The capacity of customizing some game elements also generates motivation and helps the player projecting his identity on an avatar. It's the case of games that allow us to configure the main character or vehicles. Collecting objects and getting them all is an element that also hooks a lot of players. In many cases, there are secondary missions which give the chance of collecting a number of objects in exchange for rewards. When talking on drama, we talk on the interest the game story can generate on the players. Each story is based in a basic conflict, and knowing how this conflict is solved and ends, also motivates players. There are also many players that are motivated simply by the capacity of immersion in a scenario or aesthetic setting. It's the case of many survival horror such as sagas Resident Evil or Silent Hill. Just because of the fear and terror setting, many users feel attracted and want to play them. To finish, a characteristic which is always present is self-realization. It involves trying that the player improves his results and giving him more challenges, to hook him and challenge him improving himself. In example, many action games offer extreme difficulty levels, after the player has passed the game in normal or hard mode. Let's now go to experience's emotional dimension. This focuses in which emotions the player processes and feels. In aim to have a reference point to analyze emotions, it is very useful to see the emotions classification that has been generated in the psychology field. Here we have two classifications, which can be used to find the shades of emotional experience. The first classification, by Eckman, Friesen and Ellsworth, is a classification that contemplates 7 basic emotions. On one side we have joy, which is one of the emotions mostly associated to video games. Then we have surprise and fear. The example of many survival horror, illustrates how some games try to boost these emotions. About sadness, maybe it's the less present, but it exists, in example, in many adventures video games during which we lose beloved characters. The displeasure, rejection or disgust can also appear, especially in some unpleasant situations. Provoking interest is also considered an emotion and many games try to favor the player's curiosity and involving him in the events. Finally, guilt emotion is also present, although it usually appears in secondary characters or enemies, and not in the main character. The second classification was made by Tomkins and McCarter and points out 8 basic emotions. Some of them are the same as in the previous model, such as joy, surprise, fear, disgust and interest. Some of them coincide with the previous model, such as joy, surprise, fear, disgust and interest. But there also appear new emotions such as anxiety, anger and rage and embarrassment, emotions that appear when playing video games. In example, some multiplayer games can enter a lot in rage and humiliation emotions. Personally, I prefer this second classification, as it is a bit more complete at a general level. Although I would add sadness to the previous classification. Let's not forget the objective of analyzing the emotional experience is getting shades which give us information in aim to build a better game. It's not enough saying that a video game looks for entertaining, we must concrete all the emotions it awakes inside the player, when they awake and with which intensity. The next dimension, to analyze the experience we will talk about, is the cognitive. This is focused in how the brain processes the information it gets from the environment. Our mind uses many cognitive processes to manipulate and work with this information. Let's see now some of the main processes. Perception is the capacity of obtaining information from the outside. But it isn't a passive process but active, as perception involves the fact that our brain is ordering and categorizing the information as we perceive it. This process implies managing many entrance systems, which are the 5 senses. In video games we work especially on the auditive and visual senses, although the tactile sense has also presence. Attention is another process that implies the systems and perceptive senses activation. We use an energy that directs these senses, focusing them to an external stimulus. Obviously, this energy isn't infinite and it must be managed efficiently. In many stealth and horror video games we face tense calm situations in which we must listen carefully to find out whether an enemy is coming close or not. Concentration is an attention's application. In front of a group of external stimulus, we choose being aware of and perceiving, primordially, only some of them. Let's think of most games, in which the screen is filled with elements, and we need to focus only on those that are attacking us in that moment. On its part, memory implies storing, classifying and recovering information. Video games work a lot with memory. We must memorize controls, scenes, paths, routes, enemy behaviors, etc. We also must include some more complex activities, which involve the combination of the perceived information, in aim to obtain new information. The analysis capacity is exactly that. It implies the ability of filtering the external info appropriately and being able to keep what we're interested in. Derived of it, we have the planning capability. This one involves a step further than analysis, as it involves foreseeking future situations based on this analysis. A big part of the games require analysis and planning, especially those that are focused on mechanics and management and strategy experiences. Problems solving is another very important cognitive capacity. Usually it implies also analysis and planning, but it doesn't always do. Sometimes, some problems can be solved through trial and error, without the need of huge analysis. A big part of the incentives in video games lies on giving the player small problems so that he solves them. All games have problem solving, from a puzzle such as Candy Crush, to a races game like Mario Kart, as well as action adventures such as Assassins Creed. Finally, we want to point out the identification of patterns, as one of the most relevant characteristics in the cognitive processing. Next, we will see it with more details.
