The Psychology of Video Games

Why did Activision take an already expensive game and release an even MORE expensive version without adding a whole lot to it? And what does it have to do with “Ozark wild mushrooms served with a brandy demi glaze?” I’ve got an idea. Let me share it with you.

As you may know, DJ Hero, a relatively new rhythm game from Activision and FreeStyleGames, includes its own controller in the form of a fake plastic turntable. Many gamers thought that the initial price tag of $120 was high, but were outright boggled by the $200 –TWO HUNDRED DOLLAR!– list price on the special “Renegade” collector’s edition that only had a few paltry perks relative to the base model. Why would Activision take an already expensive game and put out an even MORE expensive version?¹

$200? Ehh....

They’re stupid? Nope. According to one recent press release, DJ Hero was 2009′s highest grossing new video game IP. So something worked.² At the very least, the Renegade Edition pricing is an example of what economists call “price targeting” and what author Tim Harford likens to getting turkeys to vote in favor of thanksgiving.³ In essence, Activision is putting the Renegade Edition out there so that people who are cavalier about price self-identify themselves and allow themselves to be sold basically the same product for more money. It’s the same trick restaurants use to find patrons willing to pay more for food when they charge an extra $.80 for a slice of cheese on your burger when it really only costs them a few cents.

But I don’t think that’s the whole story. I think there’s something called “the contrast effect” at work, and I think Eminim and Jay-Z would be appalled.

You may remember the contrast effect from my discussion how the cover art for Borderlands might have gotten approved. Basically it’s a cognitive bias that kicks in when focusing on the magnitude of one bit of information affects your perception of another piece of information. Like a colored tie appearing brighter when it’s contrasted against a white shirt. Here’s an extremely simple example where the same color of gray looks lighter or darker depending on the background it’s contrasted against:

Which circle is lighter? Trick question! They're the same.

This is why I think the Renegade Edition of DJ Hero was put out there: to activate the contrast effect and to make the regular, $120 edition look cheaper in comparison. Man, $200 for a video game? Forget that. I’m gonna be a the smart shopper and only buy the $120 version. What restraint I have! Quick! Somebody congratulate me!

This kind of thing is done to you EVERYWHERE around you, as the following quote from a New York Times story on the science of restaurant menu writing illustrates:

Some restaurants use what researchers call decoys. For example, they may place a really expensive item at the top of the menu, so that other dishes look more reasonably priced; research shows that diners tend to order neither the most nor least expensive items, drifting toward the middle. Or restaurants might play up a profitable dish by using more appetizing adjectives and placing it next to a less profitable dish with less description so the contrast entices the diner to order the profitable dish.”

Those “Ozark wild mushrooms served with a brandy demi glaze” may be the most expensive side dish listed, but the restaurant only listed them first so that the cheaper mashed potatoes, which have a higher profit margin, look more appealing.

If you’re like me, you see attempts at the anchoring effect everywhere once you know about it. Now that you know about it, think back on the last time you saw a regular version of a game advertised next to the collector’s edition. Does the regular one seem so cheap now?

1. DJ Hero Renegade photo credit: j.reed on Flickr.com [↩]
2. But as Joystiq points out, that’s not the same as “most profitable” [↩]
3. Harford, T. (2006). The Undercover Economist. Oxford: University Press. [↩]

How did 2K Games get that cover for Borderlands approved by the ESRB?

In psychology there’s a concept called “the contrast effect.” Basically, it means that some perception (say, weight, brightness, or sweetness) will appear greater or lesser depending on a perception that came immediately before it. Because they contrast so strongly and the memory of one affects your perception of the other.

To test this out, next time you’re at the gym pick up a 15 pound weight. Then pick up a 35 pound weight. Then pick up the 15 pound weight again. Does the second 15 pound weight feel LIGHTER after holding the 35 pound one? Bam! Contrast effect. Or try noting how much more brightly colored a tie appears when paired with a white shirt than with a colored one. Bam, contrast effect again.

Of course, this works for more kinds of perception than just weight or colors. It’s why you should pick your ugly, slovenly friend as a wingman next time you hit the singles bar –he just makes you look much more handsome than if you were alone. This is SCIENCE, people, and it can be used for ill or good.

Take, for example, the cover art for Borderlands, shown below:

Bam!

Wow, that’s pretty extreme. It’s got a dude holding his fingers up like a gun and pretending to literally blow his own mind with the insane action of this first person shooter-slash-loot game. Even for a title rated “M for Mature,” that’s the kind of thing that you might expect the Entertainment Software Rating Board (the ESRB, the organization that assigns content ratings to video games) to balk at.

So how did 2K Games, the publishers of Borderlands, get that cover approved? I don’t have any citations, but while the story of its approval may be apocryphal, even as a thought experiment it illustrates a possible use of the contrast effect by crafty producers. Rumor has it that the current cover is really what 2K Games wanted, but they thought it might get shot down by the ESRB. Since most retailers won’t stock games without a Board rating, they wouldn’ have any choice but to capitulate.

So, the story goes, 2K Games originally sent in an even more graphic version of the cover where the bandit is seemingly blowing his brains out with an actual gun. The ESRB predictably responded with “Yeesh! No way! Change it!” and 2K Games then shot back, no doubt in a curiously timely manner, the current box art. Because the ESRB had seen the more graphic cover first, this one seemed more tame than it would have if they had seen it right away. And they said “Oh yes, much better. Approved.”

And so psychology wins the day, assuming you fancy pictures of Mad Max-style bandits glowering at you and pretending to shoot themselves in the side of the head. And assuming that this story isn’t just some video game urban legend. But even if it is, the point still stands –bam! Contrast effect!

Here’s another bonus example of the contrast effect in practice. Say that a company (like, oh, EA) had a game (like, say Battlefield: Bad Company). And they said to their customers “Hey, y’all, guess what? You’ll be able to BUY exclusive weapons in our game. With real money! Besides the $60 you already spent! How awesome is that?”

And then say that gamers had the entirely reasonable response of freaking the hell out over that. Because it’s ridiculous. So the company says “Oh, okay, be cool, be cool. We’ll give them to you for free. You just gotta give us all your personal information and sign up for a bunch of crap you don’t want. We’ll call it, oh, ‘Find All Five’ or something.”

And gamers were all like “Yeah, that’s totally acceptable! And it doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that you put that horrible option out there first!”

Bam. Contrast effect.