simply displaying one’s gameplay for others, but can more
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors and this research do not have any conflicts of interests.
Acknowledgement:
This scholarship was supported by the Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences at the National Chiao Tung University (grant #105W947); and Ministry of Science and Technology (grant #103-2628-H-009-002-SS4 and grant #107-2410-H-004-061-SS3).
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