project proposal of Joe, John and Jim

John Williams
Joe Diaz


Project Proposal:

Objective: How are the expectations of a video game and finally the gaming experience affected by the players association with the game material outside of the game.

In this investigative study we will be looking at how two MIT Detachment 365 AFROTC cadets approach and play a realistic combat flight- simulation game. This will be compared with how 3-4 people not associated with any air force or other military branch evaluate the game.

Questions we will ask the ROTC cadets:
-Do you aspire to be a pilot in the USAF?
-If yes, what type of aircraft would you prefer to pilot?
-How many years have you been a cadet?
-What experience do you have with real aircraft?
-Have you encountered a USAF flight simulator?
-How important is realism to you in this genre of video game?
-Is it more important than having an intense and riveting (but unrealistic) gaming experience?
-Do you ever play these games on your own free time?
-What will you be looking for in this particular video game?
-What other games do you play on your free time?

Questions to ask non-cadets:
-Are you sure that you don't harbor any secret desires to become a fighter pilot thus compromising the neutral manner of this study?
-What other video games do you play on your free time outside of media studies surveys?
-Would you elect to play a flight simulator game on your own?
-What would you expect from the game? Is realism less or more important than the games ability to exhilarate you?
-Do you usually make connections with the real military services of the United States when playing military simulation games?


Questions after playing the game to consider:
-You were allowed to adjust all of the settings, did you make it as realistic as possible?
-Did you read about the controls etc. before even beginning the game?
-When flying, did you follow all of your objectives precisely without detouring or messing around?
-Did you ever find yourself saying, "it's not like that in real life."?
-On a scale of 1 to 10, how close did this game bring you to feeling like a real fighter pilot?

There will be background interviews held before allowing the selected gamers to even touch the game. These will be filmed. They will then be given the game, an instruction manuel, and instructions to adjust any settings they wish to. They will then be asked to play the game while being filmed. Afterwards, there will be a debriefing interview if you will which will also be filmed. Finally, us the testers will speak on camera about our conclusions.

Materials needed: 2 USAF ROTC cadets, 3-4 non-military associated gamers, camera, computer, game control, game (Falcon 2.6 Allied Force)