People who are often found playing video games for long sessions admit they still hear in-game sounds in the real world even when they are not playing.
According to new research from Nottingham Trent University’s International Gaming Research Unit, video gamers often hear game sounds such as weapons, explosions, vehicles groans, screams and laser fire, long after they’ve finished playing the game. The research concluded that these people experience ‘game transfer phenomena.’
People experiencing ‘game transfer phenomena’ say they hear in-game sounds while drifting off to sleep or while performing day-to-day activities such as walking or even driving.
For the purpose of study, researchers at Nottingham Trent University’s International Gaming Research Unit visited online video games forums to collect data from a sample of keen gamers.
They found 1,244 gamers, who suffered from ‘game transfer phenomena’, admitted that video games had an impact on their behaviour and experiences in real life.
Out of 1,244, 155 gamers, around 12 percent, claimed they re-experienced sound and voices coming from the games outside of the game environment including sword slashes, electronic beeps and Super Mario’s falling coin sounds.
Angelica Ortiz de Gortari, a psychology researcher in Nottingham Trent University’s School of Social Sciences, said this research supports other previous game transfer phenomena studies which claimed playing video games can induce pseudo hallucinatory-like experiences and can also sometimes result in illogical thoughts and behaviours.
She said it’s quite important for gamers to understand their experiences as re-experiencing sounds and voices may provoke distress, especially when associated with dangerous situations in the game.
Researcher Professor Mark Griffiths said that although most of the game transfer phenomena are short-lasting, temporary, and get resolved of their own accord, it would be best for excessive gamers to cut down the amount they play in order to stop the effects.
[Source: The Independent]
