A Quick Update and a Lengthy Insight

Hello all,

I am pleased to report that research is once again underway for my Genius Project! That being said, I have new results to report regarding my survey of the students of Sage Creek High School!

As of 7:25 PM on Monday, November 11, 2016, my survey has received 146 total responses. The current breakdown of the data is as follows:

• the Action genre is the most popular, with a total of 44 votes (30.1% of voters)
• the Adventure genre is second most popular, with a total of 26 votes (17.8% of voters)
• the Sports genre is third most popular, with a total of 21 votes (14.4% of voters)
• the Role-playing genre is fourth most popular, with a total of 18 votes (12.3% of voters)
• the Action-adventure genre is fifth most popular, with a total of 13 votes (8.9% of voters)
• the Strategy and Simulation genres are tied for sixth most popular, with each having a total of 7 votes (4.8% of voters for each, resulting in a total of 9.6% of voters)
• the Idle Gaming genre is seventh most popular, with a total of 6 votes (4.1% of voters)
• the Massively Multiplayer Online genre is least popular, with 4 votes (2.7% of voters)

As the second trimester and Biomedical Innovations approach, I am growing excited to begin analyzing both the data obtained from my survey in addition to my Internet research. Like I discussed in my previous post, I am certainly challenged by multiple facets of this project (conducting research is never as simple as one would like to think), and I cannot yet say that my project has had any impact on the community, as it has largely been focused on gathering data from the students of Sage Creek High School. I hope that by the time May 2017 arrives, however, I will have been able to utilize my findings to enable anxiety-prone individuals to "take a breather" and relieve their anxiety with a video game genre prescribed for their needs. This goal may very well be a long shot; nevertheless, I am dedicated to my efforts to make this goal a reality.

I would like to take some time to deviate from my usual style of blog post in order to provide a glimpse into my incentives for choosing this project. In order to do so, I am going to talk about one of my favorite video games of all time: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, published by Bethesda Softworks.

The The Elder Scrolls series has been my go-to relaxation series of video games since I first played The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion in 2014. With The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, I instantly found myself utterly drawn into the game world thanks to a number of factors:

Atmosphere: the atmosphere of a video game is a crucial factor in determining how it will affect individuals who play it. For example, a video game with a dreary atmosphere may serve to darken the mood of the individual who plays that game, whereas a video game with a light, happy atmosphere will likely raise the spirits of those who play the game. In the case of Skyrim, the atmosphere is one of utter peace: while the player is exploring the world, a calm soundtrack plays in the background while the sounds of nature are abundant. This type of atmosphere creates a level of immersion ideal for escaping, if even for a small amount of time, one's real world problems to find refuge within the world of a video game.

Setting: the setting of a video game is also important when it comes to individuals seeking to relax. For example, the chaotic settings of games such as the Call of Duty series may serve to agitate players, whereas the serenity of the environments in a game such as Minecraft allows players to experience an immersion where they are free to explore the world as they so choose. I find this to be exactly the case with Skyrim: I am often awestruck by the grandeur of the various mountain ranges, open valleys, and glorious vistas. As I explore the world, I am captivated by how alive the world feels, but it is alive in a peaceful, rather than chaotic, sense.

The northern lights illuminate the night sky as I explore the northern regions of the province of Skyrim. The absolute tranquility of this scene is a prime example of why I so enjoy The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Photo Credit: David Meinen

Gameplay: the gameplay that a video game offers differs greatly by genre. Video games such as those in the Dark Souls series are renowned for their crushing yet rewarding gameplay, but such difficulty is not ideal for achieving relaxation (the Dark Souls franchise is my favorite video game franchise of all time, though). By contrast, the gameplay of Skyrim consists of exploring an open world at the player's leisure, engaging in brief combat, and completing myriad quests. As such, Skyrim is a game that almost anybody can pick up and play, regardless of video game experience.

Soundtrack: while often the most overlooked factor regarding the ability of a video game to relax players, the soundtrack of a video game is actually crucial. Using the Dark Souls series as an example once again, the soundtrack of this series is largely powerful and awe-inspiring; this is, of course, inevitable since no other music could capture the grandeur and majesty of the series' plethora of diverse boss battles. In contrast, the soundtrack of Skyrim is largely ambient and serene; it is meant to be a soft background presence that enhances the atmosphere already established by the setting. In my opinion, the music of Skyrim excels at immersing the player in the fully-realized world of the province of Skyrim by subtly underscoring the vastness and magnificence of the game world. 

Lore: the lore of a video game is not quite as significant to relaxation for most people as it is for me, but I nevertheless felt the need to mention it. The lore of a video game is the entirety of the story behind the game's events: the events leading up to the game, the events that take place during the game, and the events that could possibly take place following the game's events. Additionally, lore reveals information about characters and about the game world itself; while most players willfully remain ignorant to such information in favor of gameplay, I find myself in some cases preferring the lore of a video game over gameplay. Once again, the Dark Souls series and Skyrim are both prime examples of games that I immensely enjoy the lore of. In all three Dark Souls games, the player takes on the role of a nameless Undead whose goal is to prevent the Age of Fire from subsiding into the Age of Dark. To accomplish this goal, the Undead must journey through an unforgiving and perilous world filled with menacing and powerful bosses to ultimately arrive at a critical decision: whether to link the First Flame and prolong the Age of Fire for another thousand years, or to let the First Flame fade and initiate the dawn of the Age of Dark. Regardless of the player's decision, the player can discover through context hidden within the game that neither choice is the "good" outcome: linking the First Flame prolongs the Age of Fire but guarantees that the cycle of life, death, and undeath will continue, while letting the First Flame fade shrouds the world in Dark. Similarly, Skyrim tells an engaging tale of the last Dragonborn, a mortal with the blood of dragons who sets out to prevent the destruction of the province of Skyrim, and subsequently the continent of Tamriel, at the hands of the dragon Alduin, the World Eater. As is probably obvious by this point, the lore of both the Dark Souls series and Skyrim is crucial to my enjoyment of these games.

I do hope that my lengthy explanations serve to provide enlightenment as to why my project interests me so. I know that this post is by far the lengthiest yet, but I believe that an understanding of what I spent the majority of this post discussing is crucial to achieving understanding as to why I chose the project that I did.

At any rate, I hope that this post proved to be an interesting read. I will continue to keep you all posted with updates regarding my research progress, and I look forward to the continuation of my project in Trimester Two!

Progress Has Nearly Halted... For the Time Being

Hello all,

Regrettably, in this post I have almost no progress to report regarding my chosen Genius Project: investigating the properties of different video game genres as they pertain to helping reduce anxiety in anxiety-prone individuals. The main causes of this delay and lack of progress have been a busy course load at school in addition to a looming college application deadline; both of these responsibilities have surpassed my Genius Project in terms of priority in recent weeks. I HAVE, however, resumed the process of sending my video game survey to the students of Sage Creek High School to fill out at their leisure; in this way, I will hopefully be collecting data in the next few days. And I must admit, it has been fascinating to both gather data first-hand from none other than my fellow students and analyze it to determine the most popular video game genre for anxiety-alleviation purposes.

Because I do not have any other progress to report, I will get straight to the point. In terms of passion, I am still firmly committed to and passionate about my chosen project. As I stated in previous blog posts, this project is the ideal combination of two of my most prominent interests: the field of medicine and my favorite leisure activity, video games. I have been interested in medicine ever since I enrolled in Principles of Biomedical Science at Sage Creek High School, and I have enjoyed video games since I was first introduced to them at age three, so, for an individual like myself, a Genius Project that examines the ability of certain (if not all) video game genres to alleviate anxiety is the perfect project! All things considered, and my explanation aside, I can say with confidence that I am indeed still passionate about my project idea.

I can also say that I am being considerably challenged by this project. While there are certainly particular activities that are known to alleviate anxiety and can thus be recommended to people suffering from it, not all of these methods will accomplish this goal for all individuals. Henceforth, while it is my goal to determine the most effective video game genres at alleviating anxiety, I could very well discover at the conclusion of my data collecting that there is NOT one particular genre that is best suited for this purpose. An additional challenge is the fact that within the main genres of video games are contained various subgenres that combine aspects of one, two, or more main genres. A prime example is the Platformer subgenre, which can fall under either the Action or Adventure genres. Therefore, if an individual selects "Platformer" as their favorite type of video game to play to relax, I must consider both the Action and Adventure genres in addition to the Platformer subgenre when determining the most effective overall genre of video games at alleviating anxiety. Finally, I am unsure whether a neurologist, an endocrinologist, or a video game designer would be the most appropriate mentor for a project such as my own. As I mentioned in previous posts, I believed myself to be set with a mentor earlier this year, but plans unfortunately changed, and I found myself once again searching for a would-be mentor for my Genius Project.

Popular video games such as Super Mario Bros. (shown above) and Super Mario Galaxy (shown below) both fall under the Platforming subgenre of video games. The Platforming subgenre falls under both the Action and Adventure genres of video games, as platformers consist of both action and adventure elements. Photo Credit Super Mario Bros: Polygon Photo Credit Super Mario Galaxy: Nintendo Life

At this point in my project's timeline, I can not say that I have had any impact on my community. I have currently been both surveying the students of Sage Creek High School to gather data on their favorite genres of video games for relaxation as well as writing blog posts updating you (my readers) on my progress every two weeks. Therefore, my project has currently had no community impact, especially considering how I have no concrete product as of this time. As the first trimester wraps up and I move into trimester two, however, I will be enrolled in Biomedical Innovations, a course which incorporates many research skills into its core curriculum; this will prove immensely helpful to me as I pursue the ultimate goal: the formation of a report detailing the various genres of video games and their effects on the human brain. This report will be made available to the public free of charge, and this is how I see my community impact being made.

I hope that you all continue to stay tuned for future updates; the journey has only just begun, and it is sure to prove to be a memorable and exciting one.