Exploring the Attractiveness Factors of Cross-Cultural Characters in Video Games

• Main Authors: Hsieh, Tsung-Jen, 謝宗仁
• Other Authors: Kao, Ching-Han
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/33325840408405898556

碩士 === 明志科技大學 === 工業設計研究所 === 100 === The video game industry focuses on digital content but it is also an integral part of the cultural and creative industries. Character design is a determining factor in a video game’s success because character appeal is a vital element in the consumer sensory experience. Because similar and different factors shape video game-character appeal in different cultures, this study selected at least 3 popular video games from different cultures (the United States, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and China) and adopted Evaluation Grid Method to interview 16 players and developers who are highly involved in the video game industries of all 5 countries to evaluate the character appeal in each video game. Experimental results showed that “initial rating,” “specific features,” and “abstract principles” affect the appeal of a video game character. The results showed 5 “initial ratings,” 25 “specific features,” and 25 “abstract principles” of video game characters, which were then used to design a quantitative questionnaire that was completed by 90 players for further verification. The primary findings of this study were as follows:(a)Extracting the video game-character appeal factors. Players were most interested in “shape,” “levels of expertise,” and “diversity.” These were also the players’ favorite elements of appeal, and are 3 key indicators in video game-character development.(b)Video-game characters relevant to a player’s background or a high degree of game involvement enable the players to identity with the character. Men emphasized character appearance, martial arts effects, and game diversity, and women emphasized a character’s face and background stories. Characters tended to resonate deeper with players that had higher levels of education and more life experience. More experienced video-game players tended to become more attached to with characters, and subsequently, demanded characters' attraction.(c)Cross-cultural similarities and differences emerged. The U.S. video-game characters scored the lowest in “facial expressions,” “beauty,” “cuteness,” “liveliness,” and “fashion,” and tended to be weird, quirky, and original. Japanese video-game characters scored highly in “facial expressions,” “body proportions,” “clothing,” “beauty,” “eccentricity,” and “fashion,” using characters with an idealized appearance. South Korean video-game characters scored highly in “cuteness,” using cute playful characters. Taiwanese video-game character appeal elements were generally poor, scoring low in all categories because most players were enchanted by the storyline. Chinese video-game characters scored the highest in “brightness,” “magnificence,” and “fantasy,” using visually attractive characters and figures from Chinese legends.(d)Regression analysis showed that of the video-game character features, “facial expression” affected “beauty,” “liveliness,” and “fashion”; “clothing” affected “eccentricity”; “color coordination” affected “eccentricity,” “brightness,” “magnificence,” and “fantasy”; and “tools and accessories” affected “fashion.” The results from this study could act as guidelines for the systematic design of future video-game characters.