Sara and I went to Times Square for our Physical Computing observation assignment. Here are our notes.
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Location & Time of Day:
ESPN Zone Arcade and Toys ‘R Us video games section, Times Square, around 4p
 
Apparent Intent of the Actor(s):
Play games, including four games without screens (one-player hockey game; two-player hockey game; two-player bowling game) and numerous screen-based games (for one and one to two players, including a great one-player dance game)
Time Taken for the Action:
2 to 5 minutes or more, depending on the game
Number of people involved:
One to two people in all cases
Motor Skills Needed (hands, legs, seeing, hearing, etc.):
Varied slightly from game to game, but in all cases the games we observed required seeing and hand(s)-to-eye coordination; some games required leg movement; none of the games actually required hearing, but sound was incorporated into all the games, seemingly to add to the enjoyment of the game experience
Summary
Our observations at these locations brought us to several conclusions:
- In general people are playing these games not just to play alone or against the computer, but to play with/against other people, i.e., the people with whom they made this trip to the arcade. That is, everyone that we saw was playing in pairs or even larger groups, either playing next to each other or playing a game that required two or more players. In every case, people seemed to be having a great time.
- The most popular arcade games were actually not video games at all. That is, they didn’t involve a video or screen. The only role that technology really played in these games — hockey and bowling, specifically — was to keep score for people.
- All the arcade games that we observed used verbal cues to encourage/inspire the player in some way. Mostly this was in the form of ego-stroking (Great! Good shot! Advance to the next level! Access, Level 6!). This reminded us of Chris Crawford’s point that ‚Äú[w]hen we truly interact with someone or something, we are truly engaged. [...] Active, direct involvement always demands greater attention than passive observation.‚Äù By engaging the player with encouragement and reward (moving to the next level), these arcade games engaged users in a way that an ATM machine, for example, just does not do.
