How Cooperation and Game Environment in Exergames Influence Motivation and Relatedness

Abstract

Previous works on exergames has focused on developing guidelines or comparing exercise with exergames in different game environments, as well as research diving into different social play modes. However, there has not been a focus on investigating how these characteristics influence exergames. This research investigates the impact of different social play modes (competitive and cooperative) and game environments (Virtual Reality and non Virtual Reality) on motivation and relatedness between the players in the context of exergames. To address this, we developed a rhythm-based game consisting on four levels each being an unique combination of social play more and game environment. 12 participants took part in the study and completed the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory and Situational Motivation Scale after each level to asses motivation and relatedness in a 7 point Likert scale.The results indicate that a Virtual Reality environment affects positively the identified regulation (the player recognised the activity as good for themselves) and reduces the external regulation (the player does the activity to earn a reward), with no reported effects with respect to relatedness or social play modes. Further research should address the shortcomings of this study, such as the impossibility to perform a long term study and addressing the problems on the non-Virtual Reality game environment.