The landscape of video games has drastically changed in the past few years, thanks largely to the prevalence of social networking. There are, of course, other factors, but one cannot deny that the rise of social networking has greatly impacted the way people play games.
While it used to be that video games catered to a very specific niche, now everyone – from age 2 to 92 – plays games in one form or another.
Social gaming – and social gamer – has become a commonly used terms these days, with good reason.
Let’s begin by defining social gaming. Ever reliable Wikipedia tells us that social gaming is the activity of playing games with the goal of interacting with other people. This is in opposition to playing games as a solitary activity.
A social gamer, then, is some who engages in games to have some interaction with others. This may or may not involve face to face interaction. In today’s context, social gamers usually refer to people who play games online.
Take a step back and think a little about what kinds of games you play. Farmville? Bejeweled Blitz? Mafia Wars? DrawSomething? (Do people still play that?)
The chances are that many of the games you play involve interaction with other players at some level. Indeed, you may be one of those who uses Facebook to play games as well. If so, then you are a social gamer.
Now, here is an infographic that might just give you a bit of an insight as to what kind of social gamer you are. That is, the infographic gives details on how and why social gamers engage in their games of choice.
The information that this infographic is based on takes a look at 3 axes:
- Pursuing pleasure
- Problem solving
- Social tendencies
Plotting these three, the researchers have come up with eight types of social gamers:
- Scientists
- Politicians
- Competitors
- Strategists
- Collectivists
- Soloists
- Socialites
- Habitualists
Want to learn more about them and find out which type of social gamer you are? Take a look below.
Infographic via Social Times