Time for play – An exploratory analysis of the changing consumption contexts of digital games

Deal, David (2008): Time for play – An exploratory analysis of the changing consumption contexts of digital games. Published in: Electronic International Journal of Time Use Research , Vol. 5, : pp. 65-89.

Abstract

This study posits that Internet technologies are relaxing the coupling constraints required for the consumption of digital games, resulting in entirely different modes of consumption than has been the norm for the past thirty years. The data collection and analysis found that players of traditional console-based games tend to play for several hours at a time while at a home during evenings and on weekends, the traditional scenario associated with leisure activities. Players of the latest breed of online browser-based digital games, on the other hand, tend to play them for only a few minutes at a time, and at many times throughout the day as a diversionary filler activ-ity between other daily activities. Because they utilize simple and readily available Internet technologies, online browser-based games have facilitated the penetration of digital games into new spaces, including the workplace and school, reflecting a growing trend in modern society.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Digital games; online browser-based games; time use; uses and gratifications
• Subjects: D - Microeconomics > D7 - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making > D70 - General; Z - Other Special Topics > Z1 - Cultural Economics ; Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology > Z19 - Other; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Demand and Supply of Labor > J22 - Time Allocation and Labor Supply; C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C8 - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology ; Computer Programs > C89 - Other

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